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Christopher Koch

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For other people named Christopher Koch, see Christopher Koch (disambiguation).
Christopher Koch

AO
BornChristopher John Koch
(1932-07-16)16 July 1932
Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Died23 September 2013(2013-09-23) (aged 81)
Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
OccupationNovelist
LanguageEnglish
NationalityAustralian
Alma materUniversity of Tasmania
Notable worksThe Year of Living Dangerously
Notable awardsMiles Franklin Award (1985, 1996)
Spouse
Irene Vilnois
​
​
(m. 1959; div. 1979)​

Robin Whyte-Butler
ChildrenGareth Koch

Christopher John Koch AO (16 July 1932 – 23 September 2013) was an Australian novelist, known for his 1978 novel The Year of Living Dangerously, which was adapted into an Academy Award-winning film by the same name for which he co-wrote the screenplay. He twice won the Miles Franklin Award (for The Doubleman in 1985 and Highways to a War in 1996). In 1995, he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for his contribution to Australian literature, and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters from his alma mater, the University of Tasmania, in 1990.

Early life and education

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Koch was born in Hobart, Tasmania, in 1932. He was educated at Clemes College, St Virgil's College, and Hobart High School and later attended the University of Tasmania.[1] Koch's admission to the university was controversial, with the professorial board refusing to admit him as he had not matriculated with a mathematics subject—however this refusal was overridden by the chancellor, John Morris, who was then accused of excessive intervention.[2] After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in 1954, Koch joined the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) as a cadet journalist. He left Hobart to travel in south Asia and Europe, and ended up in London where he worked for several years. He returned to Australia to avoid national service in the British Army.[3]

Career

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While working in London as a waiter and a teacher, Koch began working on his first novel, The Boys in the Island, which he left with his agent when he returned to Australia.[4]

Koch's first published works were several poems published in The Bulletin and the literary journal Southerly.[1] While back at the ABC as a radio producer, The Boys in the Island was published in the UK. The positive reviews encouraged Koch to eventually take up writing full-time in 1972.[5] In the early 1960s, Koch was awarded a writing fellowship to Stanford University, where he taught literature and was associated with Ken Kesey (author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest).[4]

Koch's brother, Philip Koch, reporting for ABC-TV in April 1967 towards the end of the Sukarno era

His novel The Year of Living Dangerously, set in Jakarta during the fall of the Sukarno regime, was made into a film directed by Peter Weir and starring Sigourney Weaver, Mel Gibson and Linda Hunt. The book was loosely inspired by his brother's (Philip Koch) experience as an Australian journalist in Indonesia during that period. Koch himself had worked for two months in Jakarta in 1968 as an adviser to UNESCO.[6]

Death

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Koch died at his home in Hobart on 23 September 2013, aged 81. He had been diagnosed with cancer twelve months earlier.[3][7]

Personal life

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Koch married his first wife, Irene Vilnois, in 1959. Their son, Gareth Koch (born 1962), is a classical guitarist. He married his second wife, Robin Whyte-Butler, in the late 1990s, and she lived with him in Sydney and Tasmania,[4][8] and was with him when he died in 2013.[3]

Awards and honours

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Year Work Award Category Result Ref.
1978 The Year of Living Dangerously The Age Book of the Year Awards Book of the Year Won [9]
Imaginative Writing (Fiction) Won [9]
1979 National Book Council Award for Australian Literature — Won [10]
1985 The Doubleman Miles Franklin Award Won [11]
1996 Highways to a War Miles Franklin Award — Won [12]
1999 Out of Ireland Colin Roderick Award — Won [13]
2000 Victorian Premier's Literary Awards Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction Won [14]
2008 The Memory Room Miles Franklin Award — Longlisted [15]
Nib Literary Award — Won [16]
2009 International Dublin Literary Award — Longlisted [17]
2013 Lost Voices ALS Gold Medal Shortlisted [18]
Prime Minister's Literary Awards Fiction Shortlisted [19]
Queensland Literary Awards Fiction Shortlisted [20]

Published works

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Further reading

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  • Noel Henricksen, Island and Otherland: Christopher Koch and His Books (Educare, 2003).

References

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  1. ^ a b Koch, Christopher, AustLit.
  2. ^ Townsly, W. A. "Sir John Demetrius Morris (1902–1956)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Australian National University. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  3. ^ a b c Romei, Stephen (23 September 2013). "Miles Franklin Award winning novelist Christopher Koch dead at 81". The Australian. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013.
  4. ^ a b c Christopher Koch: The Year of Living Dangerously author opened our eyes to Indonesia, The Sydney Morning Herald, 24 September 2013.
  5. ^ The voice of generations: Christopher Koch dies of cancer, The Age, 23 September 2013.
  6. ^ "Koch's 30-year-old fiction still resonates in Indonesia". The Age. 21 December 2002. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  7. ^ "Award-winning author Christopher Koch dies aged 81". 23 September 2013. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  8. ^ At home with Christopher Koch, The Sydney Morning Herald, 30 September 2012.
  9. ^ a b ""Novel in a slice of history"". The Age, 2 December 1978. ProQuest 2520821566. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
  10. ^ "Austlit — The Year of Living Dangerously by Christopher Koch – Awards". Austlit. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
  11. ^ ""Koch wins literary award"". The Canberra Times, 14 May 1986, p7. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
  12. ^ ""Book prize shock: author uses real name"". Sydney Morning Herald, 13 June 1996, p3. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
  13. ^ "Colin Roderick Award — Other Winners". James Cook University. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
  14. ^ ""Victorian Literary Honours Awarded To Canberra Writers"". The Canberra Times, 7 October 2000, p6. ProQuest 1012368318. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
  15. ^ "Miles Franklin Literary Award, The 2008 Longlist". The Trust Company. Archived from the original on 4 November 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
  16. ^ Waverly Council. "Mark & Evette Moran Nib Literary Award Previous Winners 2002 to 2017" (PDF).
  17. ^ "Austlit — The Memory Room by Christopher Koch – Awards". Austlit. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
  18. ^ "2013 ALS Gold Medal Shortlist", ANZ LitLovers, 19 March 2013
  19. ^ "Prime Minister's Literary Awards – 2013 shortlists". Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
  20. ^ "Austlit — Lost Voices by Christopher Koch – Awards". Austlit. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
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