Elliot Perlman

Perlman is the son of second-generation Jewish Australians of East European descent.[http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/arts/features/howtowrite/writers_eperl.shtml "Meet the writers: Elliot Perlman"] He studied law at Monash University in Melbourne, graduating in 1989.[http://www.law.monash.edu.au/law-matters/law-matters-2005-06.pdf Monash Law Matters 2005/06] He was called to the Bar in 1997, but while working as a judge's associate in the early 1990s he started writing short stories. He lives in Melbourne.

{{cite web

|url=http://www.shalom.edu.au/limmudoz/presenters.php?action=detail&id=359

|date=14 September 2003

|title=Limmud-Oz 2008 – Festival of Jewish Learning & Culture – Elliot Perlman

|access-date=25 November 2008

|work=shalom.edu.au/

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|archive-date=21 July 2008

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In 1994 he won The Age Short Story Award for "The Reasons I Won't Be Coming",

{{cite web

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| date=14 September 2003

| title=Books and Writing – John Mortimer & Elliot Perlman

| access-date = 25 November 2008

| publisher= Australian Broadcasting Corporation}}

a short story that later gave the title to his first collection of short stories, published in 1999. In 1998, his first novel, Three Dollars, was published. It won The Age Book of the Year

{{cite web

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|title=Elliot J PERLMAN

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{{cite web

| url=http://www.middlemiss.org/lit/australian/threedollars.html

| title=Three Dollars – Elliot Perlman – 1998

| access-date = 25 November 2008

| publisher= middlemiss.org}}

and the Betty Trask Prize.[http://facstaff.unca.edu/moseley/trask.html Betty Trask prize] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090509002251/http://facstaff.unca.edu/moseley/trask.html |date=9 May 2009 }} His second novel, Seven Types of Ambiguity, was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award, Australia's most prestigious literary award, in 2004.[http://www.stateart.com.au/sota/news/default.asp?fid=2712 "Announcing the 2004 Miles Franklin Literary Award Winner"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080722163801/http://www.stateart.com.au/sota/news/default.asp?fid=2712 |date=22 July 2008 }} Perlman's third novel, The Street Sweeper, was published in 2011. In an interview in 2001 he named Graham Greene as one of the writers who inspire him, describing Greene as "a master of beautifully crisp, clean and spare prose".Byrne, Madeleine (2001), "The world is closing in: an interview with Elliot Perlman", Antipodes, 15 (1): 10–12

His work "condemns the economic rationalism that destroys the humanity of ordinary people when they are confronted with unemployment and poverty."[http://www.austlit.edu.au/run?ex=ShowAgent&agentId=A$g{ Perlman, Elliot, austlit.edu.au] This is not surprising in a writer who admires Raymond Carver and Graham Greene because they "write with quite a strong moral centre and a strong sense of compassion." However, he says, "Part of my task is to entertain readers. I don't want it to be propaganda at all. I don't think that for something to be political fiction it has to offer an alternative; I think just a social critique is enough." He describes himself, in fact, as being interested in "the essence of humanity" and argued that exploring this often means touching on political issues. Perlman often uses music, and song lyrics, in his work to convey an idea or mood, or to give a sense of who a character is. However, he recognises that this is "a bit of a risk because the less familiar the reader is with the song, the smaller the pay off."

His novel Three Dollars was produced as a film in 2005. It was directed by Robert Connolly, and starred David Wenham and Frances O'Connor. Perlman and Connolly jointly adapted the novel.

A six-part series based on Seven Types of Ambiguity was screened on ABC Television in 2017.

• 2019: Children's Peace Literature Award: shortlisted for The Adventures of Catvinkle{{Cite web|date=2019-11-12|title='Missing Marvin' wins Children's Peace Literature Award|url=https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2019/11/12/142223/missing-marvin-wins-childrens-peace-literature-award/|access-date=2020-08-10|website=Books+Publishing|language=en-AU}}
• 2012 Indie Book Awards Book of the Year – Fiction, winner for The Street Sweeper{{cite web|title="Indie Book Awards - Winners 2012 & prior" |publisher= Australian Independent Booksellers|url=https://www.indiebookawards.com.au/prior-2012-winners|access-date= 17 April 2025}}
• 2012: Miles Franklin Award: longlisted for The Street Sweeper{{Cite web|url=http://www.milesfranklin.com.au/Default.aspx?PageID=6905065&A=SearchResult&SearchID=39927109&ObjectID=6905065&ObjectType=1 |title=Miles Franklin Literary Award, The 2012 Longlist |access-date=17 April 2025 |work=The Trust Company |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141104100137/http://www.milesfranklin.com.au/Default.aspx?PageID=6905065&A=SearchResult&SearchID=39927109&ObjectID=6905065&ObjectType=1 |archive-date=4 November 2014 }}
• 2005: Australian Film Institute (AFI) Awards, Best Adapted Screenplay: winner for Three Dollars
• 2005: Film Critics Circle of Australia, Best Screenplay – Adapted: winner for Three Dollars
• 2005: AWGIE Awards, Film Award, Feature: shortlisted for Three Dollars
• 2004: Commonwealth Writers Prize, South East Asia and South Pacific Region, Best Book: shortlisted for Seven Types of Ambiguity
• 2004: Queensland Premier's Literary Awards, Best Fiction Book: shortlisted for Seven Types of Ambiguity
• 2004: Miles Franklin Award: shortlisted for Seven Types of Ambiguity
• 2000: Arts Queensland Steele Rudd Australian Short Story Award: joint winner for The Reasons I Won't Be Coming
• 1999: Betty Trask Award for Commonwealth Writers Under 35 Years: winner for Three Dollars
• 1999: Queensland Premier's Literary Awards, Best Literary Work Advancing Public Debate: joint winner for Three Dollars
• 1999: Miles Franklin Award: shortlisted for Three Dollars
• 1998: The Age Book of the Year Award, Book of the Year: winner for Three Dollars
• 1998: The Age Book of the Year Award, Fiction Prize: winner for Three Dollars
• 1994: The Age Short Story Award: winner for The Reasons I Won't Be Coming

• Three Dollars (1998)
• Seven Types of Ambiguity (2003)
• The Street Sweeper (2011)
• Maybe the Horse Will Talk (2019)

• The Reasons I Won't Be Coming (1999)

• The Adventures of Catvinkle, illustrated by Laura Stitzel (2018)
• Catvinkle and the Missing Tulips, illustrated by Laura Stitzel (2020)

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070902041554/http://www.barristers.com.au/www/392/files/eperlman.jpg Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man] at [http://www.barristers.com.au/ barristers.com.au]
• [http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/programs/reading_victoria/20novels_06-07/reading_victoria_celebrities/perlman.html Q & A with Elliot Perlman] at the State Library of Victoria website
• [http://www.edrants.com/segundo/elliot-perlman-bss-429/ 2012 radio interview] (one hour) at The Bat Segundo Show

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Category:1964 births

Category:Living people

Category:20th-century Australian novelists

Category:Jewish Australian writers

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Category:Monash University alumni

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Category:Australian male novelists

Category:Australian male short story writers

Category:20th-century Australian short story writers

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Category:21st-century Australian lawyers

Category:20th-century Australian male writers

Category:21st-century Australian male writers