The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith is a 1972 Booker Prize-nominated novel by Thomas Keneally

Thomas Keneally

Thomas Michael Keneally, AO is an Australian novelist, playwright and author of non-fiction. He is best known for writing Schindler's Ark, the Booker Prize-winning novel of 1982 which was inspired by the efforts of Poldek Pfefferberg, a Holocaust survivor...

, and a 1978 Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n film of the same name directed by Fred Schepisi. The novel is based on the life of bushranger Jimmy Governor

Jimmy Governor

Jimmy Governor was one of the Governor brothers, two Indigenous Australian men who committed a series of murders in the Central West region of New South Wales around the turn of the twentieth century....

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The story is written through the eyes of an exploited Aborigine who explodes with rage. It is based on an actual incident. Keneally has said he would not now presume to write in the voice of an Aborigine, but would have written the story as seen by a white character.

Awards

The novel was nominated for the Booker Prize

Man Booker Prize

The Man Booker Prize for Fiction is a literary prize awarded each year for the best original full-length novel, written in the English language, by a citizen of the Commonwealth of Nations, Ireland, or Zimbabwe. The winner of the Man Booker Prize is generally assured of international renown and...

 in 1972, losing to John Berger

John Berger

John Peter Berger is an English art critic, novelist, painter and author. His novel G. won the 1972 Booker Prize, and his essay on art criticism Ways of Seeing, written as an accompaniment to a BBC series, is often used as a university text.-Education:Born in Hackney, London, England, Berger was...

's G.

G. (novel)

G. is a 1972 novel by John Berger. The novel's setting is pre-First World War Europe, and its protagonist, named "G.", is a Don Juan or Casanova-like lover of women who gradually comes to political consciousness after misadventures across the continent...

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The film won the Best Original Music Score (Bruce Smeaton), Best Actress in a Lead Role (Angela Punch McGregor) and Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Ray Barrett) and was nominated for 9 more awards at the Australian Film Institute

Australian Film Institute

The Australian Film Institute was founded in 1958 as a non-profit organisation devoted to developing an active film culture in Australia and fostering engagement between the general public and the Australian film industry...

 (AFI) for 1978. It was also nominated for the Palme d'Or

Palme d'Or

The Palme d'Or is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival and is presented to the director of the best feature film of the official competition. It was introduced in 1955 by the organising committee. From 1939 to 1954, the highest prize was the Grand Prix du Festival International du...

 (Golden Palm) at the 1978 Cannes Film Festival

1978 Cannes Film Festival

The 31st Cannes Film Festival was held on May 16-30. This festival saw the introduction of a new non-competitive section, 'Un Certain Regard', which replaces 'Les Yeux Fertiles' , 'L'Air du temps' and 'Le Passé composé'.- Jury :*Alan J...

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Other

'The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith' by Australian Roots-Rock band The Groovesmiths

The Groovesmiths

-Demonstrations Of Intent:The band's debut EP features 5 original songs, written by Gavin Shoesmith.# "Bushranger" – 3:51# "Lonely" – 4:05# "Rebirth" – 5:04# "Viva La Revolution" – 3:33# "Oh The Sun Is Shining" – 4:35...

is also based on the story.