This is a list of historical events and publications of Australian literature during 2019.

Major publications

Literary fiction

Debra Adelaide Debra Adelaide (born 1958) is an Australian novelist, writer and academic. She teaches creative writing at the University of Technology Sydney. Biography Adelaide was born in Sydney and grew up in the Sutherland Shire. A contemporary of writers ...

, ''Zebra and other stories'' *

Tony Birch Tony Birch (born 1957) is an Aboriginal Australian author, academic and activist. He regularly appears on ABC local radio and Radio National shows and at writers’ festivals. He was head of the honours programme for creative writing at the Un ...

, ''The White Girl'' * David Brooks, ''The Grass Library'' *

Steven Carroll Steven Carroll (born 1949) is an Australian novelist. He was born in Melbourne, Victoria and studied at La Trobe University. He has taught English at secondary school level, and drama at RMIT. He has been Drama Critic for ''The Sunday Age'' new ...

, ''The Year of the Beast'' *

Melanie Cheng Melanie Cheng is an Australian doctor and author of two books, ''Australia Day'' (2017) and ''Room for a Stranger'' (2019). Cheng draws upon her biracial, Chinese-Australian heritage as well as her experience as a medical professional to inform her ...

, ''Room for a Stranger'' *

Peggy Frew Peggy Frew (born 1976) is an Australian novelist. Background Frew was born in 1976 and grew up in Melbourne, Australia and attended RMIT University. Works Frew's writing often explores relationships between women within an Australian set ...

, ''Islands'' *

Peter Goldsworthy Peter David Goldsworthy AM (born 12 October 1951) is an Australian writer and medical practitioner. He has won major awards for his short stories, poetry, novels, and opera libretti. Goldsworthy began his writing life as a poet, as described i ...

, ''Minotaur'' * John Hughes, ''No One'' *

Anna Krien Anna Krien is an Australian journalist, essayist, fiction and nonfiction writer and poet. Career Krien has contributed to a number of Australian publications, including ''The'' ''Monthly'', ''The Age'', ''The Big Issue'', ''The Best Australia ...

, ''Act of Grace'' * Vicki Laveau-Harvie, ''The Erratics'' *

Melina Marchetta Carmelina Marchetta (born 25 March 1965) is an Australian writer and teacher. Marchetta is best known as the author of teen novels, '' Looking for Alibrandi'', ''Saving Francesca'' and '' On the Jellicoe Road''. She has twice been awarded the C ...

, ''The Place on Dalhousie'' *

Andrew McGahan Andrew McGahan (10 October 1966 – 1 February 2019) was an Australian novelist, best known for his first novel ''Praise'', and for his Miles Franklin Award-winning novel ''The White Earth''. His novel ''Praise'' is considered to be part of th ...

, ''The Rich Man's House'' (posthumous) *

Gerald Murnane Gerald Murnane (born 25 February 1939) is an Australian writer, perhaps best known for his novel ''The Plains'' (1982). ''The New York Times'', in a big feature published on 27 March 2018, called him "the greatest living English-language writer ...

, ''A Season on Earth'' *

Favel Parrett Favel Parrett (born 1974) is an Australian writer. Career Parrett's first novel, ''Past the Shallows'', was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award in 2012 and also that year won the Dobbie Literary Prize and Newcomer of the Year at the Aus ...

, ''There Was Still Love'' *

Heather Rose Heather Rose (born 1964) is an Australian author born in Hobart, Tasmania. She is the author of the acclaimed memoir Nothing Bad Ever Happens Here. She is best known for her novels ''The Museum of Modern Love'', which won the 2017 Stella Prize, ...

, ''Bruny'' * Philip Slalom, ''The Returns'' *

Carrie Tiffany Carrie Tiffany (born 1965) is an English-born Australian novelist and former park ranger. Biography Tiffany was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and migrated to Australia with her family in the early 1970s. She grew up in Perth, Western Australi ...

, ''Exploded View'' *

Lucy Treloar Lucy Treloar is an Australian novelist. Her first novel, ''Salt Creek'', won the 2016 Dobbie Literary Award and was shortlisted for the 2016 Miles Franklin Award and the 2016 Walter Scott Prize. Her second novel, ''Wolfe Island'', won the 2020 ...

, ''Wolfe Island'' *

Christos Tsiolkas Christos Tsiolkas is an Australian author, playwright, and screenwriter. He is especially known for '' The Slap'', which was both well-received critically and highly successful commercially. Several of his books have been adapted for film and t ...

, ''Damascus'' *

Tara June Winch Tara June Winch (born 1983) is an Australian writer. She is the 2020 winner of the Miles Franklin Award for her book ''The Yield''. Biography Tara June Winch was born in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia in 1983. Her father is from the Wi ...

, ''The Yield'' *

Charlotte Wood Charlotte Wood (born 1965) is an Australian novelist. ''The Australian'' newspaper described Wood as "one of our ustralia'smost original and provocative writers". Biography Wood was born in Cooma, New South Wales. She is the author of six ...

