Nicholas Hasluck

{{Short description|Author and former judge in Western Australia}} {{Use Australian English|date=February 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2014}}

{{Infobox writer  | image = Nicholas Hasluck at Mosman Library (cropped).jpg | name = Nicholas Hasluck | honorific_suffix = AM | caption = Nicholas Hasluck at the Mosman Library,<br>July 2011 | pseudonym = | birth_name = Nicholas Paul Hasluck | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1942|10|17|df=y}} | birth_place = Canberra, A.C.T. | death_date = | death_place = | parents = {{ubl|Paul Hasluck|Alexandra Hasluck}} | occupation = Novelist, judge | language = English | nationality = Australian | period = | notableworks = ''The Bellarmine Jug'',<br>''The Country Without Music'' | awards = The Age Book of the Year, Western Australian Premier's Book Awards | genre = | subject = | movement = | influences = | influenced = | signature = | website = }}

'''Nicholas Paul Hasluck''' (born 17 October 1942) is an Australian novelist, poet, short story writer, and former judge.<ref name=Austlit>{{cite web|title= Austlit — Nicholas Hasluck |publisher= Austlit|url=https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A32097|access-date= 18 September 2025}}</ref>

==Early life== Nicholas Hasluck was born in Canberra. His father, Sir Paul Hasluck was a minister in the Federal Government under Robert Menzies, and was later appointed Governor-General of Australia. Nicholas went to school at Scotch College, Perth, and Canberra Grammar School, before studying law at University of Western Australia (1963) and Oxford (1966).

==Legal career== After completing his studies, Hasluck worked briefly in Fleet Street in London as an editorial assistant before returning to Australia in 1967 to work as a solicitor, initially in partnership with Robert Holmes à Court.<ref>{{cite web|title= Michael Robert Holmes à Court (1937–1990) by John McIlwraith |publisher=Australian Dictionary of Biography|url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/holmes-a-court-michael-robert-12647|access-date= 18 September 2025}}</ref> He was a partner in the law firm Keall Brinsden from 1971 to 1984. While working as a barrister from 1985 to 2000 he was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1988 and served as part-time President of the Equal Opportunity Tribunal (WA). He was deputy chair of the Australia Council from 1978 to 1982 and was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/869695|title=Nicholas Paul Hasluck|last=|first=|date=|website=honours.pmc.gov.au|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-12-19}}</ref> He served as Chair of the Literature Board from 1998 to 2001 and as Chair of the Art Gallery of Western Australia from 2014 to 2018.

On 1 May 2000, Hasluck was appointed a judge on the Supreme Court of Western Australia, which is the highest ranking court in the State of Western Australia. He retired as a judge on 5 May 2010.

==Writing career== Hasluck started writing at school, producing poetry and essays for the school magazine and was first professionally published in 1964 with a poem appearing in Westerly literary magazine.<ref>Baker (1986) p. 163.</ref>

Hasluck's books fall into two categories, which he describes as "moral thriller genre and satire", with the thriller interesting him the most.<ref>Baker (1986) p. 162.</ref> He cites the American writers William Faulkner, Saul Bellow, Norman Mailer and Gore Vidal as his main literary influences.<ref>Baker (1986) p. 177.</ref>

In 2006, Hasluck became Chairperson of the Commonwealth Writers' Prize. He completed his term in 2011.

==Awards==

* 1984 - winner The Age Book of the Year Award Imaginative Writing Prize and Book of the Year ''The Bellarmine Jug''<ref>{{cite web|title="Book council president" |newspaper= Canberra Times|date= 8 December 1984|publisher= The Canberra Times, 8 December 1984, p3|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article122533199|access-date= 4 April 2025}}</ref> * 1987 - shortlisted Miles Franklin Award for ''Truant State''<ref>{{cite web|title="Book award down to five" |publisher= The Age, 23 April 1988, p74|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/2526435376|access-date= 18 September 2025|id= {{ProQuest|2526435376}}}}</ref> * 1991 - shortlisted Miles Franklin Award for ''The Country Without Music''<ref>{{cite web |title="Malouf's sixth novel wins Miles Franklin award" |publisher=The Canberra Times, 26 June 1991, p5 |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article118153655 |access-date=12 July 2023}}</ref> * 1991 - joint winner Western Australian Premier's Book Awards for ''The Country Without Music''<ref>{{cite web|title="Australian Literary Awards: Western Australian Premier's" |publisher= University Libraries|url=https://guides.lib.uw.edu/c.php?g=341672&p=2299464|access-date= 4 April 2025}}</ref> * 1999 - shortlisted Western Australian Premier's Book Awards for ''Our Man K''<ref>{{cite web|title= Austlit — ''Our Man K'' by Nicholas Hasluck — Awards |publisher= Austlit|url=https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/C102560?mainTabTemplate=workAwards|access-date= 18 September 2025}}</ref>

