David Francis

David Francis (born 12 November 1958) is an Australian novelist, lawyer and academic.

Life David Francis was born in the Mornington Bush Nursing Hospital in Victoria, Australia on 12 November 1958. His mother, Judith Francis, was a prominent Australian horsewoman. Francis spent much of his early life between Mount Eliza, where he attended and was subsequently Dux Litterarum of The Peninsula School, and his historic family horse farm, "Tooradin Estate".

Francis studied arts and law at Monash University in Melbourne where he received his BA and LLB (hons.). After graduating, Francis worked as a solicitor at Allens in Melbourne for two years. He subsequently travelled to the US where he rode on the US show-jumping circuit based outside New York. Agapanthus Tango was first published by HarperCollins/Fourth Estate in the United Kingdom and then by HarperCollins in Australia. Since then, it has been translated, and re-published, in Germany (2002), Italy (2002), Holland (2002) and France (2004). In 2005 it was published in the United States with the new title, The Great Inland Sea, by MacAdam/Cage. The San Francisco Chronicle featured The Great Inland Sea as an "Editor's recommendation", writing: "David Francis may not be a poet, but he sure writes like one. His prose is lean but dreamy, full of sensual detail [...] It's all done with skill and elegance."

In 2008, Francis's second novel, Stray Dog Winter was published Allen & Unwin in Australia, and by MacAdam/Cage in the US. The novel centres on a love story that is set in 1980s Moscow. Booklist described Stray Dog Winter as "Vibrant with the discordant images of political repression and smoldering sexuality, Francis ethereally transports readers to a preternatural time where nothing and no one are what they seem". Los Angeles Magazine said "Francis's prose has the sparse elegance of a Xeriscape. Every detail holds water". The Australian Book Review called it "An impressive political thriller, beautifully crafted with a spectacular climax." Stray Dog Winter was named as a 2008 "Book of the Year" in The Advocate, "Australian Novel of the Year" in the Australian Literary Review (2008),

Stray Dog Winter was optioned by White Hot Productions in Australia and is currently being prepared as a limited series for television in the United States. Francis's third novel, Wedding Bush Road, was released to critical acclaim in 2016 in the United States by Counterpoint Press and in Australia by Brio. The Library Journal said: “In prose as severely beautiful as the land depicted, Francis takes us into the bleeding heart of family.” Los Angeles Review of Books said: “Francis's prose is urgent and at times breathless, packed with sense–rich descriptions. Poetic images swirl off the page . . . a rich, beautifully textured novel, unforgettable in its setting and the people who live there.” Pulitzer Prize winner Jane Smiley wrote: “Wedding Bush Road is his best book yet!” Nathan Hill said: “David Francis has given us a masterpiece, a novel for anyone who's ever left their hometown.” Janet Fitch exclaimed: “Gorgeous, dangerous and utterly captivating!”

Francis's work has appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Elegant Variation, Wet Ink, The Advocate, the Southern California Review, Best Australian Short Stories (2010 and 2015), Griffith Review, Meanjin, The Los Angeles Times, Best Australian Love Stories, and The Harvard Review.

Francis’ poetry has been published in The Rattling Wall and anthologized in Slow Lightning, Impractical Poetry, and Astonished Poetry. Francis has received numerous writing fellowships including to the Cité internationale des arts in Paris (2002, 2004, 2007 and 2023) and to Hawthornden Castle in Scotland in 2016, and has appeared at more than fifty book festivals and performed as moderator or featured author in more than 100 literary events on three continents, from Perth to Paris. His radio stories have been broadcast on Australian Broadcasting Corporation and elsewhere, including Postcard to Tooradin and A Stage in My Life , both featured on The Friday Review on ABC radio. Francis has taught creative writing at Occidental College, University of California, Los Angeles, and for the Masters of Professional Writing program at the University of Southern California, where he is a member of the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities .

Achievements and awards 2002. Awarded the Australian Literature Fund Fellowship to the Kessing Studio in Paris. 2010 Commendation of the Fellowship of Australian Writers National Literary Award. 2010 American Library Association, Barbara Gittings Literature Award. 2019 Board of Trustees, PEN International

List of works

Novels Agapanthus Tango – Great Inland Sea – Stray Dog Winter – Wedding Bush Road -

Short fiction "How's It Going Peter Pan?" (Southern California Review (1.2), 2008) "Daisy on the Bridge" (Wet Ink, 2008) "Once Removed" (Best Australian Stories of 2010, Black Inc, 2010) "Parts Unknown" – (Meanjin, 2012)

Non-fiction "No Jesus Man" - (Griffith Review, 2012) "Watching Australia Burn" - (Los Angeles Times, 2020)