Peter Corris

Peter Robert Corris (8 May 1942 – 30 August 2018)^[1][2][3] was an Australian academic, historian, journalist and a novelist of historical^[4] and crime fiction.^[5] As crime fiction writer, he was described as "the Godfather of contemporary Australian crime-writing", particularly for his Cliff Hardy novels.^[5]

Corris' secondary school education was at Melbourne High School.^[2][6] He was a Bachelor level student at the University of Melbourne, then gained a Master of Arts in history at Monash University.^[2] He studied at the Australian National University where he was awarded a PhD in history on the topic of the South Seas Islander slave trade (Kanakas).^[1] He continued these studies as a university lecturer, but later became a journalist, being a literary editor of the National Times. He recalled "I got sick of the literary editor shit. I got fucking sick of new books, beautiful new hardbacks flowing in every week in their dust covers, filling the cupboard up. For the first year or so I thought, “This is heaven.”... It was a dream job for 18 months but it got to the stage where I hated the look of a new book."^[7]

The first Cliff Hardy book was The Dying Trade. Corris later recalled "I’d already finished the second one because I enjoyed doing the first one so much, and had started a third one, and well, the ball just got rolling, even though it took about 5 years for the first one to get published."^[7]

He was married to writer Jean Bedford.^[8]

Peter Corris wrote a book that provided deep insights into his life living with type-1 diabetes.^[9] Some of his novels have diabetic subplots. In January 2017, Corris announced that he would no longer be writing novels owing to 'creeping blindness' because of his diabetes.^[10]

• Ned Kelly Awards for Crime Writing, Lifetime Achievement, 1999: winner
• Ned Kelly Awards for Crime Writing, Best Fiction, 2004: nominated for Master's Mates
• Ned Kelly Awards for Crime Writing, Best Fiction, 2006: shortlisted for Saving Billie
• Ned Kelly Awards for Crime Writing, Best Fiction, 2007: shortlisted for The Undertow
• Ned Kelly Awards for Crime Writing, Best Fiction, 2008: nominated for Appeal Denied
• Ned Kelly Awards for Crime Writing, Best Fiction, 2008: nominated for Open File
• Ned Kelly Awards for Crime Writing, Best Fiction, 2009: winner for Deep Water^[11]

