Richard Flanagan

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Richard Flanagan (born 1961) is an author, historian and film director from Tasmania, Australia. He was president of the Tasmania University Union and a Rhodes Scholar.

As a keen canoeist he canoed the Franklin River thirteen times and was a member of the first expedition to canoe the Jane River and Gordon Gorge. He achieved a first class honours degree at the University of Tasmania in 1982, and in the following year was awarded the Rhodes Scholarship. In 1985 in the published A terrible beauty - History of the Gordon , Bob Brown wrote the Foreword - and in it wrote: Australia has not heard the last of the Tasmanian wilderness nor, I happily predict, has it heard the last of Richard Flanagan.

Each of his novels has attracted major praise. His first, Death of a River Guide (1994), was short-listed for the Miles Franklin Award, as were his next two, The Sound of One Hand Clapping (1997) and Gould's Book of Fish (2001). His earlier non-fiction titles include books about the Gordon River, student issues, and the story of conman John Friedrich.

Two of his three novels are located on the West Coast of Tasmania; it is no coincidence that he lived in Rosebery as a child. Death of a River Guide relates to the Franklin River, Gould's Book of Fish to the Macquarie Harbour Penal Station, and The Sound of One Hand Clapping to the Hydro settlements in the Central Highlands of Tasmania.

The 1998 film of The Sound of One Hand Clapping, directed by Flanagan, was nominated for best film at that year's Berlin Film Festival. Gould's Book of Fish won the 2002 Commonwealth Writers Prize. (When originally published in hardback, it had different sections in different type colour, with plates of the fish paintings interleaved in the text; the paperback edition has them at the rear of the book.)

Flanagan has written various pieces on Tasmanian politics for the Australian press, some of which have proved controversial: "The Selling-out of Tasmania", published after the death of popular former Premier Jim Bacon in 2004, was strongly critical of the Bacon government's relationship with corporate interests in the state.

A painting of Richard Flanagan by artist Geoffrey Dyer won the 2003 Archibald Prize.

1 Earlier Non-Fiction
2 Novels
3 External links
4 See also

[edit] Earlier Non-Fiction

Student Accommodation Crisis (1984)
A terrible beauty : history of the Gordon River country Richmond, Vic. : Greenhouse, 1985. ISBN 0-86436-001-0

The Rest of the World is Watching: Tasmania and the Greens Sydney: Sun, 1990. ISBN 0-7251-0651-4 (co-editor with Cassandra Pybus)
Codename Iago: The Story of John Friedrich Melbourne : William Heinemann Australia, 1991. ISBN 0-85561-452-8 (with John Friedrich)

[edit] Novels

Death of a River Guide (1994) ISBN 0-14-025785-3
- Winner 1996 National Fiction Award
- 1995 Victorian Premier's Award for First Fiction
The Sound of One Hand Clapping (1997) ISBN 0-330-36042-6
- Winner 1998 Victorian Premier's Prize for Best Novel
- 1999 ABA Australian Book of the Year Prize
Gould's Book of Fish, A novel in twelve fish (2001) ISBN 0-330-36378-6
- Winner 2002 Commonwealth Writers Prize
The Unknown Terrorist (2006) ISBN 0-330-42280-4