The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith


The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith is a 1972 Booker Prize-nominated novel by Thomas Keneally, and a 1978 Australian film of the same name directed by Fred Schepisi. The novel is based on the life of bushranger Jimmy Governor, the subject of an earlier book by Frank Clune.

Story outline

The story is written from the perspective of Jimmy Blacksmith, an Indigenous Australian man on a mission of revenge. The story is a fictionalised retelling of the life of the infamous Indigenous Bushranger Jimmy Governor.
Keneally has said were he to write the novel in the present day, he would not presume to write in the voice of an Indigenous Australian.

Awards

The novel was nominated for the Booker Prize in 1972, losing to John Berger's G..
The film won the Best Original Music Score, Best Actress in a Lead Role and Best Actor in a Supporting Role and was nominated for 9 more awards at the Australian Film Institute for 1978. It was also nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 1978 Cannes Film Festival.

Other

'The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith' by Australian Roots-Rock band The Groovesmiths is also based on the story.