Trent Dalton (born 1979)[1] is an Australian novelist and journalist. He is best known for his 2018 semi-autobiographical novel Boy Swallows Universe.

Early life and education

Dalton was born in Ipswich, Queensland, the youngest of four sons.[2][3] He spent his early childhood living with his mother and stepfather in Brassall.[2] Both sold heroin and spent time in jail.[4] 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.[1] 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.[1]

After high school, Dalton studied journalism for one year at University of Southern Queensland then another year at Queensland University of Technology.[7][5] In 2024 Dalton became an honorary fellow at University of Southern Queensland.[8]

Career

After being recommended by a QUT tutor, Dalton was hired in 2000 as a writer for Brisbane News, a free weekly magazine.[3][6] He then worked as a journalist for The Courier-Mail.[3] As of April 2024, he works as a staff writer for The Weekend Australian Magazine.[9]

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][10]

In 2018 he published the semi-autobiographical novel Boy Swallows Universe through 4th Estate,[11][12] which was longlisted for the 2019 Miles Franklin Award.[13] In May 2019 the television adaptation rights for Boy Swallows Universe were secured by Anonymous Content, Chapter One and Hopscotch Features.[14] A seven-episode limited series was commissioned by Netflix and released in January 2024.[15] The Queensland Theatre Company also developed a play from the novel,[16][17] which premiered in September 2021 at the Brisbane Festival.[18]

In 2020 Dalton published his second novel, All Our Shimmering Skies, which is also centred around words and storytelling.[19] In 2021, Dalton published Love Stories, a collection of love stories gathered from street-corner interviews with passersby.[20]

Dalton's third novel, Lola in the Mirror, was released in October 2023.[21]

Personal life

Dalton has two daughters with his wife Fiona.[3]

Works

Fiction

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

Non-fiction

  • 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

Journalism awards

  • Walkley Awards
    • 2011: Winner: Social Equity Journalism for "Home is where the hurt is"[22]
    • 2015: Winner: Feature Writing Short (under 4000 words) for "The Ghosts of Murray Street"[23]
    • 2020: Shortlisted: Feature Writing Long (over 4000 words) for "Back From The Black"[citation needed]

Literary prizes

References

  1. ^ a b c 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.
  2. ^ a b Jodie Richter (11 July 2018). "Meet the man behind the boy who swallowed the universe". Ipswich First. Ipswich City Council.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ 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.
  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 becomes an Honorary Fellow at University of Southern Queensland". www.artshub.com.au. 26 September 2024. Retrieved 2 October 2024.
  9. ^ "Trent Dalton", profile, The Australian
  10. ^ Nancarrow, Dan (25 May 2012). "'It could happen to you': book shines light on homelessness". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  11. ^ "Boy Swallows Universe". HarperCollins Australia. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
  12. ^ "Trent Dalton: Why I Wrote Boy Swallows Universe". HarperCollins Australia. 26 June 2018. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
  13. ^ "Miles Franklin 2019 longlist announced". Books+Publishing. 22 May 2019. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  14. ^ "Awards, Oprah and a TV Deal: Success Continues for Trent Dalton's Boy Swallows Universe". Better Reading. 23 May 2019. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  15. ^ 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.
  16. ^ "Boy Swallows Universe". Queensland Theatre Company. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  17. ^ 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.
  18. ^ "Boy Swallows Universe Page to Stage Forum Playback". ABC Radio. 22 March 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  19. ^ 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.
  20. ^ Brown, Phil (30 June 2021). "Trent Dalton hits the streets for his new book, Love Stories". The Courier-Mail. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  21. ^ Wornes, Hollie. "Trent Dalton in Conversation at City Recital Hall". Broadsheet. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  22. ^ "Quality journalism rewarded at Walkleys". The Courier-Mail. 27 November 2011. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  23. ^ "Trent Dalton". The Walkley Foundation. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  24. ^ 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.
  25. ^ "ABIA 2021 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 12 April 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  26. ^ "'Boy Swallows Universe' wins Book of the Year at 2019 Indie Book Awards". Books+Publishing. 19 March 2019. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
  27. ^ "Indie Book Awards 2021 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 20 January 2021. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  28. ^ "Indie Book Awards 2022 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  29. ^ "Indie Book Awards 2024 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 17 January 2024. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  30. ^ "Boy Swallows Universe". International Dublin Literary Award. 9 November 2019. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  31. ^ 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.
  32. ^ a b Perkins, Cathy (Summer 2019). "Excellence in Literature and History" (PDF). SL Magazine. 12 (4). State Library of New South Wales: 52–55.
  33. ^ "2019 Queensland Literary Awards Shortlist". State Library of Queensland. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  34. ^ "Finalists announced for Queensland people's choice award". Books+Publishing. 2 September 2019. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  35. ^ "Short List 2019". the voss literary prize. 14 November 2019. Retrieved 21 November 2019.

Further reading

Allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trent_Dalton
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