1950 in Australian literature

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1950.

Books

• James Aldridge – The Hunter ^[1]
• Jon Cleary – Just Let Me Be
• Miles Franklin – Prelude to Waking
• Catherine Gaskin
  • All Else is Folly ^[2]
  • Dust in the Sunlight ^[3]
• Frank Hardy – Power Without Glory
• Ion Idriess – The Wild White Man of Badu
• Norman Lindsay – Dust or Polish?
• Philip Lindsay – There is No Escape ^[4]
• Katharine Susannah Prichard – Winged Seeds
• Nevil Shute – A Town Like Alice
• F. J. Thwaites – Oasis of Shalimar
• E. V. Timms – The Beckoning Shore

Short stories

• Nancy Cato – "The Trap" ^[5]
• Alan Marshall – "Street Scene at Midday" ^[6]
• John Morrison – "The Children" ^[7]
• Dal Stivens – "The Batting Wizard from the City" ^[8]
• Judah Waten
  • "Mother" ^[9]
  • "Uncle Isaac" ^[10]

Children's and Young Adult fiction

• Ivan Southall – Meet Simon Black ^[11]
• Ruth C. Williams – Verity of Sydney Town

Crime and mystery

• Alec Coppel – Mr. Denning Drives North
• Arthur Upfield
  • The Bachelors of Broken Hill ^[12]
  • The Widows of Broome

Poetry

Main article: 1950 in poetry

• David Campbell
  • "Ariel" ^[13]
  • "Night Sowing" ^[14]
  • "Who Points the Swallow" ^[15]
• Nancy Cato
  • The Darkened Window : Poems ^[16]
  • "Mallee Farmer" ^[17]
• C.J. Dennis & Alec H. Chisholm – Selected Verse of C. J. Dennis ^[18]
• Rosemary Dobson
  • "The Bystander" ^[19]
  • "The Raising of the Dead" ^[20]
• Dorothy Hewett
  • "Go Down Red Roses" ^[21]
  • "In Midland Where the Trains Go By" ^[22]
  • "Once I Rode With Clancy..." ^[23]
• Jack Lindsay – Peace is Our Answer ^[24]
• Vance Palmer & Margaret Sutherland – Old Australian Bush Ballads ^[25]
• Roland Robinson
  • "The Coal" ^[26]
  • "Deserted Homestead" ^[27]
• Douglas Stewart – "Helmet Orchid" ^[28]
• Francis Webb – "Morgan's Country" ^[29]
• Judith Wright
  • "The Cedars" ^[30]
  • "The Cicadas" ^[31]
  • "Legend" ^[32]
  • "To a Child" ^[33]

Drama

• Kylie Tennant – Tether a Dragon ^[34]
• Musette Morell – Ten Puppet Plays ^[35]

Biography

• Don Bradman – Farewell to Cricket ^[36]
• Nettie Palmer – Henry Handel Richardson : A Study ^[37]

Non-fiction

• Arthur Groom – I Saw A Strange Land: Journeys in Central Australia ^[38]

Awards and honours

Literary

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
ALS Gold Medal [39]	Jon Cleary	Just Let Me Be	Werner Laurie

Children's and Young Adult

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Children's Book of the Year Award [40]	Older Readers	Alan J. Villiers, illustrated by Charles Pont	Whalers of the Midnight Sun	Angus and Robertson

Poetry

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
Grace Leven Prize for Poetry [41]	Not awarded

Births

A list, ordered by date of birth (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of births in 1950 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of death.

• 15 January – Peter Pierce, academic, editor and critic (died 2018) ^[42]
• 16 January – Brian Castro, novelist ^[43]
• 24 March – Andrea Goldsmith, novelist ^[44]
• 26 July – Terry Denton, writer and illustrator ^[45]
• 8 August – Philip Salom, poet and novelist ^[46]
• 1 September – John Forbes, poet (died 1998) ^[47]
• 6 September – Robyn Davidson, travel writer ^[48]
• 27 September – John Marsden, writer and teacher ^[49]
• 14 October – Kate Grenville, novelist ^[50]
• 25 November – Alexis Wright, novelist ^[51]
• 12 December – Louis Nowra, playwright ^[52]
• 22 December – Nick Enright, playwright (died 2003) ^[53]

Unknown date

• Ian Irvine, novelist ^[54]
• Andrew Sant, poet ^[55]
• Carole Wilkinson, writer for children ^[56]

Deaths

A list, ordered by date of death (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of deaths in 1950 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of birth.

