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Simon Cleary Simon Cleary i(A90873 works by)
Born: Established: 1968 Toowoomba, Toowoomba area, Darling Downs, Queensland, ;
Gender: Male
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BiographyHistory

'Simon Cleary, author of The Comfort of Figs (2008), grew up in a house in Toowoomba overlooking an enormous Moreton Bay Fig tree. Between 1986 and 1991 Cleary studied Arts (majoring in literature) and Law at the University of Queensland, . Following university he worked for many years as a public interest lawyer, including at Redfern Legal Centre in Sydney, and with the Legal Aid office in Queensland. He has recently returned to Brisbane after spending four years in Melbourne.

In 2006 Simon was Emerging Writer-in-Residence at the Queensland Writers' Centre.' (Biography provided by author).

Most Referenced Works

Awards for Works

y separately published work icon Closer to Stone St Lucia : University of Queensland Press , 2012 Z1847161 2012 single work novel 'The story of two brothers from ‘The Springs’ (a fictional former spa town near Brisbane) – one a soldier peacekeeper with the UN and one a sculptor. Set in 1993 in northern Africa (Morocco, Western Sahara and Algeria) and in the US years later, it follows the journey of Sebastian (Bas), the sculptor brother, who must go in search of his missing brother, Jack. His journey is a modern-day Heart of Darkness as he travels into the dangerous, war-torn, desert interior of northern Africa to discover what happened to his brother. What he finds there is not quite what he was expecting and has shocking consequences for him and his family. Through the story of two very different brothers, raised as Catholics, the novel delves into the rise of fundamentalist Islam and its culmination in the terrorist attacks of 9/11. However, the novel belongs to Bas who, through sculpting stone, attempts to find redemption from the dreadful events he witnesses in the desert in 1993.' Source: http://www.uqp.uq.edu.au/ (Sighted 08/03/2012).
2012 winner Queensland Literary Awards — The Courier-Mail People's Choice Queensland Book of the Year
y separately published work icon The Comfort of Figs St Lucia : University of Queensland Press , 2008 Z1488679 2008 single work novel '1939 As a burgeoning city emerges from its landscape, so too does a bridge that will transform it from a sleepy country town. Three young men work on the construction of this iconic steel bridge. Labouring high above the river in dangerous conditions, close bonds develop between them. But one slip can - and does - alter their lives forever. A generation later, Robbie, a young landscaper, grapples with his difficult relationship with his father whose past is inextricably linked with the famous cantilevered bridge. Robbie is also battling to save his future with his girlfriend Freya, after a violent assault by a stranger sends her spiralling into herself. The Comfort of Figs is the engrossing story of the birth of a city and the burden of a family secret. Its legacy is two monuments - one of nature and one of engineering - both of them unforgettable.' (Publication summary)
2005 winner Queensland Premier's Literary Awards — Best Manuscript of an Emerging Queensland Author
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Last amended 24 Mar 2010 10:53:37
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