Martin Flanagan is an Australian journalist who writes a column in the Sport section of the Saturday edition of The Age newspaper. He also writes opinion pieces, some of which include examinations of Australian culture and the relationship between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. Martin Flanagan has written ten[1] books, including The Game in the Time of War on Australian rules football. He co-authored The Line with his father, Arch Flanagan, and The Fight with Tom Uren.
Flanagan has also written a play called The Call, about the life of Tom Wills, codifier of Australian football and Coach of the first Australia national cricket team. The play also explores the issues confronting early colonial Australia, including the divide between Aboriginals and Settlers.
His most recent book was Richo, which looked at the life and Australian Rules Football career of one of the game's most beloved characters and players - Richmond star (and Tasmanian) Matthew Richardson.
Martin Flanagan is one of six children of Arch Flanagan, a survivor of the Burma Death Railway. He is descended from Irish convicts transported to Van Diemen's Land in the 1840s. He grew up in Tasmania, and now lives in Melbourne, Victoria. One of his three brothers is Tasmanian author, historian and film director Richard Flanagan.