, ''The Weekend''

Short stories

* Josephine Rowe, ''Here Until August''

Children's and young adult fiction

Mem Fox Merrion Frances "Mem" Fox, AM (born Merrion Frances Partridge; 5 March 1946) is an Australian writer of children's books and an educationalist specialising in literacy. Fox has been semi-retired since 1996, but she still gives seminars and l ...

, '' The Tiny Star'' * Helena Fox, ''How It Feels to Float'' *

Will Kostakis William Kostakis (born 2 June 1989) is an Australian author and journalist. In high school, he won the '' Sydney Morning Herald'' Young Writer of the Year prize for a short story called 'Bing Me'. He went on to sign his first book deal in his fi ...

, ''Monuments'' *

Tania McCartney Tania McCartney (born 1968) is an Australian author, illustrator, editor and designer. Biography She is perhaps most known for over 65 books for children. She has also written books for adults. McCartney hosts a podcast called The Happy Book ...

– ''Fauna: Australia's Most Curious Creatures'' *

Meg McKinlay Meg McKinlay is a Western Australian writer. She has written a number of books for children and young adults, including ''How to Make a Bird'' and ''A Single Stone''. She has won two Prime Minister's Literary Awards and three Crystal Kite Awar ...

, ''Catch a Falling Star'' *

Bruce Pascoe Bruce Pascoe (born 1947) is an Aboriginal Australian writer of literary fiction, non-fiction, poetry, essays and children's literature. As well as his own name, Pascoe has written under the pen names Murray Gray and Leopold Glass. Since August 2 ...

, ''Young Dark Emu'' *Holden Sheppard, ''Invisible Boys'' * Vikki Wakefield, ''This is How We Change the Ending''

Crime

Matthew Condon Matthew Condon (born 1962) is a prize-winning Australian writer and journalist. Biography Educated at the University of Queensland and the Goethe Institute, Bremen, Germany, he is the author of ten novels and short story collections, includi ...

, ''The Night Dragon'' * Candice Fox, ''Gone By Midnight'' *

Tara Moss Tara Rae Moss (born 2 October 1973) is a Canadian-Australian author, documentary maker and presenter, journalist, former model and UNICEF national ambassador for child survival. Biography Moss was born in Victoria, British Columbia, where she a ...

, ''Dead Man Switch''

Science fiction

* Claire G. Coleman, '' The Old Lie''

Poetry

Louise Crisp Louise Crisp (born 1957) is a contemporary Australian poet, deckhand, and fire tower watcher. Early life and education Crist was born in Omeo, Victoria and studied linguistics, anthropology, and prehistory at the Australian National Universit ...

, ''Yuiquimbiang'' *

Charmaine Papertalk Green Charmaine Papertalk Green (born 1962) is an Indigenous Australian poet. As Charmaine Green she works as a visual and installation artist. Green is a Yamaji woman, born in 1962 at Eradu near Geraldton in Western Australia. Career Poetry ...

, ''Nganajungu Yagu'' *L. K. Holt, ''Birth Plan'' *

, ''Green Shadows and Other Poems'' *

Pi O П. O. (or Pi O, born 1951) is a Greek-Australian, working class, anarchist poet. Born in Katerini, Greece, П. O. came to Australia with his family around 1954. After time in Bonegilla Migrant Reception and Training Centre, the family moved to t ...

, ''Heide''

Non-fiction

Jane Caro Catherine Jane Caro (born 24 June 1957) is a feminist social commentator, writer and lecturer based in Australia. Early life and education Caro was born in London in 1957 and emigrated to Australia with her parents as a five-year-old in 1963. ...

, ''Accidental Feminists'' *

Maxine Beneba Clarke Maxine Beneba Clarke is an Australian writer of Afro-Caribbean descent, whose work includes fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Her collection of short stories ''Foreign Soil'' won the 2013 Victorian Premier's Unpublished Manuscript Award, the 2015 ...

, with Magan Magan and Ahmed Yussuf (editors), ''Growing Up African in Australia'' * Stan Grant ** ''Australia Day'' ** ''On Identity'' *

Nicholas Hasluck Nicholas Paul Hasluck Order of Australia, AM (born 17 October 1942) is an Australian novelist, poet, short story writer, and former judge. Early life Nicholas Hasluck was born in Canberra. His father, Sir Paul Hasluck was a minister in the F ...

, ''Beyond the Equator: An Australian Memoir'' *

Jess Hill Jesse Terrill Hill (January 20, 1907 – August 31, 1993) was an American athlete, coach, and college athletics administrator who was best known for his tenure as a coach and athletic director at the University of Southern California (USC). His c ...

, ''See What You Made Me Do'' *

Jacqueline Kent Jacqueline Frances Kent (born 1947) is an Australian journalist, biographer and non-fiction writer. She is also known as Jacquie Kent, the name she used when writing young adult fiction in the 1990s and sometimes writes as Frances Cook. Career ...

, ''Beyond Words: A Year with Kenneth Cook'' *

Caro Llewellyn Caro Llewellyn (born 1965) is an Australian business executive, artistic director, festival manager and nonfiction writer. As of 2020, she is chief executive officer of the Wheeler Centre in Melbourne. Career Llewellyn is the daughter of Ri ...

