Ben Apfelbaum

THOMAS KENEALLY : IS THIS HIS LAST BLOODY GOOD RANT?

Tom Keneally responding to audience questions
Tom Keneally & his family
Tom Keneally and His wife Judy
Tom Keneally and Meg Keneally, His Daughter & Collaborator
Tom Keneally & fan

The latest appearance in the series of Dymocks Literary Luncheons at the Four Seasons Hotel was Thomas Keneally. He is unique for many reasons. He has officially been designated as one of Australia’s ‘Living Treasures’. He has appeared on a fifty five cent Australian stamp, he has been showered with literary awards, two of his novels have been made into movies, most notably the Booker Prize winning Schindler’s Ark/List. 

Over a career lasting 55 years he has written over 30 novels as well as being a playwright, screenwriter and essayist. His latest book ‘A Bloody Good Rant’ is a critique of modern Australian society consisting of what he loves about Australia as well as what pains him deeply.

What is most unusual and unique about Thomas Keneally is his personality. Many authors are introverted and a publicist’s nightmare, whilst others are considered intellectual and a little bit dry. 

Thomas Keneally is the complete opposite of these stereotypes. The Literary Luncheon was embraced by his warm spirit, generosity of wisdom, sparkling sense of humour, and a love of  his family, who were in the audience to support him.

Many of these qualities were drawn out by the adept and skilled interviewer, ABC broadcaster Philip Clark, who hosts ‘Nightlife’ on 702 local radio.

Questions from the audience were answered with delight by Keneally who demonstrated a mind so sharp and full of knowledge that he could barely contain a line of thought before another pearl of wisdom would jump in and be sent out to the audience. 

Some of the topics covered included his championing of Republicanism whilst at the same time wishing the Queen a long life; his childhood in Kempsey where he observed the poverty of the indiegnous community which prompted him to write the novel turned film ‘The Chant Of Jimmie Blacksmith’. 

He stated that as the result of First Nations advocacy he would never write a novel from an indigenous point of view again. 

Keneally briefly was a deacon at St Patrick’s Seminary and he was quizzed as to whether he heard of priestly childhood abuse. He said that in his brief time as a Christian Brother he had not.

He touched on his experiences as an academic in America and it is his wish that his novel ‘The Dickens Boy’ be made into a film.

Even more extraordinary was the book signing line which was one of the longest lines that I have ever observed.

Each book buyer seemed to be a friend, a friend of a friend, or an acquaintance, and Keneally was thrilled to have the opportunity to speak at length to each of them.

His strong love of Manly and the Manly Sea Eagles football team emerged from the autograph line. 

Among the members of Keneally’s family present was his daughter Meg who, amongst other things, co-wrote with her father ‘The Monsarrat’ series of novels. 

At the luncheon he was as impish and sparkling as an Australian/Irish leprechaun. One can only hope that the book reading public will be fortunate enough to read many more works  emanating from his fertile mind.

Upcoming speakers at the Dymocks series of Literary Luncheons will include Dick Smith, Lisa Wilkinson, David Williamson and Bryan Brown.

Featured image : Philip Clark interviewing Tom Keneally

Text and photos by Ben Apfelbaum

 

Published by Ben Apfelbaum

My photography began when my father handed me the proverbial brownie box camera as a child. As cameras developed I went through Fujica and Olympus range finders graduating to my first single lens reflex camera, the Minolta SRT101, the latter being the greatest facilitator to my growth as a photographer. Digital photography has only added to this. I was a regular contributor to Camera Craft magazine (Australian Camera ) for over three years. During Australia’s Bicentennial year (1988) I made it a personal project to document the celebrations. This culminated in the creation of a book of my photos which was published in 1989. The book was called CELEBRATING AUSTRALIA and came with an accompanying calendar. My works have appeared in a number of publications including the coffee book entitled MY AUSTRALIA (1989), publisher Robertsbridge Severn. This book had a preface by the then Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke. I was a co-photographer on a book entitled SYDNEY- DISCOVER THE CITY with text written by Robert Treborlang. Major Mitchell Press was the publisher. Also for two years I was the photographer for calendars celebrating Sydney’s multicultural communities. The two calendars were entitled MULTICULTURAL SYDNEY. My work appeared in a group exhibition held at Sydney’s Town Hall pertaining to the diversity of life in South America to raise money for orphanages there. I have over one hundred photos stored in the New South Wales State Library archive. I had a solo exhibition held in 2007 entitled Ben’s Lens at the Sydney Jewish Museum which celebrated the vibrancy of the Sydney Jewish community. Some of these photos are on the Museum’s permanent display. I have exhibited internationally firstly at the Spruill Gallery in Atlanta Georgia, United States, and in an exhibition entitled Kosher and Co at the Jewish Museum in Berlin. Currently I am a regular contributor to J-Wire and this esteemed publication. To celebrate the opening of a permanent Photography Gallery, the State Library of New South Wales selected 400 shots from its archive of over 2,000,000 images to display in the new gallery. An image of mine was plucked out of the multi million photo archive to be part of the inaugural exhibition.