• The Dying Trade (1980)
• White Meat (Sydney, Pan Books, 1981); ISBN 0-330-27018-4
• The Marvellous Boy (Sydney, Pan Books, 1982); ISBN 0-330-27019-2
• The Empty Beach (Sydney, Allen & Unwin, 1983); ISBN 0-86861-229-4
• Heroin Annie and Other Cliff Hardy Stories (Sydney, Allen & Unwin, 1984); ISBN 0-86861-399-1
• Make Me Rich (Sydney, Allen & Unwin, 1985); ISBN 0-86861-660-5
• The Big Drop and Other Cliff Hardy Stories (Sydney, Allen & Unwin, 1985); ISBN 0-86861-767-9
• The Greenwich Apartments (Sydney, Allen & Unwin, 1986); ISBN 0-04-820030-1
• Deal Me Out (Sydney, Allen & Unwin, 1986); ISBN 0-86861-978-7
• The January Zone (Sydney, Allen & Unwin, 1987); ISBN 0-04-200050-5
• Man in the Shadows: A Short Novel and Six Stories (Sydney, Allen & Unwin, 1988); ISBN 0-04-320226-8
• O'Fear (Sydney, Bantam, 1990); ISBN 0-947189-73-4^[12]
• Wet Graves (Sydney, Bantam, 1991); ISBN 1-86359-025-0
• Aftershock (Sydney, Bantam, 1991); ISBN 1-86359-028-5
• Beware of the Dog (Sydney, Bantam, 1992); ISBN 1-86359-054-4
• Burn and Other Stories (Sydney, Bantam, 1993); ISBN 1-86359-069-2
• Matrimonial Causes (Sydney, Bantam, 1993); ISBN 1-86359-077-3
• Casino (Sydney, Bantam, 1994); ISBN 1-86359-113-3
• The Washington Club (Sydney, Bantam, 1997); ISBN 0-7338-0031-9
• Forget Me If You Can: Cliff Hardy Stories (Sydney, Bantam, 1997); ISBN 0-7338-0066-1
• The Reward (Sydney, Bantam, 1997); ISBN 0-7338-0070-X
• The Black Prince (Sydney, Bantam, 1998); ISBN 1-86325-132-4
• The Other Side of Sorrow (Sydney, Bantam, 1999); ISBN 1-86325-185-5
• Lugarno (Sydney, Bantam, 2001); ISBN 1-86325-298-3
• Salt and Blood (Sydney, Bantam, 2002); ISBN 1-86325-374-2
• Master's Mates (Sydney, Allen & Unwin, 2003); ISBN 1-74114-136-2
• The Coast Road (Sydney, Allen & Unwin, 2004); ISBN 1-74114-384-5
• Taking Care of Business: Cliff Hardy Cases (Sydney, Allen & Unwin, 2004); ISBN 1-74114-419-1
• Saving Billie (Sydney, Allen & Unwin, 2005); ISBN 1-74115-621-1
• The Undertow (Sydney, Allen & Unwin, 2006); ISBN 978-1-74114-748-3
• Appeal Denied (Sydney, Allen & Unwin, 2007); ISBN 978-1-74175-096-6^[13]
• The Big Score: Cliff Hardy Cases (Sydney, Allen & Unwin, 2007); ISBN 978-1-74175-223-6
• Open File (Sydney, Allen & Unwin, 2008); ISBN 978-1-74175-417-9
• Deep Water (Sydney, Allen & Unwin, 2009); ISBN 978-1-74175-677-7
• Torn Apart (Sydney, Allen & Unwin, 2010); ISBN 978-1-74237-536-6
• Follow the Money (Sydney, Allen & Unwin, 2011); ISBN 978-1-74237-379-9
• Comeback (Sydney, Allen & Unwin, 2012); ISBN 978-1-74237-724-7
• The Dunbar Case (Sydney, Allen & Unwin, 2013); ISBN 978-1-74331-022-9
• Silent Kill (Sydney, Allen & Unwin, 2014); ISBN 978-1-74331-637-5
• Gun Control (Sydney, Allen & Unwin, 2015); ISBN 978-1-76011-206-6
• That Empty Feeling (Sydney, Allen & Unwin, 2016); ISBN 978-1-76011-207-3
• Win, Lose or Draw (Sydney, Allen & Unwin, 2017); ISBN 978-1-76029-478-6

• Pokerface (Melbourne, Penguin, 1985); ISBN 0-14-008587-4
• The Baltic Business (Melbourne, Penguin, 1988); ISBN 0-14-010842-4
• The Kimberly Killing (Melbourne, Penguin, 1988); ISBN 0-14-011506-4
• The Cargo Club (Melbourne, Penguin, 1990); ISBN 0-14-012803-4
• The Azanian Action (Sydney, Angus & Robertson, 1991); ISBN 0-207-17213-7
• The Japanese Job (Sydney, Angus & Robertson, 1992); ISBN 0-207-17528-4
• The Time Trap (Sydney, HarperCollins, 1994); ISBN 0-7322-5016-1
• The Vietnam Volunteer (Lismore, NSW, Southern Cross University Press, 2000); ISBN 1-875855-45-9

• Box Office Browning (Melbourne, Viking, 1987); ISBN 0-670-81696-5
• Beverly Hills Browning (Melbourne, Penguin, 1987); ISBN 0-14-010739-8
• Browning Takes Off (Melbourne, Penguin, 1989); ISBN 0-14-012159-5
• Browning in Buckskin (Melbourne, Penguin, 1991); ISBN 0-14-014699-7
• Browning P.I. (Sydney, Angus & Robertson, 1992); ISBN 0-207-17415-6
• Browning Battles On (Sydney, Angus & Robertson, 1993); ISBN 0-207-17613-2
• Browning Sahib (Sydney, HarperCollins, 1994); ISBN 0-7322-5043-9
• Browning Without a Cause (Sydney, ETT Imprint, 1995); ISBN 1-875892-22-2

• Set Up (Sydney, Pan Macmillan, 1992); ISBN 0-330-27342-6
• Cross Off (Sydney, Pan Macmillan, 1993); ISBN 0-330-27385-X
• Get Even (Sydney, Pan Macmillan, 1994); ISBN 0-330-27478-3