, ''Diving into Glass'' * Emily Maguire, ''This is What a Feminist Looks Like'' *Bianca Nogrady (editor), ''The Best Australian Science Writing 2019'' *

Christina Thompson Christina Thompson is best known for her book ''Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia'', which won the 2020 Australian Prime Minister's Literary Award for Nonfiction. Career Christina Thompson was born in Lausanne, Switzerland, and grew up outs ...

, ''Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia''

Awards and honours

Note: these awards were presented in the year in question.

Lifetime achievement

Fiction

National

Children and Young Adult

National

Crime and Mystery

National

Science Fiction

Non-Fiction

Poetry

Drama

Deaths

* 20 January –

Mudrooroo Colin Thomas Johnson (21 August 1938 – 20 January 2019), better known by his nom de plume Mudrooroo, was a novelist, poet, essayist and playwright. He has been described as one of the most enigmatic literary figures of Australia and his man ...

, 80, novelist, poet and playwright (pen name of Colin Thomas Johnson) *1 February –

, 52, novelist * 4 March –

Les Carlyon Leslie Allen Carlyon (10 June 1942 – 4 March 2019) was an Australian writer and newspaper editor. Early life Carlyon began his career in journalism with ''The Herald and Weekly Times'' as a cadet on the ''Sun News-Pictorial'' (now the ''H ...

, 76, newspaper editor * 13 March –

Edmund Capon Edmund George Capon (11 June 1940 – 13 March 2019) was an art scholar specialising in Chinese art. He was director of the Art Gallery of New South Wales from 1978 to 2011. He was also the chair of soccer club Sydney FC from 2006 to 2007. Ea ...

, 78, art historian * 15 March –

Rudi Krausmann Rudi Krausmann (23 July 1933 in Mauerkirchen, Salzburg – 15 March 2019 in Sydney) was an Austrian born Australian playwright and poet. Life Rudi Krausmann studied Economics in Vienna and worked as a journalist for the Austrian newspape ...

, 85, playwright and poet * 22 March –

Jack Absalom John Henry Absalom (11 November 1927 – 22 March 2019) was an Australian artist, author and adventurer. Life and death John Henry Absalom, colloquially to everyone as 'Jack', was born in Port Augusta, South Australia. He grew up along the ...

, 91, artist, author and adventurer * 29 April – Les Murray, 80, poet, anthologist and critic * 19 May – John Millett, 98, poet, reviewer and poetry editor * 1 June –

Christobel Mattingley Christobel Rosemary Mattingley (1931 – 1 June 2019) was an award-winning Australian author of books for children and adults. Her book ''Rummage'' won the Children's Book of the Year Award: Younger Readers and Children's Book of the Year Aw ...

, 87, writer for children and young adults * 13 July –

Kerry Reed-Gilbert Kerry Reed-Gilbert (24 October 1956 – 13 July 2019) was an Australian poet, author, collector, editor, educator, a champion of Indigenous writers and an Aboriginal rights activist. She was a Wiradjuri woman. Early life Born on 24 October 1956 ...

, 62, poet and author * 21 July – ** Laurie Hergenhan, 88, literary scholar **

Ann Moyal Ann Veronica Helen Moyal AM FRSN FAHA (née Hurley, formerly Cousins and Mozley; 23 February 1926 – 21 July 2019) was an Australian historian known for her work in the history of science. She held academic positions at the Australian Natio ...

, 93, historian * 10 September –

Hal Colebatch Sir Harry Pateshall Colebatch (29 March 1872 – 12 February 1953) was a long-serving and occasionally controversial figure in Western Australian politics. He was a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council for nearly 20 years, the ...

, 73, poet and novelist *30 October – Beatrice Faust, 80, co-founder of Women's Electoral Lobby, journalist and author *24 November –

Clive James Clive James (born Vivian Leopold James; 7 October 1939 – 24 November 2019) was an Australian critic, journalist, broadcaster, writer and lyricist who lived and worked in the United Kingdom from 1962 until his death in 2019.2019 in Australia *

2019 in literature This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 2019. Events *February 2 – The family of the U.S. fiction writer J. D. Salinger confirm in an interview published in the U.K. newspaper ''The Guardian'' that he l ...

* 2019 in poetry *

List of years in Australian literature This page gives a chronological list of years in Australian literature (descending order), with notable publications and events listed with their respective years. The time covered in individual years covers the period of European settlement of ...

List of years in literature This article gives a chronological list of years in literature (descending order), with notable publications listed with their respective years and a small selection of notable events. The time covered in individual years covers Renaissance, Baroq ...

List of Australian literary awards A list of Australian literary awards and prizes: Literature * ABC Fiction Award (2005–2009) * ACT Book of the Year * ACT Writing and Publishing Awards * Ada Cambridge Prize *The Age Book of the Year – discontinued after 2012; reinstitut ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2019 in Australian Literature

Literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

Australian literature by year Years of the 21st century in Australia Years of the 21st century in literature