Christos Tsiolkas

• Name — Christos Tsiolkas • Birthplace — Melbourne, Victoria, Australia • Born — 1965 • Education — University of Melbourne • Occupation — Author, playwright, screenwriter

Tsiolkas was born and raised in Melbourne with his Greek immigrant parents, and was educated at Blackburn High School. Tsiolkas completed his Arts Degree at the University of Melbourne in 1987. He co-edited the student newspaper Farrago in 1987.

Tsiolkas' first novel, Loaded (1995), about an alienated gay youth in Melbourne, was adapted as the feature film Head On (1998) by director Ana Kokkinos, starring Alex Dimitriades. His fourth novel, The Slap, was published in 2008, and won several awards as well as being longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award. It was also highly successful commercially; it was the fourth-highest selling book by an Australian author in 2009.

Tsiolkas is gay and identifies as a self-proclaimed "wog." He is a Richmond Football Club supporter and of Greek heritage.

• Who's Afraid of the Working Class? (with Andrew Bovell, Melissa Reeves and Patricia Cornelius, 1999) • Elektra AD (1999) • Viewing Blue Poles (2000) • Fever (with Andrew Bovell, Melissa Reeves and Patricia Cornelius, 2002) • Dead Caucasians (2002) • Non Parlo di Salo (with Spiro Economopoulos, 2005) • The Hit (with Netta Yashin 2006) • The Audition (with Melissa Reeves, Milad Norouzi, Patricia Cornelius, Sahra Davoudi, Tes Lyssiotis and Wahibe Moussa, produced by Outer Urban Projects, 2019 and 2024) • Loaded (adapted from the book, with Dan Giovannoni, 2023)

• Thug (1998), short film, with Spiro Economopoulos) • Saturn's Return (2001), a telemovie starring Joel Edgerton and Damian Walshe-Howling • Little Tornadoes (2021), co-written with director Aaron Wilson