‘One of a kind’: Acclaimed writer David Malouf dies aged 92

One of Australia’s most celebrated literary figures, David Malouf, has died.

The Brisbane-born novelist, poet and essayist died in hospital on Wednesday night, aged 92. A defining voice in Australian literature, Malouf wrote novels including Remembering Babylon, An Imaginary Life and Ransom.

His longtime publisher, Meredith Curnow at Penguin Random House, said he died in a Gold Coast hospital after being diagnosed with a “short, aggressive illness” earlier in the week. She said he died in a calm and peaceful setting.

Curnow described him as “one of a kind”.

“The gentlest of men and the best of friends to so many writers and people,” she said.

Over his career, he won numerous awards, including the Miles Franklin Award, the International Dublin Literary Award and France’s Prix Femina Étranger, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.

Curnow said his influence on Australian literature was “absolutely enormous”.

“His stories are led by men and he was never afraid to burrow into both their minds and their hearts, and they were always very human. There were human interactions always at their core.”

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