Trent Dalton | |
---|---|
Born | Ipswich, Queensland, Australia | 23 April 1979
Occupation | Writer |
Notable works | Boy Swallows Universe All Our Shimmering Skies Love Stories Lola in the Mirror |
Notable awards | ABIA Awards Indie Book Awards MUD Literary Prize Walkley Awards |
Trent Dalton (born 23 April 1979) is an Australian journalist and author.[1]
Dalton was born in Ipswich, Queensland, the youngest of four sons.[2][3] He spent his early childhood living with his mother and stepfather in Brassall.[2] Both sold heroin and spent time in jail.[4] When he was seven years old, his mother was sent to prison for two years for smuggling drugs. Dalton spent the following 12 months living with his paternal grandparents.[5] After that he lived with his father in a Housing Commission house in Bracken Ridge, a suburb on the northern outskirts of Brisbane.[6][7] For a few years in their teens, Dalton and one of his brothers lived with his mother.[5] After high school, Dalton studied journalism for one year at University of Southern Queensland then another year at Queensland University of Technology.[8][6] He has two daughters with his wife Fiona.[3]
After being recommended by a QUT tutor, Dalton was hired in 2000 as a writer for Brisbane News, a free weekly magazine.[3][7] He then worked as a journalist for The Courier-Mail.[3] As of August 2021[update], he works as a staff writer for The Weekend Australian Magazine.[9]
In 2011 Dalton published Detours: Stories from the Street, a book containing profiles of 20 people he had interviewed who were living on the street, or at risk of becoming homeless.[7][10]
In 2018 he published the semi-autobiographical novel Boy Swallows Universe through 4th Estate,[11] which was longlisted for the 2019 Miles Franklin Award.[12] In May 2019 the television adaptation rights for Boy Swallows Universe were secured by Anonymous Content, Chapter One and Hopscotch Features.[13] In March 2022, it was announced that a seven-episode limited series had been commissioned by Netflix, which was released in January 2024.[14] The Queensland Theatre Company also developed a play from the novel,[15][16] which premiered in September 2021 at the Brisbane Festival.[17]
In 2020 Dalton published his second novel, All Our Shimmering Skies.[18] Published by HarperCollins, the theme is also centered around words and storytelling. In 2021, Dalton published Love Stories, a collection of love stories gathered from interviews with people.[19] Dalton's third novel, Lola in the Mirror, was released in October 2023.[20]