The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith

The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith is a 1972 Booker Prize-nominated Australian novel by Thomas Keneally,[1] and a 1978 Australian film of the same name directed by Fred Schepisi.[2] The novel is based on the life of bushranger Jimmy Governor, the subject of an earlier book by Frank Clune.[3]

For the film, see The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (film).
The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith
First edition
AuthorThomas Keneally
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
GenreFiction
PublisherAngus and Robertson, Australia
Publication date
1972
Media typePrint
Pages178 pp
ISBN0207123756

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'.[4]

Notes
  • Dedication: To the Memory of Peter Cady [died] January, 1971.

Awards

The novel was nominated for the Booker Prize in 1972, losing to John Berger'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.[5]

See also

References
  1. National Library of Australia - The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith by Thomas Keneally
  2. IMDB - The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1978)
  3. "Jimmy Governor : The True Story". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. Retrieved 2021-05-25.
  4. Birch, Tony (2015). "The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith". Reading Australia. Archived from the original on 2021-06-05. Retrieved 2021-06-05.
  5. "Festival de Cannes: The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-05-21.


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