Christos Tsiolkas | |
|---|---|
| Born | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Education | University of Melbourne |
| Occupation(s) | Author, playwright, screenwriter |
Christos Tsiolkas is an Australian author, playwright, and screenwriter. He is especially known for The Slap, which was both well-received critically and highly successful commercially. Several of his books have been adapted for film and television.
Early life[edit]
Tsiolkas was born and raised in Melbourne with his Greek immigrant parents,[1] and was educated at Blackburn High School. Tsiolkas completed his Arts Degree at the University of Melbourne in 1987.[2]
He edited the student newspaper Farrago in 1987.[citation needed]
Career[edit]
Tsiolkas' first novel, Loaded (1995), about an alienated gay youth in Melbourne, was adapted as the feature film Head On (1998) by director Ana Kokkinos, starring Alex Dimitriades.[3]
His fourth novel, The Slap, was published in 2008, and won several awards[4][5] as well as being longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award. It was also highly successful commercially; it was the fourth-highest selling book by an Australian author in 2009.[6]
Awards[edit]
- 1999: AWGIE Award for Stage, for Who’s Afraid of the Working Class? (with Andrew Bovell, Patricia Cornelius, and Melissa Reeves)[7]
- 2006: The Age Fiction Book of the Year#Fiction (or Imaginative Writing) Award[7]
- 2009: Commonwealth Writers Prize, overall winner for best book, for The Slap[4]
- 2009: ALS Gold Medal, for The Slap[6]
- 2009: Nielsen BookData Booksellers' Choice Award, for The Slap[5][6]
- 2009: ABIA Book of the Year.[6]
- 2009: Victorian Premier's Literary Awards, Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction, for The Slap[8]
- 2020: Victorian Premier's Prize for Fiction, for Damascus (2019)[9]
- 2021: Melbourne Prize for Literature[10]
Personal life[edit]
Tsiolkas is a Richmond Football Club supporter[11] and openly gay.[12]
Books[edit]
- Loaded (1995)
- Jump Cuts (with Sasha Soldatow, 1996)
- The Jesus Man (1999)
- The Devil's Playground (2002)
- Dead Europe (2005)
- The Slap (2008)
- Barracuda (2013)
- Merciless Gods (2014)
- Damascus (2019)
- 7 1/2 (2021)
- The In-Between (2023)
Theatre[edit]
- Who's Afraid of the Working Class? (with Andrew Bovell, Melissa Reeves and Patricia Cornelius, 1999)
- Elektra AD (1999)
- Viewing Blue Poles (2000)
- Fever (with Andrew Bovell, Melissa Reeves and Patricia Cornelius, 2002)
- Dead Caucasians (2002)
- Non Parlo di Salo (with Spiro Economopoulos, 2005)
- The Hit (with Netta Yashin 2006)
- The Audition (with Melissa Reeves, Milad Norouzi, Patricia Cornelius, Sahra Davoudi, Tes Lyssiotis and Wahibe Moussa, produced by Outer Urban Projects, 2019 and 2024)
- Loaded (adapted from the book, with Dan Giovannoni, 2023)
Screenplays[edit]
- Thug (1998), short film, with Spiro Economopoulos)[13][6]
- Saturn's Return (2001),[a] a telemovie starring Joel Edgerton and Damian Walshe-Howling[14]
- Little Tornadoes (2021), co-written with director Aaron Wilson[15][16]
Film and TV adaptations[edit]
- The play Who's Afraid of the Working Class? (1999) was made into the film Blessed (2009), directed by Ana Kokkinos.[17]
- Loaded was first published in 1995 and was adapted into the 1998 film Head On, starring Alex Dimitriades.
- The 2006 novel Dead Europe was made into the film Dead Europe (2012), directed by Tony Krawitz and starring Kodi Smit-McPhee.[18]
- The Slap has been turned into both an Australian and U.S. television miniseries.[6]
- Barracuda was adapted for television in 2016.[19]
Footnotes[edit]
- ^ Not to be confused with other plays and films of the same name
References[edit]
- ^ Tsiolkas, Christos (9 July 2010). "Christos Tsiolkas: My Greek grandma". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
- ^ Austlit. "Christos Tsiolkas". Austlit. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
- ^ Head On at the National Film and Sound Archive colsearch.nfsa.afc.gov.au. Retrieved 22 July 2007.
- ^ a b "2009 Overall Winners". Commonwealth Foundation. 2009. Archived from the original on 27 May 2009. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
- ^ a b "The Slap' wins booksellers' choice award". Boomerang Books. 2009. Archived from the original on 26 June 2009. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f "Christos Tsiolkas: The Utopian Vision By Jessica Gildersleeve". Cambria Press Official Website. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
- ^ a b "Chris Tsiolkas". Smart Artists. Archived from the original on 16 July 2007. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
- ^ "Winners & Shortlist: 2009 Premier's Literary Awards". State Library of Victoria. Archived from the original on 5 May 2010. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
- ^ "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2020". The Wheeler Centre. Archived from the original on 4 March 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
- ^ Burke, Kelly (10 November 2021). "Christos Tsiolkas wins $60,000 Melbourne prize for literature". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 November 2021. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- ^ 1998 Telstra Adelaide Festival Archived 13 April 2005 at the Wayback Machine www.adelaidefestival.com.au. Retrieved 22 July 2007.
- ^ Watts, Richard (3 July 2005), "A fortunate son", The Age, retrieved 19 August 2007
- ^ Christos Tsiolkas: the utopian vision. Cambria Press. 8 January 2018. ISBN 9781604979787. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
{{cite book}}:|website=ignored (help) - ^ Saturn's Return at IMDb
- ^ "Aaron Wilson: Chasing Little Tornadoes". FilmInk. 30 April 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
- ^ "Little Tornadoes trailer and release date sweeps in". Cinema Australia. 24 January 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
- ^ "Who's Afraid of the Working Class now Blessed film". BigPond Movies. Archived from the original on 15 September 2009. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
- ^ Rigg, Julie (15 November 2012). "Dead Europe". ABC Radio National. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
- ^ Neutze, Ben (5 July 2016). "Barracuda review (ABC TV): Christos Tsiolkas pulls sport and contemporary Australia into sharp focus". Daily Review. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
External links[edit]
| External videos | |
|---|---|
 One Plus One: Christos Tsiolkas, One Plus One, ABC News |