Mark dapin biography

Mark Dapin is an acclaimed journalist, novelist, historian and screenwriter. He’s also a Balmain local. We sat down to discuss boxing, corporate vampires and pubs.

You’re originally from the UK, what brought you to Australia?
Despair and conservatism really. It was 1988 and I lived in a shitty city called Coventry and couldn’t wait to escape. My girlfriend and I went travelling and ended up in Australia in 1989 on working holiday visas. I made up my work experience and landed a job as a proof-reader. It turned out my girlfriend was actually Australian, born in Toowoomba, so she got her passport, and when we married I got my residency. We eventually divorced and she returned to the UK – I stayed here. She’s now with my brother which makes for interesting family gatherings.

How did you end up in Balmain?
I remember walking through Elkington Park thinking ‘I want to live here’. It reminded me of the UK with all the historic pubs, but the houses were bigger, there was a beautiful harbour and the sun was shining. Years later, I learned that my Auntie was married to a brother of o

Mark Dapin

Mark Dapin is an acclaimed journalist, author, screenwriter and historian. He is the author of the novels King of the Cross, Spirit House and R&R. King of the Cross won the Ned Kelly Award for Best First Fiction, and Spirit House was longlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award, and shortlisted for the Age Book of the Year and the Royal Society for Literature’s Ondaatje Prize. R&R was shortlisted for a Ned Kelly Award. Mark holds a doctorate in military history. His history book The Nashos’ War was shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Literary Award for Non-Fiction, and won the NIB People’s Choice Award and an Alex Buzo Shortlist Award. He has also written three books of true crime: Public Enemies (shortlisted for a Ned Kelly Award), Prison Break and Carnage. He worked as consultant producer on Network Seven TV show Armed and Dangerous, and as screenwriter on Stan’s Wolf Creek 2. His website is at markdapin.com.

Mark Dapin

Australian journalist

Mark Dapin

Born1963 (age 61–62)

United Kingdom

Occupations
  • Journalist
  • author
  • historian
  • screenwriter
Alma materUniversity of New South Wales (PhD)

University of Warwick (BA [Hons]) University of Technology Sydney (MA)

Griffith University Queensland (BGS)
ThesisMyth Making and Memory: Australia, the Vietnam War and National Service (2018)
Doctoral advisorJeffrey Grey
Notable worksAustralia's Vietnam: Myth vs History (2019)
Websitehttp://markdapin.com

Mark Dapin (born 1963) is an Australian journalist, author, historian and screenwriter. He is best known for his long-running column in Good Weekend magazine.

Early life

Mark Dapin was born in Britain and migrated to Australia in 1989.

Career

Dapin was the founding chief sub-editor of the Australian Financial Review Magazine in 1995.[1] From 1998 to 2002, he was editor and then editor-in-chief of Ralph magazine. He has written for a variety of publications including The Sydney Morni

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