David Malouf was born in 1934 in Brisbane, Australia. He attended Brisbane Grammar School and graduated from the University of Queensland. Malouf's first published work was "Interiors" in 1962. Since then, he has published eight poetry collections, eight novels, an autobiography and a play. He has also written the libretto for Richard Meale's opera, "Voss." He has been awarded the Prix Femina Etranger, the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and the Pascall Prize. David Malouf uses life in Australia as a major theme in his work, with much of his fiction recreating his childhood in Brisbane.