Robert Nicholas Jose (born 9 November 1952), known as Nicholas, is an Australian

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

Early life and education

Robert Nicholas Jose, known as Nicholas, was born on 9 November 1952 in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England, to Australian parents. After the family moved to Australia, grew up in

Broken Hill Broken Hill is a city in the Far West (New South Wales), far west region of outback New South Wales, Australia. An inland mining city, it is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Hi ...

Traralgon Traralgon ( , ) is a city located in the east of the Latrobe Valley in the Gippsland region of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia and the most populous city in the City of Latrobe and the region. The urban population of Traralgon at the ...

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, and

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

. He was educated at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

(ANU), before being awarded a

Rhodes Scholarship The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Established in 1902, it is ...

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

in 1974.

Career

Jose has travelled extensively, particularly in China, where he worked from 1986 to 1990. He has lived and worked in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

and other parts of Australia as well as in England, Italy, and China. He was an English lecturer at ANU, and was a cultural counsellor for the Australian Embassy in Beijing from 1987 to 1990. He was Visiting Chair of Australian Studies at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

from 2009 to 2010, and in 2012 was Professor of English and Creative Writing both at the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. Its main campus in the Adelaide city centre includes many Sa ...

and

Bath Spa University Bath Spa University is a public university in Bath, Somerset, Bath, England, with its main campus at Newton Park, about west of the centre of the city. The university has other campuses in the city of Bath, and one at Corsham Court in Wiltshi ...

, England. In early 2017 Jose became involved in a research project, ''Other Worlds: Forms of "World Literature"'', for which he is leading a theme on "Antipodean China", exploring the relationship between

Chinese literature The history of Chinese literature extends thousands of years, and begins with the earliest recorded inscriptions, court archives, building to the major works of philosophy and history written during the Axial Age. The Han dynasty, Han (202 ...

and world literature.

Writing

Jose has written widely on contemporary art and literature from Asia and the Pacific. He has also written

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

, novels, and a book on

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

, based on as his doctoral thesis. He wrote ''Paper Nautilus'' and ''Avenue of Eternal Peace'' while living in Italy and China. He won a Literature Board Fellowship in 1989 and 1997.

Other activities

Jose was president of

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

PEN PEN may refer to: * (National Ecological Party), former name of the Brazilian political party Patriota (PATRI) * PEN International, a worldwide association of writers ** English PEN, the founding centre of PEN International ** PEN America, located ...

from 2002 to 2005. In 2016 Jose presented "Gifts from China" for the Eric Rolls Memorial Lecture.

Awards and nominations

* 1973 University Medal for English, Australian National University * 1990 shortlisted for the

Miles Franklin Award The Miles Franklin Literary Award is an annual literary prize awarded to "a novel which is of the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases". The award was set up according to the Will (law), will of Miles Franklin ...

- ''Avenue of Eternal Peace'' * 1997 shortlisted for the

Commonwealth Writers' Prize Commonwealth Foundation has presented a number of prizes since 1987. The main award was called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was composed of two prizes: the Best Book Prize (overall and regional) was awarded from 1987 to 2011; the Best First ...

, South-East Asia - ''The Custodians'' * 2003 shortlisted for ''The Age'' Book of the Year, Non-fiction - ''Black Sheep''

Bibliography

Novels

* ''Rowena's Field'' (1984) * ''Paper Nautilus'' (1987) * ''Avenue of Eternal Peace'' (1989) * ''The Rose Crossing'' (1994) * ''The Custodians'' (1997) * ''The Red Thread'' (2000) * ''Original Face'' (2005) * ''The Idealist'' (2023)

Short story collections

* ''The Possession of Amber'' (1980) * ''Feathers or Lead'' (1986) * ''Bapo'' (2014)

Non-fiction

* ''Chinese Whispers'' (1995) * ''Black Sheep: Journey to Borroloola'' (2002)

As editor

* ''Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature'' (2009) * ''The Literature of Australia'' (2009)

As writer

* '' Children of the Dragon'' (novel) (1 episode, 1992)''Children of the Dragon'' (1991) - Crew

Screen Australia Screen Australia is the Australian Federal Government's key funding body for the Australian screen production industry, created under the ''Screen Australia Act 2008''. From 1 July 2008 Screen Australia took over the functions of its predecess ...

References

External links

Official site

Radio National ABC Radio National, more commonly known as Radio National or simply RN, is an Australian nationwide public service radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2. ...

Macquarie PEN Anthology
1952 births Living people 20th-century Australian novelists 21st-century Australian novelists Academics of Bath Spa University Australian male novelists Australian non-fiction writers Australian male short story writers English emigrants to Australia Writers from Adelaide Novelists from London 20th-century Australian short story writers 21st-century Australian short story writers 20th-century Australian male writers 21st-century Australian male writers Australian male non-fiction writers {{Australia-writer-stub