Thomas Keneally tours gallery ahead of Bendigo Writers Festival appearance

Thomas Keneally, author of the 1982 historical novel Schindler's Ark which was adapted into the film Schindler's List, is part of this year's Bendigo Writers Festival.

While in town, Keneally toured the Bendigo Art Gallery's Australiana exhibition, and spoke fondly of Bendigo's relationship with the arts.

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"It's obvious that now there is a definite interest, preference, encouragement, that just wasn't here before," he said.

"I'm glad [Bendigo is] supporting artists because artists and the heritage centres of Australia have done badly in the last 10 years."

Keneally has been quoted on a wall at the gallery, voicing his support of the Gough Whitlam government of the 1970s and reforms made to the arts.

"He made being an artist or a craftsman a respectable occupation for the first time in Australian history," the quote reads.

Keneally said the Bendigo Art Gallery was a reminder of the importance of the arts, and the theme of this latest exhibition provided a "key to the past".

"The arts are what are remembered; you look at the signs on buildings in country towns and you read about the steelworks or gold smelting of the past ... but what lasts is the art, and this is what you have from the past that's brightly framed and brightly displayed," he said.

"The Australian Museum Gallery [and] the National Library, have been shame shamefully underfunded because according to the politicians, they didn't generate income like a coal mine," he said. "Well they're not meant to.

"There's something human beyond the economic equation, and it's very hard to live and appreciate art if you don't have enough to eat, but nonetheless, there is a balance between the economy and the arts."

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Keneally said he was looking forward to connecting with readers at the writers festival, something he has never taken for granted.

"When you write, you think intuitively of the reader, and he's some man or more likely woman, because women are better readers, who has something in common with you," he said.

"But it's at the literary festivals that you meet him and her; it's a very touching experience.

"It's one of the great experiences of life to meet someone who's actually read a book and knows it intimately. It is a wonderful experience."

Keneally said he hoped writing as a profession in Australia receives more attention from the government, including an artists' exemption from income tax and a pension.

"There is a problem with writing in that it is like primary production and it needs backing, as does agriculture, to create a full crop," he said.

"I think we are going to increasingly move in that direction of helping writers get the book written, of helping writers get the book out there into the market as a known entity. That's the hardest thing to do."

The Bendigo Writers Festival is on until Sunday, with seminars, talks and workshops happening across the weekend. For more information visit bendigowritersfestival.com.au.

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