Editing Thomas Keneally (section)

==Career==
Keneally's first story was published in ''[[The Bulletin (Australian periodical)|The Bulletin]]'' magazine in 1962 under the pseudonym Bernard Coyle.<ref name="NLA" /> By February 2014, he had written over 50 books, including 30 novels.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The Guardian|date= 17 February 2014|last=Marks|first=Kathy|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/australia-culture-blog/2014/feb/18/thomas-keneally-we-should-apologise-ghosts-wwi-soldiers-wronged|title=Thomas Keneally: 'I hope no one says Australia was born at Gallipoli' |publisher=Guardian News and Media Ltd|access-date=10 June 2017}}</ref> He is particularly famed for his ''[[Schindler's Ark]]'' (1982) (later republished as ''Schindler's List''), the first novel by an Australian to win the Booker Prize and is the basis of the film ''[[Schindler's List]]''. He had already been shortlisted for the Booker three times prior to that: 1972 for ''The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith'', 1975 for ''Gossip from the Forest'', and 1979 for ''Confederates''.<ref name="ABC">{{cite web|title=Q&A Panellist Tom Keneally|publisher=ABC|url=http://www.abc.net.au/tv/qanda/txt/s2682193.htm|access-date=10 June 2017}}</ref>

Many of his novels are reworkings of historical material, although modern in their psychology and style.

Premièred at London's [[Royal Court Theatre]], the play ''Our Country's Good'' by [[Timberlake Wertenbaker]] is based on Keneally's book ''[[The Playmaker (novel)|The Playmaker]]''. In it, convicts deported from Britain to the Empire's penal colony of Australia perform George Farquhar's Restoration comedy ''The Recruiting Officer'' set in the English town of Shrewsbury. Artistic Director [[Max Stafford-Clark]] wrote about his experiences of staging the plays in repertoire in his book ''Letters to George''. 

Keneally has also acted in a handful of films. He had a small role in [[Fred Schepisi]]'s ''[[The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (film)|The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith]]'' (1978) (based on [[The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith|his own novel]]) and played Father Marshall in the award-winning film ''[[The Devil's Playground (1976 film)|The Devil's Playground]]'' (1976), also by Schepisi.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.januarymagazine.com/profiles/keneally.html|title=Interview – Thomas Keneally|work=januarymagazine.com}}</ref>

Keneally was a member of the Literature Board of the [[Australia Council for the Arts|Australia Council]] from 1985 to 1988 and President of the National Book Council from 1985 to 1989.<ref name="NLA" />

Keneally was a visiting professor at the [[University of California, Irvine]] (UCI) where he taught the graduate fiction workshop for one quarter in 1985. From 1991 to 1995, he was a visiting professor in the writing program at UCI.<ref>{{cite news|last=McClellan|first=Dennis|title=Keneally to Leave UCI for Home|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-09-26-ls-43251-story.html|access-date=29 April 2013|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=26 September 1994}}</ref>

In 2006, Peter Pierce, Professor of Australian Literature, James Cook University, wrote:<ref name="NLA" />

{{quote|Keneally can sometimes seem the nearest that we have to a [[Honoré de Balzac|Balzac]] of our [[Australian literature|literature]]; he is in his own rich and idiosyncratic ways the author of an Australian 'human comedy'.}}

The Tom Keneally Centre opened in August 2011 at the [[Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts]], housing Keneally's books and memorabilia. The site is used for book launches, readings and writing classes.<ref name=smh20110724>{{Cite news
  | title = A library he calls his own
  | work = [[The Sydney Morning Herald]]
  | place = Australia
  | date = 24 July 2011
| url = http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/a-library-he-calls-his-own-20110723-1huil.html
  | access-date = 29 July 2011}}</ref>

Keneally is an ambassador of the [[Asylum Seeker Resource Centre|Asylum Seekers Centre]], a [[not-for-profit]] that provides personal and practical support to people seeking [[asylum in Australia]].<ref name="asylum-ambassador">{{cite web |title=Our ambassadors |url=https://asylumseekerscentre.org.au/about-us/our-ambassadors/ |website=asylumseekerscentre.org.au |publisher=Asylum Seekers Centre |access-date=13 December 2020}}</ref>