This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1953.

Books

Charmian Clift Charmian Clift (30 August 19238 July 1969) was an Australian writer and essayist. She was the second wife and literary collaborator of George Johnston. Biography Clift was born in Kiama, New South Wales in 1923. She married George Johnston ...

and George Johnston – ''The Big Chariot'' *

Dymphna Cusack Ellen Dymphna Cusack AM (21 September 1902 – 19 October 1981) was an Australian writer and playwright. Personal life Born in Wyalong, New South Wales, Cusack was educated at Saint Ursula's College, Armidale, New South Wales and graduated f ...

– ''

Southern Steel Southern Steel are a New Zealand netball team based in Invercargill. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. Since 2017 they have represented Netball South in the ANZ Premiership. Netball South is the governing body that re ...

'' *

Eleanor Dark Eleanor Dark AO (26 August 190111 September 1985) was an Australian writer whose novels included '' Prelude to Christopher'' (1934) and '' Return to Coolami'' (1936), both winners of the Australian Literature Society Gold Medal for literature, ...

– ''No Barrier'' * Helen Heney – ''

Dark Moon The term dark moon describes the last visible crescent of a waning Moon. The duration of a dark moon varies between 1.5 and 3.5 days, depending on its ecliptic latitude. In current astronomical usage, the new moon occurs in the middle of this ...

'' *

T. A. G. Hungerford Thomas Arthur Guy Hungerford, AM (5 May 191519 June 2011) was an Australian writer, noted for his World War II novel '' The Ridge and the River'', and his short stories that chronicle growing up in South Perth, Western Australia during the Gr ...

– ''Riverslake'' *

Eve Langley Eve Langley (1 September 1904 – c. 1 June 1974), born Ethel Jane Langley, was an Australian-New Zealand novelist and poet. Her novels belong to a tradition of Australian women's writing that explores the conflict between being an artist and be ...

– ''Wild Australia'' *

Jack Lindsay Jack Lindsay (20 October 1900 – 8 March 1990) was an Australian-born writer, who from 1926 lived in the United Kingdom, initially in Essex. He was born in Melbourne, but spent his formative years in Brisbane. He was the eldest son of Norman L ...

– ''Betrayed Spring : A Novel of the British Way'' *

Ruth Park Rosina Ruth Lucia Park AM (24 August 191714 December 2010) was a New Zealand–born Australian author. Her best known works are the novels ''The Harp in the South'' (1948) and ''Playing Beatie Bow'' (1980), and the children's radio serial ''Th ...

– ''A Power of Roses'' *

Nevil Shute Nevil Shute Norway (17 January 189912 January 1960) was an English novelist and aeronautical engineer who spent his later years in Australia. He used his full name in his engineering career and Nevil Shute as his pen name, in order to protect h ...

– ''

In the Wet IN, In or in may refer to: Places * India (country code IN) * Indiana, United States (postal code IN) * Ingolstadt, Germany (license plate code IN) * In, Russia, a town in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast Businesses and organizations * Independ ...

'' *

Kylie Tennant Kathleen Kylie Tennant AO (; 12 March 1912 – 28 February 1988) was an Australian novelist, playwright, short-story writer, critic, biographer, and historian. Early life and career Tennant was born in Manly, New South Wales; she was educate ...

– ''The Joyful Condemned'' *

E. V. Timms Edward Vivian Timms (1895–1960), better known as E. V. Timms, was an Australian novelist and screenwriter. He was injured serving in the Gallipoli Campaign during World War I and was an unsuccessful soldier settler before turning to writing. ...

– ''

The Scarlet Frontier ''The Scarlet Frontier'' is an Australian novel by E. V. Timms. It was the sixth in his Great South Land Saga The Great South Land Saga was a series of 12 novels by E. V. Timms and his wife Alma. From the beginning, Timms envisioned a 12-part ...

'' *

Arthur Upfield Arthur William Upfield (1 September 1890 – 12 February 1964) was an English-Australian writer, best known for his works of detective fiction featuring Detective Inspector Napoleon "Bony" Bonaparte of the Queensland Police Force, a mixed-race ...

– ''Murder Must Wait''

Short stories

A. Bertram Chandler Arthur Bertram Chandler (28 March 1912 in Aldershot, Hampshire, England – 6 June 1984 in Sydney, Australia) was an Anglo-Australian merchant marine officer, sailing the world in everything from tramp steamers to troop ships, but who later tur ...

