Trent Dalton Bio

There aren’t too many writers who would take themselves, a typewriter, a table and a chair to the streets and ask those passing by to tell them their love story. But that’s exactly what Brisbane author Trent Dalton did back in 2021. Extracting stories from over 150 people, Love Stories became something good to come out of unprecedented lock downs and social distancing. 

Trent Dalton: Love Stories and Other Work

Love Stories was the highest selling work of non-fiction published by an Australian author in 2021 with almost 61,000 copies sold.

In the three and a half years after Boy Swallows Universe was published, Dalton’s three books – Boy Swallows Universe, All Our Shimmering Skies and Love Stories, had sold over one million copies across all formats. Dalton’s books have sold over 1.7 million copies in Australia. His novels are celebrated for their exploration of themes such as love, trauma, and resilience, often depicting morally complex characters. Dalton’s works frequently delve into the complexities of love and relationships, making storytelling a central element of his writing.

Trent Dalton in the early years 

Trent Dalton was born in 1979 in Ipswich, Queensland, Australia, and is the youngest of four boys. He grew up in Brassall with his mother and stepfather, both of whom sold heroin and ended up in jail. At the age of seven, Trent’s mum was sent to prison for two years for drug smuggling. In the following years, he lived with his grandparents and then his father on Brisbane’s northside, spending part of his childhood in a Housing Commission house.

Dalton’s childhood and family experiences, including the challenges faced by his family deeply influenced his writing. His upbringing exposed him to the complexities of love, growth, and long-lasting relationships within a family, themes that often appear in his work.

Dreams of writing for Rolling Stone

After growing up in an area known for some rather sketchy behaviour, at the age of 18 he had dreams of writing features for Rolling Stone magazine. At the age of 30, he had dreams of writing for The Weekend Australian Magazine.

After high school, Dalton spent a year working at an electrical supply warehouse packing components into boxes before heading to Southern Queensland University in Toowoomba and then Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, chasing his dreams of becoming an award-winning feature writer.

Dalton began his journalism career in 2000 as a writer for Brisbane News, marking the start of a job that would shape his identity and achievements.

Writing today

Today, bestselling Australian author Trent Dalton continues to write novels, with his latest, Gravity Let Me Go, published in 2025. Dalton’s debut novel, Boy Swallows Universe, won a record four ABIA Awards in 2019 and has been adapted into a play and a Netflix series, highlighting his global reach.

In his new book, Gravity Let Me Go, Dalton explores the cost of storytelling and its impact on personal relationships. He has described Gravity Let Me Go as his most personal book yet, reflecting on his own failings and ambitions. The phrase ‘Gravity let me go’ serves as a significant motif in the novel, representing the protagonist’s struggles and family dynamics. The main character, Noah Cork, experiences a moment of mental breakdown after becoming consumed by his writing and neglecting his family, offering a sense of the complexities of long-lasting marriage and the importance of recognizing the love story within one’s own home. Set in Brisbane, the book intertwines themes of darkness and romance over a lifetime.

He is also a staff writer at The Weekend Australian Magazine after spending time at Brisbane News and The Courier Mail.

Trent Dalton’s books 

Fiction

Boy Swallows Universe

All Our Shimmering Skies

Lola In The Mirror

Gravity Let Me Go

Non-Fiction

Love Stories (non fiction)

Detours: Stories from the Street 

By Sea & Stars: The Story of the First Fleet

Award Winning Journalist

Trent Dalton has won several awards and on longlists several times, including: 

Boy Swallows Universe was nominated for, or won the following: 

2018 – Dymocks Book of the Year

2019 – Miles Franklin Award longlist 

2019 – Australia Book Industry Awards – Australian Book of the Year, Australian Literary Fiction Book of the Year, Matt Richell Award for New Writer & Audiobook of the Year

2019 – Australian BookSellers Association Award – BookPeople Book of the Year

2019 – Colin Roderick Award shortlist  

2019 – Indie Book Awards – Book of the Year &  Debut Fiction

2019 – MUD Literary Prize 

2019 – NSW Premier’s Literary Awards – UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing & People’s Choice Award

2019 – Queensland Literary Awards – Queensland Premier’s Literary Award & The Courier Mail People’s Choice Book of the Year

2020 – International Dublin Literary Award longlisted

Dalton has also been shortlisted for Lola in the Mirror, All Our Shimmering Skies and Love Stories at various awards. 

Other journalism awards and nominations

Trent Dalton is also an award-winning journalist. He is a four-time winner of the national News Awards Feature Journalist of the Year, and in 2011 was named Queensland Journalist of the Year at the Clarion Awards for excellence in Queensland media. He has also been nominated twice for a United Nations of Australia Media Peace Award, and is a two-time Walkley Award winner.

2011 – Walkley Award winner  – Social Equity Journalism Home is where the hurt is

2013 – Best Feature Journalist – Kennedy Awards for Excellence in NSW Journalism 

2014 – Best Feature Journalist – Kennedy Awards for Excellence in NSW Journalism 

2015 – Walkley Award winner – Feature Writing Short (under 4000 words) The Ghosts of Murray Street

2020 – Walkley Award finalist – Feature Writing Long (over 4000 words) Back From The Black