Robert Dessaix (b. 1944) is a Hobart–based writer, translator and literary critic. Born in Sydney, he developed an interest in the Russian language as a boy, and went on to study and teach Russian at the Australian National University, with stints on exchange in Moscow. In 1984 he joined the ABC; he produced Radio National’s Books and Writing program for ten years. Before he published his first work of fiction Dessaix translated volumes of Chekhov, Dostoevsky, and Russian and Estonian poetry into English, edited Australian Gay and Lesbian Writing: An Anthology (1993) and wrote the autobiographical A Mother’s Disgrace (1994). Since then, his novels Night Letters (1996) and Corfu (2001) have been widely translated, and he has become a star attraction at literary festivals and events throughout Australia. Subsequent books include Twilight of Love: Travels with Turgenev (2005) and Arabesques: A Tale of Double Lives (2008), the latter a series of ‘encounters’ between Dessaix and the French Protestant writer André Gide.
Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the artist 2006
© Julian Kingma
Julian Kingma (6 portraits)
On one level The Companion talks about the most famous and frontline Australians, but on another it tells us about ourselves: who we read, who we watch, who we listen to, who we cheer for, who we aspire to be, and who we'll never forget. The Companion is available to buy online and in the Portrait Gallery Store.
Dr Sarah Engledow explores the portraits of writers held in the National Portrait Gallery's collection.
Following the success of Glossy: Faces, Magazines, Now in 1999 the National Portrait Gallery again highlights the huge array of contemporary portraiture in the pages of magazines.