==Bibliography==

===Novels===

* ''Quarantine'' (1978)<ref>{{Citation | author1=Hasluck, Nicholas | author2=Brissenden collection | title=Quarantine | date=23 August 1978 | publication-date=1978 | publisher=The Macmillan Co. of Australia | isbn=978-0-333-23011-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article110898792 |title=TENSION REDUCED |newspaper=The Canberra Times |volume=52 |issue=15,645 |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=23 July 1978 |accessdate=9 June 2023 |page=13 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> * ''The Blue Guitar'' (1980)<ref>{{Citation | author1=Hasluck, Nicholas | title=The blue guitar | date=23 August 1980 | publication-date=1980 | publisher=Macmillan | isbn=978-0-333-29898-5}}</ref> * ''The Hand That Feeds You'' (1982)<ref>{{Citation | author1=Hasluck, Nicholas | title=The hand that feeds you : a satiric nightmare | date=23 August 1982 | publication-date=1982 | publisher=Fremantle Arts Centre Press | isbn=978-0-909144-55-5}}</ref> * ''The Bellarmine Jug'' (1984) * ''Truant State'' (1987)<ref>{{Citation | author1=Nicholas P. Hasluck | title=Truant state | date=23 August 1987 | publication-date=1987 | publisher=Ringwood, Victoria, Australia Penguin Books | isbn=978-0-14-010466-0}}</ref> * ''The Country Without Music'' (1990)<ref>{{Citation | author1=Nicholas P. Hasluck | title=The country without music | date=23 August 1990 | publication-date=1990 | publisher=Ringwood, Victoria Viking; assisted by the Literature Board of the Australia Council | isbn=978-0-670-83514-0}}</ref> * ''The Blosseville File'' (1992)<ref>{{Citation | author1=Hasluck, Nicholas | title=The Blosseville file | date=23 August 1992 | publication-date=1992 | publisher=Penguin Books | isbn=978-0-14-015988-2}}</ref> * ''A Grain of Truth'' (1994)<ref>{{Citation | author1=Nicholas P. Hasluck | title=A grain of truth | date=23 August 1994 | publication-date=1994 | publisher=Ringwood, Vic Penguin | isbn=978-0-14-023769-6}}</ref> * ''Our Man K'' (1999)<ref>{{Citation | author1=Hasluck, Nicholas | title=Our man K | date=23 August 1999 | publication-date=1999 | publisher=Penguin | isbn=978-0-14-028249-8}}</ref> * ''Dismissal'' (2011)<ref>{{Citation | author1=Hasluck, Nicholas | title=Dismissal | date=2011 | publisher=Fourth Estate | isbn=978-0-7322-9303-1 }}</ref> * ''Rooms in the City'' (2014)<ref>{{Citation | author1=Hasluck, Nicholas | title=Rooms in the city : a novel | date=23 August 2023 | publication-date=2014 | publisher=Arcadia an imprint of Australian Scholarly Publishing | isbn=978-1-925003-68-0}}</ref> * ''The Bradshaw Case'' (2016)<ref>{{Citation | author1=Hasluck, Nicholas | title=The Bradshaw case | date=28 July 2016 | publication-date=2016 | publisher=Arcadia | isbn=978-1-925333-48-0}}</ref> * ''Che's Last Embrace'' (2022)

