1954 in Australian literature

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1954.

Events

• Charlotte Jay (pseudonym of Geraldine Halls) won the inaugural Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel for Beat Not the Bones

Books

• James Aldridge – Heroes of the Empty View
• Jon Cleary – The Climate of Courage
• Miles Franklin – Cockatoos : A Story of Youth and Exodists
• Catherine Gaskin – Sara Dane
• T. A. G. Hungerford – Sowers of the Wind : A Novel of the Occupation of Japan
• Eric Lambert
  • The Five Bright Stars
  • The Veterans
• Eve Langley – White Topee
• Kenneth Mackenzie – The Refuge
• Alan Moorehead – A Summer Night
• E. V. Timms – The Fury
• Judah Waten – The Unbending

Crime and mystery

• Charlotte Jay — Beat Not the Bones
• Arthur Upfield
  • Death of a Lake
  • Sinister Stones

Short stories

• A. Bertram Chandler – "Shadow Before"
• David Martin – "Where a Man Belongs"
• John Morrison – "The Incense-Burner"
• Dal Stivens – "In the Depths"
• Judah Waten – "Well, What Do You Say to My Boy?"

Children's and Young Adult fiction

• Nan Chauncy – A Fortune for the Brave
• Joan Phipson – Six and Silver
• Norman B. Tindale & Harold Arthur Lindsay – The First Walkabout , illustrated by Madeleine Boyce

Poetry

Main article: 1954 in poetry

• Thea Astley – "Droving Man"
• Dorothy Auchterlonie – "The Tree"
• John Blight
  • "The Anchor"
  • "Death of a Whale"
  • "Nor'-Easter"
  • "Rope"
  • The Two Suns Met : Poems
• Dorothea Dowling – Twenty-One Poems
• R. D. Fitzgerald
  • "Beginnings"
  • "Edge"
• Mary Gilmore – Fourteen Men : Verses
• A. D. Hope – "The Return of Persephone"
• Christopher Koch – "The Boy Who Dreamed the Country Night"
• James McAuley
  • "An Art of Poetry"
  • "New Guinea"
  • "To the Holy Spirit"
• Kenneth Mackenzie – "An Old Inmate"
• David Rowbotham – "Mullabinda"
• Douglas Stewart – "Spider-Gums"
• Colin Thiele – "The Mushroomer"
• John Thompson – Thirty Poems
• Judith Wright
  • "At Cooloolah"
  • "Flying Fox on Barbed Wire"

Biography

• Nevil Shute – Slide Rule : The Autobiography of an Engineer
• David Unaipon – My Life Story

Non-Fiction

• Vance Palmer – The Legend of the Nineties

Awards and honours

Literary

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
ALS Gold Medal [1]	Mary Gilmore	Fourteen Men : Verses	Angus and Robertson

Children's and Young Adult

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Children's Book of the Year Award [2]	Older Readers	K. Langloh Parker, edited by Henrietta Drake-Brockman, illustrated by Elizabeth Durack	Australian Legendary Tales	Angus and Robertson

Poetry

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
Grace Leven Prize for Poetry [3]	John Thompson	Thirty Poems	Edwards and Shaw

Births

A list, ordered by date of birth (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of births in 1954 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of death.

• 12 January
  • Brian Caswell, writer for children
  • Lee Tulloch, novelist
• 26 March – Dorothy Porter, poet (died 2008)
• 21 May – Paul Collins, author and editor
• 17 June – Kerry Greenwood, novelist
• 5 July – Kevin Hart, poet
• 20 September – James Moloney, writer for children

Unknown date

• Russell Blackford, novelist and critic
• Rory Harris, poet
• Andrew Lansdown, poet
• Shane McCauley, poet
• Rosemary Sorensen, journalist, editor and critic

Deaths

A list, ordered by date of death (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of deaths in 1954 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of birth.

• 16 May — Jack McLaren, novelist (born 1884) ^[4]
• 28 June — Nancy Francis, poet, journalist and short story writer (born 1873) ^[5]
• 19 September – Miles Franklin, novelist (born 1879) ^[6]
• 2 November – Malcolm Afford, playwright and novelist (born 1906) ^[7]

See also

• 1954 in Australia
• 1954 in literature
• 1954 in poetry
• List of years in Australian literature
• List of years in literature

References

1. Austlit - Fourteen Men : Verses by Mary Gilmore
2. Austlit - Australian Legendary Tales by K. Langloh Parker
3. Austlit - Thirty Poems by John Thompson
4. "McLaren, John (Jack) (1884–1954) by Cheryl Taylor". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
5. "Austlit - Nancy Francis". Austlit. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
6. "Franklin, Stella Maria Sarah Miles (1879–1954) by Jill Roe". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
7. "Lindsay, Philip (1906–1958) by Bernard Smith". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 10 July 2023.