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Australian Authors Trivia Quiz

I'll give you some clues about a well-known Australian author. See if you can identify him or her.

A multiple-choice quiz by smartie44. Estimated time: 4 mins.

Author
smartie44

Time
4 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
275,778

Updated
Jun 24 22

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
7 / 10

Plays
534

Awards
Top 10% Quiz

Last 3 plays: Guest 1 (5/10), Guest 175 (6/10), Jane57 (10/10).

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1973. Hint

David Malouf

Morris West

Patrick White

A B Facey

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Question 2 of 10

2. Born in Sydney in 1935, he wrote many novels set in colonial Australia, including 'The Playmaker', 'The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith', and 'Bring Larks and Heroes'. Who is this author? Hint

Peter Carey

Thomas Keneally

David Malouf

Patrick White

3. Her first name was Stella, and she was born on a grazing property in 1879. In 1901 she published her first book. She is now one of Australia's best-known women writers and a prestigious writing award is named in her honour. Hint

Dymphna Cusack

Miles Franklin

Nancy Keesing

C J Dennis

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Question 4 of 10

4. His grandparents came to Australia from Lebanon in 1880, and the family settled in Queensland, where he was born in 1934. He is a novelist, poet and playwright. 'Johnno' (1975) was his first novel. Hint

Morris Lurie

David Malouf

Peter Carey

Robert Drewe

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Question 5 of 10

5. She wrote 'The Idea of Perfection' which won the 2001 Orange Prize for Fiction and 'The Secret River', which was a story based on her own convict ancestors. She has also written books on Creative Writing. Hint

Janette Turner Hospital

Elizabeth Jolley

Kate Grenville

Elizabeth Stead

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Question 6 of 10

6. Her autobiography is called 'Dreamtime Alice'. She lived in Sydney's Kings Cross and in the US and was very good at tap dancing. She married fellow author Louis Nowra in 2003. Hint

Mandy Sayer

Jessica Anderson

Elizabeth Jolley

Glenda Adams

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Question 7 of 10

7. Her first published book, 'Fortress' was based on a true story, when the teacher and pupils of a one-teacher school were kidnapped. It was later made into a feature film. Many of her crime stories have been made into feature films. Hint

Jennifer Rowe

Marele Day

Gabrielle Lord

Helen Garner

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Question 8 of 10

8. She was born into a German speaking Quaker family in 1923 and died in February 2007, in Western Australia. It was not until her fifties that she received recognition for her writing. 'The Well' (1986) is probably her best-known novel. Hint

Christina Stead

Elizabeth Jolley

Ruth Park

Nancy Keesing

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Question 9 of 10

9. He has won the Booker Prize twice and was living in New York when he accepted the award for his novel based on a famous Australian outlaw in the year 2000. Hint

Christopher Koch

Tom Keneally

Tim Winton

Peter Carey

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Question 10 of 10

10. Born in 1960 in Perth, he began his first book at the age of 19. It won the Australian/Vogel National Literary Award, and he then went on to be a full time writer. His father was a policeman and he explores good and evil in his writing. Water, rivers and the sea are also recurring themes. Hint

Robert Drewe

Frank Hardy

Tim Winton

Peter Carey

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Most Recent Scores

Nov 12 2024 : Guest 1: 5/10
Oct 03 2024 : Guest 175: 6/10
Sep 27 2024 : Jane57: 10/10

Score Distribution

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1973.

Answer: Patrick White

Patrick White won the 1973 Nobel Prize for Literature. He was a prolific short story writer as well as a novelist, and his most famous books would probably be 'The Tree of Man' (1955) and 'Voss' (1957).

2. Born in Sydney in 1935, he wrote many novels set in colonial Australia, including 'The Playmaker', 'The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith', and 'Bring Larks and Heroes'. Who is this author?

Answer: Thomas Keneally

Thomas Keneally has won the Miles Franklin Award in consecutive years 1967 and 1968. In 1982 he won the Booker Prize for 'Schindler's Ark' which Stephen Spielberg filmed under the title 'Schindler's List' in 1993. In 1983 he was awarded the Order of Australia for his services to Australian Literature.

Answer: Miles Franklin

The book of course was "My Brilliant Career", and it was the first of many novels by young Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin (1879-1954). At the turn of the century it was very difficult for a woman to gain recognition as a writer in Australia. She inserted a question mark after "Brilliant" to draw attention to this fact, but most editions of the book do not include the question mark.

In 1946 she wrote a novel called 'My Career Goes Bung'. Nancy Keesing and CJ Dennis also have literary awards named in their honour.

Answer: David Malouf

David Malouf also wrote 'Fly Away Peter', 'The Great World' and 'Conversations at Curlow Creek'. He won the Miles Franklin Award for 'The Great World' in 1991, and 'Remembering Babylon' was short listed for the Booker Prize in 1994.

Answer: Kate Grenville

Kate Grenville has created some very memorable characters, and one of my favourite books is 'Lilian's Story' which is about an eccentric bag lady living on the streets of Sydney. 'The Secret River' won the Commonwealth Prize for Literature, the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction (the NSW Premier's Prize), the Community Relations Commission Prize, the Booksellers' Choice Award, the Fellowship of Australian Writers Prize and the Publishing Industry Book of the Year Award (source: http://www.users.bigpond.com/kgrenville/homepage.html)

6. Her autobiography is called 'Dreamtime Alice'. She lived in Sydney's Kings Cross and in the US and was very good at tap dancing. She married fellow author Louis Nowra in 2003.

Answer: Mandy Sayer

In her memoir, 'Dreamtime Alice' Mandy Sayer recalls tap dancing with her father, a jazz drummer, on the streets of New York and New Orleans. She also wrote 'The Cross', which has an unsolved Kings Cross murder as its subject matter.

Answer: Gabrielle Lord

One of Gabrielle Lord's strengths is her forensic research and she is often compared to Patricia Cornwell. One of my favourite of her books is 'Whipping Boy', a very disturbing story of paedophilia and child abuse.

Answer: Elizabeth Jolley

Elizabeth Jolley's books are renowned for their black humour and quirky characters. She has won many awards for her novels, including the Miles Franklin for 'The Well'. 'My Father's Moon' (1989) is believed to be an autobiographical novel.

9. He has won the Booker Prize twice and was living in New York when he accepted the award for his novel based on a famous Australian outlaw in the year 2000.

Answer: Peter Carey

'The True History of the Kelly Gang' (2000) by Peter Carey is a masterpiece. The narrator is Ned Kelly, Australia's most famous outlaw. Other novels by Peter Carey, such as 'Oscar and Lucinda', 'Illywacker', and 'Bliss' have been made into feature films.

Answer: Tim Winton

'Cloudstreet' (1991) by Tim Winton is about two working-class families in the 1950s in Perth, who share a house/corner shop. It toured Australia as a five and a half hour play in 2001. Many aspects of 'Cloudstreet' are autobiographical - for example, Tim Winton nearly drowned as a child and he had a grandmother who lived in a tent behind a shop in suburban Perth - and he thought everyone's grandmother lived in a tent! Source: Andrew Denton's Enough Rope interview with Tim Winton October 2004. Tim Winton has gone on to bigger and better things, his most recent being a collection of stories in a book called 'The Turning'.

Source: Author smartie44

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