Kris Kneen (formerly Krissy Kneen) is a Brisbane-based writer. Kneen has been shortlisted four times for the Queensland Premier's Literary Award.
Career
Kneen has written two collections of erotica—Swallow the Sound (2007) and Triptych (2011)—as well as four novels. They're also the author of three memoirs. Affection (2009) deals with their childhood and young adulthood through the lens of sexuality, The Three Burials of Lotty Kneen (2021) is principally about their grandmother, and Fat Girl Dancing (2023) concerns their relationship with their body. Their sole poetry collection, Eating my Grandmother (2015), won the Thomas Shapcott Poetry Prize.
They appeared in four events at the 2017 Brisbane Writers Festival.
Style and critical reception
Kneen's work has been described as "transgressive, sardonic, lyrical, comic; irresistibly erotic yet also romantic" and "acclaimed for its fearless honesty".
Awards and nominations 2010: Australian Book Industry Awards, Shortlist: Affection 2005: Queensland Premier's Literary Awards: Emerging Manuscript, Shortlist: His Father's Son 2007: Queensland Premier's Literary Awards: Emerging Queensland Author Manuscript Award, Shortlist: Paper Dolls, Holding Hands 2010: Queensland Premier's Literary Awards: Non-Fiction Book Award, Shortlist: Affection 2018: Stella Prize, Shortlist: An Uncertain Grace. 2014: Thomas Shapcott Poetry Prize, Winner: Eating My Grandmother: A Grief Cycle 2019: Queensland Literary Awards: Queensland Premier's Award for a work of State Significance, Shortlist: Wintering 2024: Victorian Premier's Prize for Nonfiction, Shortlist: Fat Girl Dancing
Personal life In 2009 Kneen moved to New Farm, Brisbane with their husband.
Their grandmother was born in Egypt to a Slovenian mother and a father who had lived in Egypt for at least three generations and whose mother was Syrian, and most likely Jewish.
Published works Novels Swallow the Sound, Eatbooks, 2007, Triptych, An Erotic Adventure: 3 Stories in 1, Text Publishing, 2011, Krissy Kneen – National Library of Australia Steeplechase, Text Publishing, 2013, The Adventures of Holly White and the Incredible Sex Machine, Text Publishing, 2015, An Uncertain Grace, Text Publishing, 2017, Wintering, Text Publishing, 2018, Rite of Spring, Transit Lounge, 2026,
Memoirs
Affection: A Memoir of Love, Sex & Intimacy, Text Publishing, 2009, The Three Burials of Lotty Kneen: Travels with My Grandmother's Ashes, Text Publishing, 2021, Fat Girl Dancing, Text Publishing, 2023,
Poetry Eating My Grandmother: A Grief Cycle, University of Queensland Press, 2015,
Contributed chapter "The university and the beast: a fairy tale", pp. 263–276, in: Destroying the Joint, edited by Jane Caro, Read How You Want, 2015,
References
Further reading
External links
Kris Kneen, Text Publishing