Who was the first Australian writer to win the Man Booker Prize?

Thomas Michael Keneally (born 7 October 1935) is a prolific Australian novelist, playwright, and essayist. Many of his novels are reworkings of historical material, although modern in their psychology and style.

Kenneally's first story was published in the Bulletin magazine in 1962 under the pseudonym Bernard Coyle. By February 2014, he had written over 50 books, including 30 novels. He is particularly famed for his "Schindler's Ark" (1982) (later republished as "Schindler's List"), the first novel by an Australian to win the Booker Prize and is the basis of the film "Schindler's List". He had already been shortlisted for the Booker three times prior to that: 1972 for "The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith", 1975 for "Gossip from the Forest", and 1979 for "Confederates".

Keneally has also acted in a handful of films. He had a small role in Fred Schepisi's "The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith" (1978) (based on his own novel) and played Father Marshall in the award-winning film "The Devil's Playground" (1976), also by Schepisi.