Christopher John Koch

Jean-François Vernay (Independent Scholar - Australia)

Ed. by Paul Sharrad, University of Wollongong
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 9.1.1: Australian Writing and Culture.
Vol. editors: Susan Kossew (Monash University)

Dates

Born 16 Jul 1932
Activity 1951-ongoing

Places

Born in Tasmania
Active in Australia

Activities

Primary

Novelist

Other

Biographer
Essayist
Literary Critic/ Historian
Poet

Resources

Koch's Works

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Christopher John Koch was born of an Anglican father and of a Catholic mother on July 16th 1932 in Hobart, Tasmania, a birthplace he describes in

Crossing the Gap

as “a sailors” town; a convict town”. He grew up with his brother Philip in the small suburb of Newtown, and later in Lenah Valley, where his sister Susan was born. Koch’s Anglo-Irish and German lineage has influenced his Australian novels in terms of themes, characters and setting. Peter Carey’s statement that Australians are “historically both oppressors and victims” is clearly illustrated by Koch’s two Irish great-great-grandmothers: one, Jane Devereux, married Captain James Hurburgh whose duty was to pursue convicts who fled Van Dieman’s Land; the other, Margaret O’Meara was a servant girl from Tipperary…

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2038 words

Citation: Vernay, Jean-François. "Christopher John Koch". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 14 December 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2549, accessed 19 April 2024.]

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