1969 in Australian literature

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1969.

Major publications

Books

• Mena Calthorpe – The Defectors ^[1]
• Jon Cleary – Remember Jack Hoxie
• Dymphna Cusack – The Half-Burnt Tree
• Sumner Locke Elliott – Edens Lost
• George Johnston – Clean Straw for Nothing
• Thomas Keneally – The Survivor
• D'Arcy Niland – Dead Men Running
• F. J. Thwaites – No Love to Give

Short stories

• Manning Clark – Disquiet and Other Stories ^[2]
• Lyndall Hadow – Full Cycle and Other Stories ^[3]
• Lee Harding – "Dancing Gerontius"
• T. A. G. Hungerford – "Wong Chu and the Queen's Letterbox" ^[4]
• Frank Moorhouse – Futility and Other Animals ^[5]
• Dal Stivens – Selected Stories 1936-1968 ^[6]

Children's and young adult fiction

• Hesba Brinsmead – Isle of the Sea Horse ^[7]
• Joan Phipson – Peter and Butch ^[8]
• Ivan Southall – Finn's Folly ^[9]
• Eleanor Spence – Jamberoo Road ^[10]
• Colin Thiele – Blue Fin ^[11]

Poetry

Main article: 1969 in poetry

• Bruce Beaver – Letters to Live Poets
• Gwen Harwood
  • "Barn Owl" ^[12]
  • "Father and Child" ^[13]
• A. D. Hope – New Poems, 1956-1969 ^[14]
• James McAuley – Surprises of the Sun ^[15]
• David Malouf – "The Year of the Foxes" ^[16]
• Les Murray – The Weatherboard Cathedral
• Thomas Shapcott – Inwards to the Sun : Poems ^[17]
• Randolph Stow – A Counterfeit Silence: Selected Poems

Drama

• Dorothy Hewett – Mrs Porter and the Angel ^[18]

Awards and honours

Literary

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
ALS Gold Medal [19]	No award
Colin Roderick Award [20]	Francis Webb	Collected Poems	Angus and Robertson
Miles Franklin Award [21]	George Johnston	Clean Straw for Nothing	Collins

Children and young adult

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Children's Book of the Year Award	Older Readers [22]	Margaret Balderson	When Jays Fly to Barbmo	Oxford University Press
Picture Book [22]	Ivan Southall, illustrated by Ted Greenwood	Sly Old Wardrobe	Cheshire

Science fiction and fantasy

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Australian SF Achievement Award [23]	Best Australian Science Fiction	A. Bertram Chandler	False Fatherland	Horwitz

Poetry

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
Grace Leven Prize for Poetry [24]	Randolph Stow	A Counterfeit Silence: Selected Poems	Angus and Robertson

Births

A list, ordered by date of birth (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of births in 1969 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of death.

• 1 April – Larissa Behrendt, novelist and academic ^[25]
• 23 October – Trudi Canavan, novelist ^[26]

Unknown date

• Tegan Bennett Daylight, novelist ^[27]

Deaths

A list, ordered by date of death (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of deaths in 1969 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of birth.

• 2 February — William Hatfield, novelist (born 1892) ^[28]
• 8 July – Charmian Clift, novelist (born 1923) ^[29]
• 12 July — Henry George Lamond, novelist (born 1885) ^[30]
• 4 September – Emily Bulcock, poet and journalist (born 1877) ^[31]
• 2 October – Katharine Susannah Prichard, novelist (born 1883) ^[32]
• 11 October – Marie Bjelke Petersen, novelist (born 1874) ^[33]
• 21 November – Norman Lindsay, novelist and artist (born 1879) ^[34]
• 27 November – May Gibbs, writer for children (born 1877) ^[35]

Unknown date

• Kathleen Dalziel, poet (born 1881) ^[36]

See also

• 1969 in Australia
• 1969 in literature
• 1969 in poetry
• List of years in Australian literature
• List of years in literature

References

1. "The Defectors by Mena Calthorpe". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
2. "Disquiet and Other Stories by Manning Clark". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
3. "Full Cycle and Other Stories by Lyndall Hadow". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
4. ""Wong Chu and the Queen's Letterbox" by T. A. G. Hungerford". Austlit. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
5. "Futility and Other Animals by Frank Moorhouse". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
6. "Selected Stories 1936-1968 by Dal Stivens". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
7. "Isle of the Sea Horse by Hesba Brinsmead". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
8. "Peter and Butch by Joan Phipson". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
9. "Finn's Folly by Ivan Southall". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
10. "Jamberoo Road by Eleanor Spence". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
11. "Blue Fin by Colin Thiele". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
12. ""Barn Owl" by Gwen Harwood". Austlit. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
13. ""Father and Child" by Gwen Harwood". Austlit. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
14. "New Poems, 1956-1969 by A. D. Hope". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
15. "Surprises of the Sun by James McAuley". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
16. ""The Year of the Foxes" by David Malouf". Austlit. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
17. "Inwards to the Sun : Poems by Thomas Shapcott". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
18. "Mrs Porter and the Angel by Dorothy Hewett". Austlit. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
19. "ALS Gold Medal — Previous Winners". Association for the Study of Australian Literature. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
20. "Colin Roderick Award — Other Winners". James Cook University. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
21. ""Author Wins $1,000 Award"". The Canberra Times, 15 April 1970, p3. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
22. ""Book Council Award Winners"". The Canberra Times, 12 July 1969, p16. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
23. ""Ditmar Awards"". SFADB. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
24. Austlit - A Counterfeit Silence: Selected Poems by Randolph Stow
25. "Larissa Behrendt". Austlit. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
26. "Trudi Canavan". Austlit. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
27. "Tegan Bennett Daylight". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
28. "Hatfield, William (1892–1969) by Geoffrey Serle". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
29. "Clift, Charmian (1923–1969) by Nadia Wheatley". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
30. "Lamond, Henry George (1885–1969) by Nancy Bonnin". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
31. "Bulcock, Emily Hemans (1877–1969) by Marjorie Puregger". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
32. "Prichard, Katharine Susannah (1883–1969) by John Hay". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
33. "Bjelke-Petersen, Marie Caroline (1874–1969) by Margaret Weidenhofer". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
34. "Lindsay, Norman Alfred (1879–1969) by Bernard Smith". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
35. "Gibbs, Cecilia May (1877–1969) by Maureen Walsh". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
36. "Kathleen Dalziel (1881-1969)". Austlit. Retrieved 5 July 2023.