Christos Tsiolkas is an Australian author, playwright, and screenwriter. He is especially known for The Slap, which was both well-received critically and highly successful commercially. Several of his books have been adapted for film and television.

Christos Tsiolkas
Born
EducationUniversity of Melbourne
Occupation(s)Author, playwright, screenwriter

Early life

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Tsiolkas was born and raised in Melbourne with his Greek immigrant parents,[1] and was educated at Blackburn High School. Tsiolkas completed his Arts Degree at the University of Melbourne in 1987.[2]

He edited the student newspaper Farrago in 1987.[citation needed]

Career

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Tsiolkas' first novel, Loaded (1995), about an alienated gay youth in Melbourne, was adapted as the feature film Head On (1998) by director Ana Kokkinos, starring Alex Dimitriades.[3]

His fourth novel, The Slap, was published in 2008, and won several awards[4][5] as well as being longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award. It was also highly successful commercially; it was the fourth-highest selling book by an Australian author in 2009.[6]

Awards

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Personal life

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Tsiolkas is a Richmond Football Club supporter[11] and openly gay.[12]

Books

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  • Loaded (1995)
  • Jump Cuts (with Sasha Soldatow, 1996)
  • The Jesus Man (1999)
  • The Devil's Playground (2002)
  • Dead Europe (2005)
  • The Slap (2008)
  • Barracuda (2013)
  • Merciless Gods (2014)
  • Damascus (2019)
  • 7 1/2 (2021)
  • The In-Between (2023)

Theatre

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  • Who's Afraid of the Working Class? (with Andrew Bovell, Melissa Reeves and Patricia Cornelius, 1999)
  • Elektra AD (1999)
  • Viewing Blue Poles (2000)
  • Fever (with Andrew Bovell, Melissa Reeves and Patricia Cornelius, 2002)
  • Dead Caucasians (2002)
  • Non Parlo di Salo (with Spiro Economopoulos, 2005)
  • The Hit (with Netta Yashin 2006)
  • The Audition (with Melissa Reeves, Milad Norouzi, Patricia Cornelius, Sahra Davoudi, Tes Lyssiotis and Wahibe Moussa, produced by Outer Urban Projects, 2019 and 2024)
  • Loaded (adapted from the book, with Dan Giovannoni, 2023)

Screenplays

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Film and TV adaptations

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  • The play Who's Afraid of the Working Class? (1999) was made into the film Blessed (2009), directed by Ana Kokkinos.[17]
  • Loaded was first published in 1995 and was adapted into the 1998 film Head On, starring Alex Dimitriades.

Footnotes

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  1. ^ Not to be confused with other plays and films of the same name

References

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  1. ^ Tsiolkas, Christos (9 July 2010). "Christos Tsiolkas: My Greek grandma". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  2. ^ Austlit. "Christos Tsiolkas". Austlit. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  3. ^ Head On at the National Film and Sound Archive colsearch.nfsa.afc.gov.au. Retrieved 22 July 2007.
  4. ^ a b "2009 Overall Winners". Commonwealth Foundation. 2009. Archived from the original on 27 May 2009. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  5. ^ a b "The Slap' wins booksellers' choice award". Boomerang Books. 2009. Archived from the original on 26 June 2009. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "Christos Tsiolkas: The Utopian Vision By Jessica Gildersleeve". Cambria Press Official Website. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  7. ^ a b "Chris Tsiolkas". Smart Artists. Archived from the original on 16 July 2007. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  8. ^ "Winners & Shortlist: 2009 Premier's Literary Awards". State Library of Victoria. Archived from the original on 5 May 2010. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  9. ^ "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2020". The Wheeler Centre. Archived from the original on 4 March 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  10. ^ Burke, Kelly (10 November 2021). "Christos Tsiolkas wins $60,000 Melbourne prize for literature". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 November 2021. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  11. ^ 1998 Telstra Adelaide Festival Archived 13 April 2005 at the Wayback Machine www.adelaidefestival.com.au. Retrieved 22 July 2007.
  12. ^ Watts, Richard (3 July 2005), "A fortunate son", The Age, retrieved 19 August 2007
  13. ^ Christos Tsiolkas: the utopian vision. Cambria Press. 8 January 2018. ISBN 9781604979787. Retrieved 27 May 2022. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  14. ^ Saturn's Return at IMDb
  15. ^ "Aaron Wilson: Chasing Little Tornadoes". FilmInk. 30 April 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  16. ^ "Little Tornadoes trailer and release date sweeps in". Cinema Australia. 24 January 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  17. ^ "Who's Afraid of the Working Class now Blessed film". BigPond Movies. Archived from the original on 15 September 2009. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  18. ^ Rigg, Julie (15 November 2012). "Dead Europe". ABC Radio National. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  19. ^ Neutze, Ben (5 July 2016). "Barracuda review (ABC TV): Christos Tsiolkas pulls sport and contemporary Australia into sharp focus". Daily Review. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
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External videos
  One Plus One: Christos Tsiolkas, One Plus One, ABC News