Thomas Michael Keneally was born in Sydney on 7 October 1935 and educated at St Patrick's College in Strathfield. He initially trained to become a Catholic priest at St Patrick's Seminary, Manly, before moving into a teaching career. While teaching he wrote his first novel, The place at Whitton, published in 1964. In 1965, Thomas married Judy Martin, a nurse, and they had two daughters named Margaret and Jane. Whitton was followed by other plays and novels, including Bring larks and heroes (1967) and Three cheers for the paraclete (1968), both of which won the Miles Franklin Award for Australian literature. His most famous novel, Schindler's ark (1982), also known as Schindler's list, became the first Australian novel to win the Booker Prize. In 1983 he received the Order of Australia for services to Australian literature.