Author Tom Keneally to deliver 2014 Gandhi Oration

Internationally acclaimed Australian author Thomas Keneally AO will deliver UNSW's 2014 Gandhi Oration on 30 January.

Best known for his 1982 Booker Prize-winning novel Schindler’s Ark, which was later adapted for film by Steven Spielberg as Schindler’s List, Mr Keneally will address the topic  “Gandhi – Lovers and Haters”.

The annual oration commemorates India’s Martyrs’ Day, the anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination on 30 January 1948, and is delivered by a person whose life work exemplifies Gandhian ideals.  

The Oration will be preceded by a remembrance ceremony at the Gandhi bust on the UNSW Library Lawn. Guests are encouraged to attend both the ceremony and oration.

The Gandhi Oration was established in 2012 by UNSW and the Australia India Institute in consultation with the Consul General of India. Past speakers have been Indigenous leader Professor Patrick Dodson and former High Court Justice Michael Kirby. The 2014 Oration is sponsored by TATA Consultancy Services.

What:            The Gandhi Oration and Remembrance Ceremony

When:           Thursday 30 January 2014. Arrive at 5:15pm for 5.30pm start of Remembrance Ceremony.

    Oration: 6.15pm start (refreshments are served prior to the Oration)

Where:          Remembrance ceremony – UNSW Library Lawn, UNSW Kensington campus;

    the Oration – Leighton Hall, the John Niland Scientia Building.

About Thomas Keneally

Thomas Keneally’s novels include The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, Schindler’s Ark and The People’s Train. His history books include The Great Shame, Australians and The Commonwealth of Thieves. He has won the Miles Franklin Award, the Booker Prize, the Los Angeles Times Prize, the Mondello International Prize, and the Helmerich Award (US). Thomas Keneally is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Royal Society of Literature. He has honorary doctorates from a number of Australian and international universities. He has held academic posts at New York University and the University of California, Irvine. He lives in Sydney.

Media contact: Steve Offner, UNSW Media, 02 92385 1583, 0424 580208