Matthew Condon
BornMatthew Steven Condon
1962 (age 60–61)
Australia
Notable awardsOAM
Website
www.matthewcondon.com

Matthew Condon OAM (born 1962) is a prize-winning Australian writer and journalist.

Biography

Educated at the University of Queensland and the Goethe Institute, Bremen, Germany,[1] he is the author of ten novels and short story collections, including The Lulu Magnet, A Night at the Pink Poodle, The Motorcycle Cafe, and The Pillow Fight. The Trout Opera,[2] an epic novel that took him more than ten years to write, examines the Australian character through its chief protagonist Wilfred Lampe, a rabbiter and farm hand who spends his entire life in the township of Dalgety, on the banks of the Snowy River. The Sydney Daily Telegraph described the novel as "an instant classic".

In 2013, Condon published Three Crooked Kings, the first part of a biography of former Queensland Police Commissioner Terry Lewis who was charged in 1989 and later jailed on multiple corruption charges. The book was based on Condon's extensive interviews with Lewis and others as well as archival material.[3] The biography is continued in Jacks and Jokers (2014) and All Fall Down (2015).[4]

By 2019 the author was writing for The Weekend Australian Magazine, is the father of three children, and based in Byron Bay, New South Wales.[5]

In late 2020 he released a podcast in conjunction with Whooshkaa Studios, "Ghost Gate Road", an investigation into the Queensland criminal Vince O'Dempsey and circumstances surrounding the Whiskey Au Go Go nightclub firebombing in 1973 and the murder of Barbara McCulkin and her two children in 1974.[6]

He was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in the 2019 Australia Day Honours for "service to the community".[7]

Bibliography

Novels

  • The Motorcycle Cafe, 1988
  • Usher, 1991
  • The Ancient Guild of Tycoons, 1994
  • A Night at the Pink Poodle, 1995
  • The Pillow Fight, 1998
  • Lime Bar, 2001
  • The Trout Opera, 2007
  • Mulligan: On Being a Hack Golfer, 2007

Short fiction

Short story collections

  • The Lulu Magnet, 1996

Non-fiction

  • Brisbane, 2010, written about the city Brisbane, where Matthew grew up.
  • Three Crooked Kings, 2013
  • Jacks and Jokers, 2014
  • All Fall Down, 2015
  • Little Fish Are Sweet, 2016 (ISBN 9780702254109)
  • The Night Dragon, 2019

Children's fiction

  • The Tunnel, 1997

Edited

  • Smashed: Australian Drinking Stories, 1996

Awards and nominations

References

  1. ↑ "AustLit Agent". Archived from the original on 23 July 2008. Retrieved 23 July 2008.
  2. ↑ "Random House Australia - Book Details - THE TROUT OPERA". Archived from the original on 31 August 2007. Retrieved 23 July 2008.
  3. ↑ Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine Review by Sybil Nolan in the Sydney Morning Herald.
  4. ↑ Condon, Matthew. "Book extract: All Fall Down". Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  5. ↑ Condon, Matthew (14 September 2019). "Sex, Vibes and Influencers". The Australian. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  6. ↑ "Whooshkaa launches true crime podcast, Ghost Gate Road". Radio Today. 23 November 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  7. ↑ "Matthew Steven Condon". honours.pmc.gov.au. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  8. ↑ Australia-Asia Literary Award 2008 Archived 20 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ↑ "Previous John Oxley Library Award winners". www.slq.qld.gov.au. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
  10. ↑ "Queensland Literary Awards 2019 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 1 October 2019. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
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