• Passage, Port and Plantation: A History of Solomon Islands Labour Migration, 1870-1914 (Melbourne, Melbourne University Press, 1973); ISBN 0-522-84050-7
• Lords of the Ring (Sydney, Cassell Australia, 1980); ISBN 0-7269-1406-1
• Lightning Meets the West Wind: The Malaita Massacre, by Roger M. Keesing & Peter Corris (Melbourne, Oxford University Press, 1980); ISBN 0-19-554223-1
• The National Times Australian Book of Quizzes, by Jean Bedford & Peter Corris (Sydney, Allen & Unwin, 1983); ISBN 0-86861-094-1
• The Winning Side (Sydney, Allen & Unwin, 1984); ISBN 0-86861-785-7
• The Australian Family Quiz Book (Sydney, Angus & Robertson, 1985); ISBN 0-207-15060-5
• The Gulliver Fortune (Sydney, Bantam Books, 1989); ISBN 0-947189-81-5
• Naismith's Dominion (Sydney, Bantam Books, 1990); ISBN 1-86359-017-X
• Fred Hollows: An Autobiography, by Fred Hollows with Peter Corris (Melbourne, John Kerr, 1991); ISBN 0-9588004-6-4
• The Brothers Craft (Sydney, Bantam Books, 1992); ISBN 1-86359-053-6
• Fighting for Fraser Island: A Man and an Island, by John Sinclair with Peter Corris (Sydney, Kerr Publishing, 1994); ISBN 1-875703-16-0
• Wimmera Gold (Sydney, Bantam Books, 1994); ISBN 1-86359-258-X
• A Round of Golf: 18 Holes with Peter Corris (Sydney, Allen & Unwin, 1998); ISBN 1-86448-853-0
• Petro-Pirates: The Hijacking of the Petro Ranger, by Ken Blyth with Peter Corris (Sydney, Allen & Unwin, 2000); ISBN 1-86508-368-2
• Sweet & Sour: A Diabetic Life (Lismore, NSW, Southern Cross University Press, 2000); ISBN 1-875855-46-7
• The Journal of Fletcher Christian: Together with the History of Henry Corkill (Sydney, Random House Australia, 2005); ISBN 1-74051-351-7
• Blood Brothers (Sydney, Lothian Books, 2007; ISBN 978-0-734-41006-1
• Wishart's Quest (Melbourne, Arcadia, 2009); ISBN 978-1-921-50954-4
• The Colonial Queen (Melbourne, Arcadia, 2011); ISBN 978-1-921-87531-1
• Mad Dog: William Cyril Moxley and the Moorebank Killings (Sydney, University of New South Wales Press, 2011); ISBN 978-1-742-23286-7
• Standing in the Shadow: Three Novellas (Melbourne, Arcadia, 2013); ISBN 978-1-921-87532-8
• Damned If I Do, by Philip Nitschke with Peter Corris (Melbourne, Melbourne University Press, 2013); ISBN 978-0-522-86141-9

• The Picador Book of Golf, edited by Peter Corris & Jamie Grant (Sydney, Picador, 1995); ISBN 0-330-35692-5
• Ringside: A Knockout Collection of Fights & Fighters: The Winners, the Losers, the Legends, edited by Peter Corris & Barry Parish (Sydney, Random House Australia, 1996); ISBN 0-09-183333-7
• Menace in the Mulga (Brisbane, Crime Writers Queensland, 2000); ISBN 0-9585413-2-9
• Heart Matters: Personal Stories About That Heart-Stopping Moment, edited by Peter Corris & Michael Wilding (Melbourne, Viking, 2010); ISBN 978-0-670-07385-6
• Best on Ground: Great Writers on the Greatest Game, edited by Peter Corris & John Dale (Melbourne, Viking, 2010); ISBN 978-0-670-07460-0

• William R. Bell
• Malaita massacre
• List of fictional private investigators
• Jimmy Sharman
• Jim Sharman

• The Peter Corris website
• Corris and Langmores' biography of Jimmy Sharman (1887–1965)
• Peter Corris plaque in the "Writers Walk", Circular Quay, Sydney, Australia.