Trent Dalton (born 1979) is an Australian novelist and journalist. He is best known for his 2018 semi-autobiographical novel '' Boy Swallows Universe''.

Early life and education

Dalton was born in

Ipswich, Queensland Ipswich () is an urban centre within the City of Ipswich in South East Queensland, Australia. Situated on the Bremer River (Queensland), Bremer River, it is approximately 40 km (25 mi) west of the Brisbane central business district. Ipswich is ...

, the youngest of four sons. He spent his early childhood living with his mother and stepfather in Brassall. Both sold

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...

and spent time in jail. When he was seven years old, his mother was sent to prison for two years for smuggling drugs. Dalton spent the following 12 months living with his paternal grandparents. After that he lived with his father in a Housing Commission house in

Bracken Ridge Bracken Ridge is a northern Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Bracken Ridge had a population of 17,488 people. Geography The suburb is located about north of the Brisbane cent ...

, a suburb on the northern outskirts of

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

. For a few years in their teens, Dalton and one of his brothers lived with his mother. After high school, Dalton studied journalism for one year at

University of Southern Queensland The University of Southern Queensland is a public research university based in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia, the sixth largest city in the Australian state of Queensland Founded in 1967 after a successful campaign by the local Darling Down ...

then another year at

Queensland University of Technology The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public university, public research university located in the city of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. It has two major campuses, a modern city campus in Gardens Point, Brisbane, Gardens Point ...

. In 2024 Dalton became an honorary fellow at University of Southern Queensland.

Career

After being recommended by a QUT tutor, Dalton was hired in 2000 as a writer for ''Brisbane News'', a free weekly magazine. He then worked as a journalist for ''

The Courier-Mail ''The Courier-Mail'' is an Australian newspaper published in Brisbane. Owned by News Corp Australia, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, in Brisbane's inner norther ...

''. , he works as a staff writer for ''

The Weekend Australian Magazine ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet daily newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership of bot ...

''. In 2011 Dalton published ''Detours: Stories from the Street'', a book containing profiles of 20 people he had interviewed who were living on the street, or at risk of becoming homeless. In 2018 he published the semi-autobiographical novel '' Boy Swallows Universe'' through 4th Estate, which was longlisted for the 2019

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 ...

. In May 2019 the television adaptation rights for ''Boy Swallows Universe'' were secured by

Anonymous Content Anonymous Content (AC) is an independent global entertainment company founded in 1999 by CEO Steve Golin, Dave Morrison and Gore Verbinski. It is based in Los Angeles with offices in Culver City, New York City and London. History Anonymous Co ...

, Chapter One and Hopscotch Features. A seven-episode limited series was commissioned by

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

and released in January 2024. The

Queensland Theatre Company Queensland Theatre, formerly the Queensland Theatre Company and Royal Queensland Theatre Company, is a professional theatre company based in Brisbane, Australia. It regularly performs in its own Bille Brown Theatre and the Queensland Performin ...

also developed a play from the novel, which premiered in September 2021 at the

Brisbane Festival Brisbane Festival is one of Australia's leading international arts festivals, and is held each September in Brisbane, Australia. Its presence dominates the city for three weeks in September and its line-up of classical and contemporary music, t ...

. In 2020 Dalton published his second novel, ''All Our Shimmering Skies'', which is also centred around words and storytelling. In 2021, Dalton published ''Love Stories'', a collection of love stories gathered from street-corner interviews with passersby. Dalton's third novel, ''Lola in the Mirror'', was released in October 2023.

Personal life

Dalton has two daughters with his wife Fiona.

Works

Fiction

* * *

Non-fiction

* * *

Notes

: Originally published as a multi-part series in ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet daily newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership of b ...

''.

Awards

Journalism awards

Walkley Awards The annual Walkley Awards are presented in Australia to recognise and reward excellence in journalism. They cover all media including print, television, documentary, radio, photographic and online media. The Gold Walkley is the highest prize and ...

**2011: Winner: Social Equity Journalism for "Home is where the hurt is" **2015: Winner: Feature Writing Short (under 4000 words) for "The Ghosts of Murray Street" **2020: Shortlisted: Feature Writing Long (over 4000 words) for "Back From The Black"

Literary prizes

Australian Book Industry Awards The Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) are publishers' and literary awards held by the Australian Publishers Association (APA) annually in Australia since 2001. The awards celebrate "the achievements of authors and publishers in bringing Au ...

**2021: Shortlisted: Literary Fiction Book of the Year ''All Our Shimmering Skies'' * Indie Book Awards **2021: Shortlisted: Fiction ''All Our Shimmering Skies'' **2022: Shortlisted: Nonfiction ''Love Stories'' **2024: Shortlisted: Fiction ''Lola in the Mirror'' ** *

Queensland Literary Awards The Queensland Literary Awards is an awards program established in 2012 by the Queensland literary community, funded by sponsors and administered by the State Library of Queensland. Like the former Queensland Premier's Literary Awards, the QLAs ...

** 2019: Shortlisted:

Queensland Premier's Literary Award The Queensland Premier's Literary Awards were an Australian suite of literary awards inaugurated in 1999 and disestablished in 2012. It was one of the most generous suites of literary awards within Australia, with $225,000 in prize money across ...

for a work of State Significance, for ''Boy Swallows Universe'' ** 2019: Shortlisted: ''

'' People's Choice Queensland Book of the Year Award, for ''Boy Swallows Universe''

References

External links

*
Trent Dalton website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dalton, Trent The Australian journalists Walkley Award winners 1979 births Living people 21st-century Australian journalists 21st-century Australian screenwriters 21st-century Australian novelists People from Ipswich, Queensland University of Southern Queensland alumni Queensland University of Technology alumni Writers from Brisbane Journalists from Queensland