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Biography
Australian

Christos Tsiolkas

1965

Christos Tsiolkas is one of Australia's most important contemporary novelists, known for raw, confrontational fiction that examines class, race, masculinity, and the tensions of multicultural Australia. The Slap (2008) — about the fallout when a man slaps someone else's child at a suburban barbecue — was adapted into Australian and American television series and won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize. Damascus (2019), about the early Christians, was his most ambitious work.

Past sales0
PeriodContemporary
NationalityAustralian
1. Biography

A short life of the author

Christos Tsiolkas (b. 1965) was born on 17 April 1965 in Melbourne, Australia, to Greek immigrant parents. He studied at the University of Melbourne.

Life and Career

Loaded (1995) — about a young Greek-Australian man’s drug-fuelled night in Melbourne — was his debut, adapted into the 1998 film Head On. Dead Europe (2005) — about a Greek-Australian photographer who travels to Europe and encounters antisemitism, violence, and supernatural horror — was controversial.

The Slap (2008) — structured in eight chapters, each from the perspective of a different character present at a suburban Melbourne barbecue where a man slaps another couple’s misbehaving child — was his breakthrough. The incident ripples through the community, exposing tensions around class, immigration, parenting, and masculinity. It won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize and was adapted as both an Australian (2011) and American (2015, NBC) television series.

Barracuda (2013) — about a working-class swimmer driven by rage and ambition — and Damascus (2019) — a novel about the early Christians, centred on Paul of Tarsus, depicting the first decades of Christianity as violent, ecstatic, and politically charged — continued his exploration of power, belief, and the body.

Key Works

  • The Slap (2008)
  • Damascus (2019)
  • Barracuda (2013)

Collecting Tsiolkas

Australian editions (Allen & Unwin) are the true firsts. The Slap (2008) brings $10–$25.