– "Jetsam" * T. Inglis Moore – ''Australia Writes: An Anthology'' (edited) *

Stephen Murray-Smith Stephen Murray-Smith AM (9 September 1922 – 31 July 1988) was an Australian writer, editor and educator. Early life and education Murray-Smith's father ran a lucrative business shipping Australian horses to India for the armed forces. It ena ...

– ''The Tracks We Travel : Australian Short Stories'' (edited) *

Colin Roderick Colin Arthur Roderick (27 July 1911 – 16 June 2000) was an Australian writer, editor, academic and educator. Early life and education Colin Roderick was born in Mount Morgan, Queensland on 27 July 1911. He attended Bundaberg State School an ...

– ''Australian Round-Up : Stories from 1790 to 1950'' (edited) *

Dal Stivens Dallas George "Dal" Stivens (31 December 1911 – 15 June 1997) was an Australian writer who produced six novels and eight collections of short stories between 1936, when ''The Tramp and Other Stories'' was published, and 1976, when his last colle ...

– ''The Gambling Ghost and Other Tales'' *

Judith Wright Judith Arundell Wright (31 May 191525 June 2000) was an Australian poet, environmentalist and campaigner for Aboriginal land rights. She was a recipient of the Christopher Brennan Award. Biography Judith Wright was born in Armidale, New Sou ...

– "The Weeping Fig"

Children's and Young Adult fiction

* K. Langloh Parker – ''

Australian Legendary Tales ''Australian Legendary Tales'' is a translated collection of stories told to K. Langloh Parker by Australian Aboriginal people. The book was immediately popular, being revised or reissued several times since its first publication in 1896, an ...

'', edited by

Henrietta Drake-Brockman Henrietta Drake-Brockman (27 July 1901 – 8 March 1968) was an Australian journalist and novelist. Early life Henrietta Frances York Jull was born in Perth, Western Australia in 1901 to public service commissioner Martin Edward Jull (1862–19 ...

, illustrated by

Elizabeth Durack Elizabeth Durack Clancy CMG, OBE (6 July 1915 – 25 May 2000) was a Western Australian artist and writer. Early life Born in the Perth suburb of Claremont on 6 July 1915, she was a daughter of Kimberley pioneer, Michael Patrick Durack ...

Joan Phipson Joan Margaret Phipson AM (1912–2003) was an Australian children's writer. She lived on a farm in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales and many of her books evoke the stress and satisfaction of living in the Australian countryside, flood ...

– ''

Good Luck to the Rider ''Good Luck to the Rider'' (1953) is the first children's book by Australian author Joan Phipson; it was illustrated by Margaret Horder. It was joint winner of the Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers in 1953. Story outline Barbar ...

'', illustrated by

Margaret Horder Margaret Horder (12 December 1903 – 26 September 1978) was an Australian artist and children's book illustrator. She is best known for illustrating books by Joan Phipson, Patricia Wrightson and Nan Chauncy. Career Horder was born in Burwo ...

Poetry

John Blight Frederick John Blight (30 July 1913 – 12 May 1995) was an Australian poet of Cornish origin, his ancestors having arrived in South Australia on the ''Lisander'', in 1851. In the 1987 recording ''John Blight'', he describes his Cornish backgro ...

** "Cormorants" ** "Crab" ** "Mangrove" ** "Stonefish and Starfish" *

Dulcie Deamer Mary Elizabeth Kathleen Dulcie Deamer (13 December 1890 – 16 August 1972) was a New Zealand-born Australian novelist, poet, journalist and actor. She was a founder and committee member of the Fellowship of Australian Writers. Life Deamer was bo ...

– ''The Blue Centaur'' *

Rosemary Dobson Rosemary de Brissac Dobson, AO (18 June 192027 June 2012) was an Australian poet, who was also an illustrator, editor and anthologist.Anderson (1996) She published fourteen volumes of poetry, was published in almost every annual volume of ''Au ...

– "The Birth" *

Mary Gilmore Dame Mary Jean Gilmore (née Cameron; 16 August 18653 December 1962) was an Australian writer and journalist known for her prolific contributions to Australian literature and the broader national discourse. She wrote both prose and poetry. Gi ...

– "Old Botany Bay" *

A. D. Hope Alec Derwent Hope (21 July 190713 July 2000) was an Australian poet and essayist known for his satirical slant. He was also a critic, teacher and academic. He was referred to in an American journal as "the 20th century's greatest 18th-centur ...

