Keneally has also acted in a handful of films. Many of his novels are reworkings of historical material, although modern in their psychology and style. He is most famous for his Schindler's Ark (1982) (later republished as Schindler's List), which won the Booker Prize and is the basis of the film Schindler's List (1993). Keneally was known as 'Mick' until 1964 but began using the name Thomas when he started publishing, after advice from his publisher to use what was really his first name. He has also written screenplays, memoirs and non-fiction books. He worked as a Sydney schoolteacher before his success as a novelist, and he was a lecturer at the University of New England (1968–70). He entered St Patrick's Seminary, Manly to train as a Catholic priest but left before his ordination. Often published under the name Tom Keneally in Australia.īorn in Sydney, Keneally was educated at St Patrick's College, Strathfield, where a writing prize was named after him. The book would later be adapted to Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List (1993), which won the Academy Award for Best Picture. He is best known for writing Schindler's Ark, the Booker Prize-winning novel of 1982, which was inspired by the efforts of Poldek Pfefferberg, a Holocaust survivor.

Thomas Michael Keneally, AO (born 7 October 1935) is an Australian novelist, playwright and author of non-fiction.

Playmaker by Thomas Keneally