''The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith'' is a 1972 Booker Prize-nominated Australian novel by Thomas Keneally, and a 1978

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n film of the same name directed by

Fred Schepisi Frederic Alan Schepisi ( ;Pauline Kael, Kael, Pauline (1984). ''Taking It All In''. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. p. 55. born 26 December 1939) is an Australian film director, producer, and screenwriter. His credits include ''The Cha ...

. The novel is based on the life of

bushranger Bushrangers were armed robbers and outlaws who resided in The bush#Australia, the Australian bush between the 1780s and the early 20th century. The original use of the term dates back to the early years of the British colonisation of Australia ...

Jimmy Governor, the subject of an earlier book by Frank Clune.

Story outline

The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith is set in 19th century New South Wales and tells the ultimately tragic story of Jimmie, an Aboriginal man caught between his family and culture and white settler colonialism. The story is written from the perspective of Jimmie Blacksmith, an Indigenous Australian man on a mission of revenge. The story is a fictionalised retelling of the life of the infamous Indigenous bushranger Jimmy Governor. Keneally has said that were he to write the novel today he would not write 'from within a black consciousness'.

Notes

* Dedication: To the Memory of Peter Cady iedJanuary, 1971.

Awards

The novel was nominated for the Booker Prize in 1972, losing to

John Berger John Peter Berger ( ; 5 November 1926 – 2 January 2017) was an English art critic, novelist, painter and poet. His novel '' G.'' won the 1972 Booker Prize, and his essay on art criticism '' Ways of Seeing'', written as an accompaniment to t ...

's '' G.''. The film won the Best Original Music Score ( Bruce Smeaton), Best Actress in a Lead Role ( Angela Punch McGregor) and Best Actor in a Supporting Role ( Ray Barrett) and was nominated for 9 more awards at the Australian Film Institute (AFI) for 1978. It was also nominated for the Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) at the 1978 Cannes Film Festival.

References

1972 Australian novels Australian novels adapted into films Novels by Thomas Keneally Novels set in Australia Australian historical novels Novels about race and ethnicity Angus & Robertson books Novels about bushrangers {{1970s-novel-stub

Story outline

Notes

Awards

See also

References