– "Imperial Adam" *

James McAuley James Phillip McAuley (12 October 1917 – 15 October 1976) was an Australian academic, poet, journalist, Australian literature, literary critic and a prominent convert to Roman Catholicism. He was involved in the Ern Malley poetry hoax. Life ...

– "Late Winter" *

David Martin David or Dave Martin may refer to: Entertainment *David Martin (artist) (1737–1797), Scottish painter and engraver *David Stone Martin (1913–1992), American artist *David Martin (poet) (1915–1997), Hungarian-Australian poet and novelist *Dav ...

– "Bush Christmas" * T. Inglis Moore – ''Australia Writes : An Anthology'' (edited) *

Marjorie Pizer Marjorie Pizer (1920 – 4 January 2016) was an Australian poet. Life Pizer was born in Melbourne and studied literature at the University of Melbourne from 1939, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts. Pizer began her working life as a clerk in t ...

– ''Freedom on the Wallaby'' (edited) *

Elizabeth Riddell Elizabeth Riddell (21 March 1910 – 3 July 1998) was an Australian poet and journalist. Life Born in Napier, New Zealand, Elizabeth Richmond Riddell came to Australia in 1928 where she worked at ''Smith's Weekly'' and won a Walkley Award. She ...

– "Country Tune" * Roland Robinson – '' Tumult of the Swans'' *

Douglas Stewart Douglas Stewart may refer to: *Douglas Stewart (poet) (1913–1985), Australian poet *Edward Askew Sothern (1826–1881), English actor who was sometimes known as Douglas Stewart * Douglas Stewart (equestrian) (1913–1991), British Olympic equestri ...

– "Christmas Bells" * Francis Webb – ''Birthday'' *

** "The Harp and the King" ** "Request to a Year" ** ''The Gateway''

Biography

* Catherine Beatrice Edmonds – '' Caddie, A Sydney Barmaid'' *

Frank Hardy Francis Joseph Hardy (21 March 1917 – 28 January 1994), published as Frank J. Hardy and also under the pseudonym Ross Franklyn, was an Australian novelist and writer. He is best known for his 1950 novel ''Power Without Glory'', and for his ...

– ''Ambrose Dyson : Man and Artist of the People'' * Margaret Herron – ''Down the Years''

Non-Fiction

* James H. Martin & W. D. Martin – ''Aircraft of Today and Tomorrow''

Awards and honours

Literary

Children's and Young Adult

Poetry

Births

A list, ordered by date of birth (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of births in 1953 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of death. * 9 January –

Morris Gleitzman Morris Gleitzman (born 9 January 1953) is an English-born Australian author of children's and young adult fiction.David Brooks, novelist and poet * 5 February –

Rod Jones Rod Jones may refer to: Sports American football *Rod Jones (cornerback) (born 1964), American football cornerback in the National Football League *Rod Jones (offensive lineman) (born 1974), American football tackle in the National Football League ...

, novelist * 13 March – Stephen Sewell, playwright * 18 April –

Leigh Hobbs Leigh Hobbs (born 18 April 1953) is an Australian artist and author. He is best known in Australia and the United Kingdom for the humorous children's books which he has written and illustrated, although he has produced works across a wide ran ...

, artist and writer for children * 14 May –

Kerryn Goldsworthy Dr. Kerryn Lee Goldsworthy (born 14 May 1953) is an Australian freelance writer and former academic. Life and career Goldsworthy has edited four anthologies of Australian writing. She has also written many articles, essays and reviews. She has ...

, academic, editor and critic * 30 August – Ross Clark, poet * 29 November – Jackie French, writer for children Unknown date *

Marion Lennox Marion Lennox (born 1953) is a writer of over 110 romance novels. She began publishing in 1990, and has also written romantic novels under another pseudonym, Trisha David. Biography Marion Lennox was born in Australia in 1953. She was raised i ...

, novelist *

Ian McBryde Ian McBryde is an Australian poet. He was born in 1953 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada but has been a long time Australian resident. He has published ten books of poems and three audio CDs of spoken word poetry and original music A widely admired ...

, poet *

Shane Maloney Shane Maloney (born 1953) born in Hamilton, Victoria is a Melbourne author best known as the creator of the Murray Whelan series of crime novels. Life and career Maloney was educated at Christian Brothers' College, St Kilda (CBC St Kilda). He st ...

