Chris Nyst
Australian writer and film director
Books
Winner Ned Kelly Award for Crime Fiction, Best Novel, 2006: for Crook as Rookwood
Films
Winner Lexus IF Award for Best Script, 2003 for Gettin’ Square
Nominated Film Critics Circle of Australia (FCAA) Awards, Best Screenplay Original, 2003:
for Gettin’ Square
Nominated Australian Film Institute (AFI) Awards, Best Original Screenplay, 2003: nominated for Gettin’ Square
Shortlisted New South Wales Premier’s Literary Awards, Script Writing Award, 2004:
for Gettin’ Square
Biography
Chris Nyst (born November 1953) in Blackall, Queensland, is an Australian solicitor and crime fiction writer.
Legal career
Chris attended the University of Queensland, where he attained a Bachelor of Law degree. In 1977 he was admitted as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of Queensland, and he has since become recognised as one of Australia’s leading and most experienced criminal defence lawyers.
He is an adjunct professor of law with the Griffith University, and a past President of the Gold Coast Law Association. He has been a visiting speaker in Criminal Law, Advocacy and Entertainment Law at the Queensland University of Technology and Bond University, and was a co-founder of the internationally-renowned Griffith University Innocence Project.
In 2001, Chris resigned from the national Minter Ellison Legal Group to become the founding principal of the boutique litigation firm Nyst Lawyers, now renamed Nyst Legal.
Writing and Film Career
In 1999, Chris Nyst turned his hand to fiction writing his first novel Cop This! His second novel Gone was short-listed for the Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards and his third novel Crook as Rookwood won the 2006 Ned Kelly Award, Australia’s leading accolade for crime fiction.
He launched his career in film with the acclaimed Australian movie Gettin’ Square, starring David Wenham and Sam Worthington, which he wrote and co-produced. The film won Chris the 2003 Lexus IF Award for Best Script and won David Wenham the Best Actor award at the AFI Awards, the Critic’s Circle Awards, the Lexus IF Awards and the Australian Comedy Awards.
In 2006, Chris established his own production company, Nyst Entertainment, which produced the 2007 feature film Crooked Business. He wrote and directed the film, which was released nationally in 2008. In 2009 Nyst was appointed as a Director to the Board of Screen Queensland.
Private Life
Chris was born in the central western town of Blackall in Queensland to parents Edmond and Teresa. He had two older brothers Phillip and Malcolm and his childhood was spent on a farm near Ipswich. He is married to Julie and has four children, two daughters Carly and Annabelle, and two sons Brendan and Jonathan, both of whom work with him in his legal practice.