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Trent Dalton

Summary

Trent Dalton is an Australian novelist and journalist. He is best known for his 2018 semi-autobiographical novel Boy Swallows Universe.

Trent Dalton
BornIpswich, Queensland, Australia
OccupationWriter
Notable worksBoy Swallows Universe
All Our Shimmering Skies
Love Stories
Lola in the Mirror
Notable awardsABIA Awards
Indie Book Awards
MUD Literary Prize
Walkley Awards
SpouseFiona Franzmann
Children2

Early life and education edit

Dalton was born in Ipswich, Queensland, the youngest of four sons.[1][2] He spent his early childhood living with his mother and stepfather in Brassall.[1] Both sold heroin and spent time in jail.[3] When he was seven years old, his mother was sent to prison for two years for smuggling drugs. Dalton spent the following 12 months living with his paternal grandparents.[4] After that he lived with his father in a Housing Commission house in Bracken Ridge, a suburb on the northern outskirts of Brisbane.[5][6] For a few years in their teens, Dalton and one of his brothers lived with his mother.[4]

After high school, Dalton studied journalism for one year at University of Southern Queensland then another year at Queensland University of Technology.[7][5]

Career edit

After being recommended by a QUT tutor, Dalton was hired in 2000 as a writer for Brisbane News, a free weekly magazine.[2][6] He then worked as a journalist for The Courier-Mail.[2] As of August 2021, he works as a staff writer for The Weekend Australian Magazine.[8]

In 2011 Dalton published Detours: Stories from the Street, a book containing profiles of 20 people he had interviewed who were living on the street, or at risk of becoming homeless.[6][9]

In 2018 he published the semi-autobiographical novel Boy Swallows Universe through 4th Estate,[10][11] which was longlisted for the 2019 Miles Franklin Award.[12] In May 2019 the television adaptation rights for Boy Swallows Universe were secured by Anonymous Content, Chapter One and Hopscotch Features.[13] A seven-episode limited series was commissioned by Netflix and released in January 2024.[14] The Queensland Theatre Company also developed a play from the novel,[15][16] which premiered in September 2021 at the Brisbane Festival.[17]

In 2020 Dalton published his second novel, All Our Shimmering Skies, which is also centred around words and storytelling.[18] In 2021, Dalton published Love Stories, a collection of love stories gathered from interviews with people.[19]

Dalton's third novel, Lola in the Mirror, was released in October 2023.[20]

Personal life edit

Dalton has two daughters with his wife Fiona.[2]

Works edit

Fiction edit

  • Boy Swallows Universe (2018)
  • All Our Shimmering Skies. HarperCollins Australia. 2020. ISBN 9781460753903.
  • Lola in the Mirror. 4th Estate. 2023. ISBN 9781460759837.

Non-fiction edit

  • Detours: Stories from the Street. Celeste Davidson. 2011. ISBN 9780646558677.
  • By Sea & Stars: The Story of the First Fleet. 4th Estate. 2018. ISBN 9781460757413. Originally published as a multi-part series in The Australian.
  • Love Stories. 4th Estate. 2021. ISBN 9781460760932.

Awards edit

Journalism awards edit

  • Walkley Awards
    • 2011: Winner: Social Equity Journalism for "Home is where the hurt is"[21]
    • 2015: Winner: Feature Writing Short (under 4000 words) for "The Ghosts of Murray Street"[22]
    • 2020: Shortlisted: Feature Writing Long (over 4000 words) for "Back From The Black"[citation needed]

Literary prizes edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b Jodie Richter (11 July 2018). "Meet the man behind the boy who swallowed the universe". Ipswich First. Ipswich City Council.
  2. ^ a b c d Purdon, Fiona (29 June 2018). "'We just knew him as Slim … we didn't know he escaped from Boggo Rd prison'". The Courier-Mail. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  3. ^ Divola, Barry (11 February 2019). "Boy Swallows Universe author Trent Dalton mines his childhood to craft a future Aussie classic". PerthNow. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  4. ^ a b Rocca, Jane (13 December 2023). "'My mum is my absolute hero': Author Trent Dalton on the women in his life". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  5. ^ a b "How Trent Dalton Channeled Boy Swallows Universe". Style Magazines. 13 January 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  6. ^ a b c Ludlow, Mark (6 October 2023). "Fastest-selling debut novelist in Australia gets Netflix series". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  7. ^ Love, Wendy. "Trent Dalton". Where I Belong (Podcast). Museum of Brisbane. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  8. ^ "Trent Dalton", profile, The Australian
  9. ^ Nancarrow, Dan (25 May 2012). "'It could happen to you': book shines light on homelessness". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  10. ^ "Boy Swallows Universe". HarperCollins Australia. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
  11. ^ "Trent Dalton: Why I Wrote Boy Swallows Universe". HarperCollins Australia. 26 June 2018. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
  12. ^ "Miles Franklin 2019 longlist announced". Books+Publishing. 22 May 2019. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  13. ^ "Awards, Oprah and a TV Deal: Success Continues for Trent Dalton's Boy Swallows Universe". Better Reading. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  14. ^ Quinn, Karl (4 March 2022). "Boy Swallows Universe: Netflix swallows Trent Dalton's bestselling novel for 8-part series". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  15. ^ "Boy Swallows Universe". Queensland Theatre Company. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  16. ^ Kembrey, Melanie (25 September 2020). "Why Trent Dalton needed to 'run a mile' from his hit debut novel". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  17. ^ "Boy Swallows Universe Page to Stage Forum Playback". ABC Radio. 22 March 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  18. ^ Kavanagh, Bec (1 October 2020). "All Our Shimmering Skies by Trent Dalton review – a quest fable follow-up to Boy Swallows Universe". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  19. ^ Brown, Phil (30 June 2021). "Trent Dalton hits the streets for his new book, Love Stories". The Courier-Mail. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  20. ^ Wornes, Hollie. "Trent Dalton in Conversation at City Recital Hall". Broadsheet. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  21. ^ "Quality journalism rewarded at Walkleys". The Courier-Mail. 27 November 2011. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  22. ^ "Trent Dalton". The Walkley Foundation. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  23. ^ a b c Spring, Alexandra (2 May 2019). "'Extraordinary and beautiful storytelling': Boy Swallows Universe wins ABIA book of the year". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  24. ^ "ABIA 2021 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 12 April 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  25. ^ "'Boy Swallows Universe' wins Book of the Year at 2019 Indie Book Awards". Books+Publishing. 19 March 2019. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
  26. ^ "Indie Book Awards 2021 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 20 January 2021. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  27. ^ "Indie Book Awards 2022 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  28. ^ "Indie Book Awards 2024 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 17 January 2024. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  29. ^ "Boy Swallows Universe". International Dublin Literary Award. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  30. ^ Sly, David (21 February 2020). "For a group of Adelaide philanthropists, the value of supporting Australian literature is as clear as MUD". The Adelaide Review. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  31. ^ a b Perkins, Cathy (Summer 2019). "Excellence in Literature and History" (PDF). SL Magazine. 12 (4). State Library of New South Wales: 52–55.
  32. ^ "2019 Queensland Literary Awards Shortlist". State Library of Queensland. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  33. ^ "Finalists announced for Queensland people's choice award". Books+Publishing. 2 September 2019. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  34. ^ "Short List 2019". the voss literary prize. 14 November 2019. Retrieved 21 November 2019.

Further reading edit

  • Dalton, Trent (5 October 2018). "Debut writers series: Trent Dalton's Boy Swallows Universe" (Audio, 20min 36sec). ABC Radio National. The Book Show. Interviewed by Nichols, Claire.

External links edit

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