, novelist *

Chris Mansell Chris Mansell (born 1953) is an Australian poet and publisher. Born in Sydney, Chris Mansell grew up on the Central Coast of New South Wales and in Lae, Papua New Guinea, later studying economics at the University of Sydney. She was active in S ...

, poet and publisher

Deaths

A list, ordered by date of death (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by

surname In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...

) of deaths in 1953 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of birth. * 9 April –

Albert Dorrington Albert Dorrington (27 September 1874 – 9 April 1953) was an English writer, active in Australia, who was born in Fulham, London, England. Life Dorrington arrived in Australia around 1890 as a sixteen-year-old and after brief stays in Melb ...

, novelist (born

1874 Events January–March * January 1 – New York City annexes The Bronx. * January 2 – Ignacio María González becomes head of state of the Dominican Republic for the first time. * January 3 – Third Carlist War &ndas ...

) * 11 May –

Leonora Polkinghorne Leonora Ethel Polkinghorne (née Twiss) (1873 – 11 May 1953) was an Australian women's activist and writer. Biography Polkinghorne was born in Ballarat, Victoria, but subsequently moved to South Australia as a child. She was a teacher before h ...

, novelist and poet (born

1873 Events January–March * January 1 ** Japan adopts the Gregorian calendar. ** The California Penal Code goes into effect. * January 17 – American Indian Wars: Modoc War: First Battle of the Stronghold – Modoc Indians defeat ...

) * 22 May —

Louis Lavater ] Louis Isidore Lavater (2 March 1867 – 22 May 1953) was an Australian composer and author born in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, of Swedish extraction. He published more than a hundred musical works. He prepared musical settings of popular f ...

, composer and author (born 1867 in Australian literature, 1867) * 30 June –

Beatrice Grimshaw Beatrice Ethel Grimshaw (3 February 1870 – 30 June 1953) was an Irish writer and traveller. Beginning in 1903, she worked as a travel writer for the ''Daily Graphic'' and ''The Times'', leading her to move to the Territory of Papua, whe ...

, novelist and travel writer (born

1870 Events January–March * January 1 ** The first edition of ''The Northern Echo'' newspaper is published in Priestgate, Darlington, England. ** Plans for the Brooklyn Bridge are completed. * January 3 – Construction of the Broo ...

) * 12 August –

J. H. M. Abbott John Henry Macartney Abbott (1874 – 1953) was an Australian novelist and poet who was born in Haydonton, Murrurundi, New South Wales in 1874. Early life He was the eldest son of son of (Sir) Joseph Palmer Abbott and his first wife Matilda ...

, novelist and poet (born

) * 1 September –

Bernard O'Dowd Bernard Patrick O'Dowd (11 April 1866 – 1 September 1953) was an Australian poet, activist, lawyer, and journalist. He worked for the Victorian colonial and state governments for almost 50 years, first as an assistant librarian at the Supreme ...

, poet (born

1866 Events January–March * January 1 ** Fisk University, a historically black university, is established in Nashville, Tennessee. ** The last issue of the abolitionist magazine '' The Liberator'' is published. * January 6 – Ottoman tr ...

) * 14 December –

Dora Wilcox Dora Wilcox (born Mary Theodora Wilcox, 24 November 1873 – 14 December 1953), was a New Zealand and Australian poet and playwright. Biography Wilcox was born in Christchurch, New Zealand to William Henry Wilcox and his wife Mary Elizabeth, né ...

, poet and playwright (born

) Unknown Date *

Guy Innes Guy Innes (1879–1953) was an Australian journalist who was the editor of '' The Herald'' newspaper in Melbourne between 1918 and 1921. Innes was born in Ballarat and became a journalist for '' The Argus'' in 1900. In 1910 he moved to ''The Her ...

, journalist (born

1879 Events January–March * January 1 – The Specie Resumption Act takes effect. The United States Note is valued the same as gold, for the first time since the American Civil War. * January 11 – The Anglo-Zulu War begins. * Janu ...

)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1953 in Australian literature Australian literature by year 20th-century Australian literature 1953 in literature

Books

Short stories

Children's and Young Adult fiction

Poetry

Biography

Non-Fiction

Awards and honours

Literary

Children's and Young Adult

Poetry

Births

Deaths

See also

References