===Short story collections===

* ''The Hat on the Letter 'O' and Other Stories'' (1978; revised edition 1990)<ref>{{Citation | author1=Hasluck, Nicholas | author2=Walker, Peter | title=The hat on the letter O and other stories | date=23 August 1978 | publication-date=1978 | publisher=Fremantle Arts Centre Press | isbn=978-0-909144-11-1}}</ref> * ''Wobbling the Whiteboard'' (under the pseudonym "Kim Lee") (2003)<ref>{{Citation | author1=Lee, Kim Pat | title=Wobbling the whiteboard : five satirical squibs | date=23 August 2023 | publication-date=2003 | publisher=Freshwater Bay Press | isbn=978-1-74008-242-6}}</ref>

===Poetry===

* ''Anchor and Other Poems'' (1976)<ref>{{Citation | author1=Hasluck, Nicholas | title=Anchor and other poems | date=23 August 1976 | publication-date=1976 | publisher=Fremantle Arts Centre Press | edition=2nd | isbn=978-0-909144-02-9}}</ref> * ''On the Edge'' (1981)<ref>{{cite web|title= ''On the Edge'' by William Grono and Nicholas Hasluck |publisher= National Library of Australia|url= https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/10218 |access-date= 18 September 2025}}</ref> * ''A Dream Divided'' (2004)<ref>{{Citation | author1=Hasluck, Nicholas | title=A dream divided | date=23 August 2023 | publication-date=2005 | publisher=Access Press | edition=1st | isbn=978-0-86445-175-0}}</ref>

===Non-fiction===

* ''Chinese Journey'' (1985) (with Christopher Koch) * ''Collage: Recollections and Images of the University of Western Australia'' (1987), essays * ''Offcuts From a Legal Literary Life'' (1993), essays<ref>{{Citation | author1=Hasluck, Nicholas | title=Offcuts : from a legal literary life | date=1993 | publisher=University of Western Australia Press | isbn=978-1-875560-17-2 }}</ref> * ''The Legal Labyrinth'' (2003) * ''The Hasluck Banner '' (2006) * ''Somewhere in the Atlas: The Road to Khe Sanh and Other Travel Pieces'' (2007)<ref>{{Citation | author1=Hasluck, Nicholas | title=Somewhere in the atlas : the road to Khe Sanh and other travel pieces | date=2007 | publisher=Freshwater Bay Press | isbn=978-1-74008-440-6 }}</ref> * ''Legal Limits'' (2013) * ''Jigsaw: Patterns in law and literature'' (2018) *''Beyond the Equator: An Australian Memoir'' (2019)<ref>{{cite web|title= ''Beyond the Equator: An Australian Memoir'' by Nicholas Hasluck|publisher= National Library of Australia|url= https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/8127214 |access-date= 18 September 2025}}</ref> * ''Rollo's Way'' (2020)

===Plays===

* ''Van M'' (1990)

===Selected articles=== * {{cite journal |title=Keating takes the Comets on a learning curve |journal=Quadrant |volume=39 |issue=7–8 |date=Jul–Aug 1995 |pages=12–15}} * {{cite journal  |date=Jul–Aug 1996 |title=Kafka's penal colony revisited |journal=Quadrant |volume=40 |issue=7–8 [328] |pages=45–47}} * {{cite journal |title=Gore Vidal: Radical Contrarian |journal=Quadrant |date=Jan–Feb 2015}} * {{cite journal |title=Judicial Activism |journal=Quadrant |date=May 2016}} * {{cite journal |title=Recognition Roulette |journal=Quadrant |date=Oct 2017}}

==References== {{reflist}}

==References== *Baker, Candida (1986) ''Yacker: Australian writers talk about their work'', Sydney, Picador *Daniel, Helen (1988) ''Liars: Australian New Novelists'', Melbourne, Penguin

==See also== {{portal|Poetry}} * Judiciary of Australia

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hasluck, Nicholas Paul}} Category:1942 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century Australian novelists Category:21st-century Australian novelists Category:Australian male novelists Category:Australian poets Category:Australian male short story writers Category:Members of the Order of Australia Category:Judges of the Supreme Court of Western Australia Category:Australian male poets Category:20th-century Australian short story writers Category:21st-century Australian short story writers Category:20th-century Australian male writers Category:21st-century Australian male writers Category:Australian memoirists Category:Quadrant (magazine) people Category:People educated at Canberra Grammar School Category:Australian King's Counsel