''An Open Swimmer'' is the

first novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to pu ...

by Australian author,

Tim Winton Timothy John Winton (born 4 August 1960) is an Australian writer. He has written novels, children's books, non-fiction books, and short stories. In 1997, he was named a Living Treasure by the National Trust of Australia, and has won the Mile ...

. Winton wrote this novel while attending a creative writing course at

Curtin University Curtin University, formerly known as Curtin University of Technology and Western Australian Institute of Technology (WAIT), is an Australian public research university based in Bentley, Perth, Western Australia. It is named after John Curtin, ...

. In 1981, it won

The Australian/Vogel Literary Award ''The Australian''/Vogel Literary Award is an Australian literary award for unpublished manuscripts by writers under the age of 35. The prize money, currently A$20,000, is the richest and most prestigious award for an unpublished manuscript in ...

, and kick-started Winton's writing career.

Plot summary

Set in three distinct parts, ''An Open Swimmer'' is a ' coming of age' novel; it details the late-teen life of a young man named Jerra Nilsam. A considerable part of the novel describes the camping trip taken by Jerra and his childhood friend, Sean. On this camping trip, Jerra and Sean meet an old man living in a shack on the beach near their camp site. As the story progresses, it becomes apparent that the old man had murdered his wife in a similar shack on a nearby beach by burning it down with her inside. Many sub-plots are scattered throughout this book in the form of spontaneous paragraphs and dialogues between unnamed characters (but presumably one of them is Jerra). In the end, after having returned home and parted ways with Sean, Jerra returns to the camping site alone. While Jerra is sleeping in his van, there is a violent storm which results in a large tree falling on the Kombi. Jerra awakes in the old man's hut, the storm having passed and having been saved by the old man. In the final paragraph, Jerra returns to his Kombi, opens the fuel tank and drops a match into it before running.

Critical reception

Ralph Elliott, in ''The Canberra Times'', was in no doubt about the talent on display in this novel: "''An Open Swimmer'' is certainly an impressive novel to come from one who has just finished a course in Creative Writing, a seed-bed not always regarded as producing the best literary fruit. But where there is talent, such a course may well enhance it, and Winton's talent is unquestionable."

Publication history

It was first published by Allen and Unwin in 1982, and was subsequently a paperback in Pan, a Picador edition in 1987 a large print book in 1991 a McPhee Gribble edition in 1993 an Australian Penguin in 1998 and a

Bolinda audio Bolinda is a locality north of Melbourne, Australia on the Melbourne- Lancefield Road. It is 6 km. south of Romsey, within the Shire of Macedon Ranges The Shire of Macedon Ranges is a region in Central Victoria, Australia, best known ...

book in 2007

Awards

1981 Australian Vogel National Literary Award

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Open Swimmer, An 1982 Australian novels 1982 debut novels Allen & Unwin books Novels by Tim Winton