Thomas Keneally books, including 30 novels. He is particularly famed for his "Schindler's Ark" (1982) (later republished as "Schindler's List"), the first novel by an Australian to win the Booker Prize and is the basis of the film "Schindler's List". He had already been shortlisted for the Booker three times prior to that: 1972 for "The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith", 1975 for "Gossip from the Forest", and 1979 for "Confederates". Many of his novels are reworkings of historical material, although modern in their psychology and style. Keneally has also acted in a handful of films. He had a small role in Fred
Oskar Schindler while en route home from a film festival in Europe. Pfefferberg took the opportunity to tell Keneally the story of Oskar Schindler. He gave him copies of some materials he had on file, and Keneally soon decided to make a fictionalised treatment of the story. After extensive research and interviews with surviving "Schindlerjuden", his 1982 historical novel "Schindler's Ark" (published in the United States as "Schindler's List") was the result. The novel was adapted as the 1993 movie "Schindler's List" by Steven Spielberg. After acquiring the rights in 1983, Spielberg felt he was not ready emotionally or professionally to tackle