1963 in Australian literature

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1963.

Major publications

Books

• Jessica Anderson – An Ordinary Lunacy
• Jon Cleary – Forests of the Night
• Sumner Locke Elliott – Careful, He Might Hear You
• Catherine Gaskin – The Tilsit Inheritance
• Brian James – Hopeton High
• Barbara Jefferis – Wild Grapes
• Mungo MacCallum – Son of Mars
• Randolph Stow – Tourmaline
• Arthur Upfield – The Body at Madman's Bend
• Morris West – The Shoes of the Fisherman

Short stories

• A. Bertram Chandler – Beyond the Galactic Rim
• Jon Cleary – Pillar of Salt and Other Stories
• Peter Cowan – "The Voice"
• Frank Hardy – Legends from Benson's Valley
• Shirley Hazzard
  • Cliffs of Fall and Other Stories
  • "The Picnic"
• Xavier Herbert – Larger Than Life : Twenty Short Stories
• Hal Porter
  • "Gretel"
  • "Young Woman in a Wimple"
• Colin Thiele – Favourite Australian Stories (edited)
• Patrick White
  • "Clay"
  • "Down at the Dump"
  • "Miss Slattery and Her Demon Lover"

Children's and Young Adult fiction

• Nan Chauncy – The Roaring 40
• L. H. Evers – Danny's Wonderful Uncle
• John Gunn – The Goodbye Island
• Eric Lambert – Dolphin
• Joan Phipson – Threat to the Barkers
• Eleanor Spence – The Green Laurel
• Colin Thiele – Storm Boy

Poetry

Main article: 1963 in poetry

• Bruce Dawe – "And a Good Friday Was Had By All"
• Gwen Harwood – "Suburban Sonnet"
• Dorothy Hewett - What About the People (with Merv Lilley)
• A. D. Hope
  • "Crossing the Frontier"
  • "A Letter from Rome"
• James McAuley – "Pieta"
• Ian Mudie – The North-Bound Rider
• Peter Porter – "Your Attention Please"
• Chris Wallace-Crabbe – In Light and Darkness
• Henry Kendall – Henry Kendall (edited by T. Inglis Moore)
• John Shaw Neilson – Shaw Neilson (edited by Judith Wright)
• Judith Wright – Five Senses : Selected Poems

Biography

• Xavier Herbert – Disturbing Element
• Alan Marshall – In Mine Own Heart
• Hal Porter – The Watcher on the Cast-Iron Balcony

Non-fiction

• Geoffrey Blainey – The Rush That Never Ended : A History of Australian Mining

Drama

• Alan Hopgood – And the Big Men Fly
• Hal Porter – The Tower

Awards and honours

Literary

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
ALS Gold Medal [1]	John Morrison	Twenty-Three : Stories	Australasian Book Society
Miles Franklin Award [2]	Sumner Locke Elliott	Careful, He Might Hear You	Angus and Robertson

Children and Young Adult

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Children's Book of the Year Award	Older Readers [3]	Joan Phipson	The Family Conspiracy	Constable
Picture Book	No award

Poetry

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
Grace Leven Prize for Poetry [4]	Ian Mudie	The North-Bound Rider	Rigby

Births

A list, ordered by date of birth (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of births in 1963 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of death.

• 19 July – Garth Nix, novelist ^[5]
• 30 September – Stan Grant, non-fiction writer and journalist ^[6]
• 8 October – Nick Earls, novelist ^[7]

Unknown date

• Catherine Jinks, novelist ^[8]
• John Kinsella, poet ^[9]
• Mandy Sayer, novelist ^[10]

Deaths

A list, ordered by date of death (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of deaths in 1963 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of birth.

• 30 January – Will H. Ogilvie, poet (born 1869) ^[11]
• 11 March – Deirdre Cash (Criena Rohan), Australian novelist (born 1924) ^[12]
• 24 July – Ruth Bedford, poet (born 1882) ^[13]

See also

• 1963 in Australia
• 1963 in literature
• 1963 in poetry
• List of years in Australian literature
• List of years in literature

References

1. Austlit - Twenty-Three : Stories by John Morrison
2. Austlit - Careful, He Might Hear You by Sumner Locke Elliott
3. Austlit - The Family Conspiracy by Joan Phipson
4. Austlit - The North-Bound Rider by Ian Mudie
5. "Austlit - Garth Nix". Austlit. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
6. "Austlit - Stan_Grant". Austlit. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
7. "Austlit - Nick Earls". Austlit. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
8. "Austlit - Catherine Jinks". Austlit. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
9. "Austlit - John Kinsella". Austlit. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
10. "Austlit - Mandy Sayer". Austlit. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
11. "Ogilvie, William Henry (Will) (1869–1963) by Clement Semmler". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
12. "Cash, Deirdre (1924–1963) by James Griffin". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
13. "Bedford, Ruth Marjory (1882–1963) by Jane Connors". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 11 July 2023.