Thomas Keneally's epic tale of women at war

He’s been writing for 50 years but his work is as ambitious as ever. Ahead of his visit to Ireland, Thomas Keneally spoke to Richard Fitzpatrick about his latest novel

THOMAS KENEALLY is not for letting up. The author of the 1982 Booker Prize-winning Schindler’s Ark — which, of course, Steven Spielberg turned into the Oscar-winning movie, Schindler’s List — published his 29th novel last autumn. Fans of the Australian writer will get a chance to see him next week when he visits Ireland as part of the Dublin Writers Festival.

Keneally started writing fiction 50 years ago. In his homeland, he’s officially recognised as “an Australian living treasure”. The Daughters of Mars, his latest novel, is arguably one of his finest. Like much of his work, it’s ambitious in scope, weighing in at over 500 pages, but his artful storytelling makes for a light-fingered journey.