Tim Winton was born in 1960 in Western Australia where he still lives. He attended a Creative Writing Course at Curtin University in Perth, and it was while there that he began his first novel 'An Open Swimmer'. This was entered for The Australian Vogel Award in 1981. It won and Winton has never looked back, utilising his considerable talent to maintain a full-time writing career. Something of an oddity for any Australian writer but especially for one of his age.
There must be something about Winton that leaves book reviewers more than a little non-plussed. In 1991, after the release of Cloudstreet in Britain, Martin Wroe of The Independent described him as "sitting in a hotel foyer, he cuts an unusual figure, three feet of brown hair trailing down his wide back, T-shirt, jeans and cowboy boots." And Anne Chisholm of The Daily Telegraph found him "shortish and roundish, with a freckled oval face, shrewd, friendly brown eyes and waist-length curly dark hair in a long pigtail." Maybe it's the hair which throws them. In any event it doesn't make an appearance in any publicity shots, with the preference here being for either a dreamy faraway look, or eyes-closed half-alseep expressions combined with a languid body posture. Very odd.
With 'The Riders' Winton made his first appearance on The Booker Prize shortlist in 1995, although it was felt at the time that Cloudstreet only just missed making the list in 1992. The novel did, however, win The Miles Franklin Award in 1992, to follow his first win of that award with Shallows in 1984.
In addition 'The Riders' was recently given the best novel award from the South East Asia and South Pacific section of The Commonwealth Writers Prize in 1995.
Tim Winton now lives in Western Australia with his wife and three children.
Tim Winton is famous for his unique writing style and his ability
to capture the audience on there own level. Tim seems to also be a real 'eye opener' to
some people and critics ahave branded him eccentric. You can find these quotes and
comments on the quotes
page. Tim has said his love for writing has stemmed from
his early childhood when he used to sit around drawing pictures and making up stories. At
around the age of ten he decided not to enter the police force like his father and
grandfather who had fought in two world wars and also been a member of the police force.
He still says today that becoming an author was the right choice as feels this is what he
'was put here to do'.
His interesting writing style and his obvious writing talent has won him many awards,
including the Miles Franklin which is a great honor to receive in the writing industry.The
feature in many of his books is his ability to keep the reader interested on a personal
level so they can relate. Not trying to sell the reader something totally unbelievable and
, he aims to get the reader to think about what he has written and try to relate to it.
In many of his novels allot of the more dominating characters are the females. He has said
this comes from his own personal experience where throughout his life in his family the
females have always been the driving force and backbone behind the family. This gives his
novels at fresh approach and allows you to view things at a different angle as it gives a
nice change to some of the male dominated books which are more common.
An interview with Tim Winton has revealed that in his books he would like to change
people, not in a big way,but just enough to make them think about the more ordinary banal
more things in life which are sometimes forgotten and are really quite special. He tries
to make people appreciate these things and remember that they are really quite important.
He seems to have many different relationships happening throughout his novels and one of
the main books where he focuses allot on relationships would have to be 'Cloud Street'.
In this novel there are many characters who have problems and/or distinct oddities which
separate them and also give them their own unique and highly believable personalities.
There is no doubt that Tim Winton is an exceptional writer who devotes much of his time
doing what he loves and what he is obviously good at. He travels around Australia
frequently promoting books and talking to people. If you hear he is in your neighborhood
go and see him. It is definety a experince no to miss. If you would like to see more about
what happened when Tim Winton came to our school go to the Tim
vistis G.S.L.C. page.