• 10 August – Peter Airey, poet and politician (born 1865) ^[57]
• 20 November – Erle Cox, novelist (born 1873) ^[58]

See also

• 1950 in Australia
• 1950 in literature
• 1950 in poetry
• List of years in Australian literature
• List of years in literature

References

1. "The Hunter by James Aldridge". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
2. "All Else is Folly by Catherine Gaskin". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
3. "Dust in the Sunlight by Catherine Gaskin". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
4. "There is No Escape by Philip Lindsay". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
5. "Austlit — "The Trap" by Nancy Cato". Austlit. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
6. "Austlit — "Street Scene at Midday" by Alan Marshall". Austlit. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
7. "Austlit — "The Children" by John Morrison". Austlit. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
8. "Austlit — "The Batting Wizard from the City" by Dal Stivens". Austlit. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
9. "Austlit — "Mother" by Judah Waten". Austlit. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
10. "Austlit — "Uncle Isaac" by Judah Waten". Austlit. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
11. "Meet Simon Black by Ivan Southall". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
12. "The Bachelors of Broken Hill by Arthur Upfield". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
13. ""Ariel" by David Campbell". Austlit. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
14. ""Night Sowing" by David Campbell". Austlit. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
15. ""Who Points the Swallow" by David Campbell". Austlit. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
16. "The Darkened Window by Nancy Cato". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
17. ""Mallee Farmer" by Nancy Cato". Austlit. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
18. "Selected Verse of C. J. Dennis by C. J. Dennis & Alec H. Chisholm". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
19. ""The Bystander" by Rosemary Dobson". Austlit. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
20. ""The Raising of the Dead" by Rosemary Dobson". Austlit. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
21. ""Go Down Red Roses" by Dorothy Hewett". Austlit. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
22. ""In Midland Where the Trains Go By" by Dorothy Hewett". Austlit. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
23. ""Once I Rode With Clancy..." by Dorothy Hewett". Austlit. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
24. "Peace is Our Answer by Jack Lindsay". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
25. "Old Australian Bush Ballads by Vance Palmer & Margaret Sutherland". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
26. ""The Coal" by Roland Robinson". Austlit. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
27. ""Deserted Homestead" by Roland Robinson". Austlit. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
28. ""Helmet Orchid" by Douglas Stewart". Austlit. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
29. ""Morgan's Country" by Francis Webb". Austlit. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
30. ""The Cedars" by Judith Wright". Austlit. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
31. ""The Cicadas" by Judith Wright". Austlit. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
32. ""Legend" by Judith Wright". Austlit. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
33. ""To a Child" by Judith Wright". Austlit. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
34. "Tether a Dragon by Kylie Tennant". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
35. "Austlit — Ten Puppet Plays by Musette Morell". Austlit. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
36. "Farewell to Cricket by Don Bradman". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
37. "Henry Handel Richardson : A Study by Nettie Palmer". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
38. "I Saw A Strange Land: Journeys in Central Australia by Arthur Groom". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
39. The Cambridge Companion to Australian Literature p129
40. "New Book Wins Council Award", Truth, 30 June 1950, p44
41. "Austlit — Grave Leven Poetry Prize". Austlit. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
42. "Peter Pierce (1950-2018)". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
43. "Brian Castro". Austlit. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
44. "Andrea Goldsmith". Austlit. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
45. "Terry Denton". Austlit. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
46. "Philip Salom". Austlit. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
47. "John Forbes (1950-1998)". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
48. "Robyn Davidson". Austlit. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
49. "John Marsden". Austlit. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
50. "Kate Grenville". Austlit. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
51. "Alexis Wright". Austlit. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
52. "Louis Nowra". Austlit. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
53. "Nick Enright (1950-2003)". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
54. "Ian Irvine". Austlit. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
55. "Andrew Sant". Austlit. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
56. "Carole Wilkinson". Austlit. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
57. "Airey, Peter (1865–1950) by Martin Sullivan". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
58. "Cox, Erle (1873–1950) by Sally O'Neill". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 29 July 2023.