The Melbourne Prize for Literature award recipient was recognised for his “outstanding body of work, contribution to Australian literature & to cultural and intellectual life.”
“As you can see… I love books. I have loved books all my life. I feel absolutely fortunate that I got given the gift of literature from a young age,” Christos Tsiolkas says in a video for his nomination, speaking also highly of his fellow nominees.
Other writers shortlisted for the prize were poets PiO and Jodie Albiston, and children’s writer, poet and memoirist Maxine Beneba Clarke.
Running a three-year prize cycle, the Melbourne Prize for Literature awards the winner $60,000.
The latest of Christos Tsiolkas’ accolades was announced on Wednesday, with the Greek Australian using his speech to pay tribute to his migrant parents and the sacrifices his literary work was built on.
Tsiolkas has authored seven novels including Loaded, which was made into the feature film Head-On, The Jesus Man and Dead Europe, which won the 2006 Age Fiction Prize and the 2006 Melbourne Best Writing Award.
He is also a playwright, essayist and screen writer and his work has been adapted for film, television and the stage and translated into 22 languages.
