1999 in Australian literature

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1999.

Events

• Murray Bail won the Miles Franklin Award for Eucalyptus
• Jan Fullerton was appointed Director General of the National Library of Australia, being the first woman and first internal appointee

Major publications

Novels

• Thea Astley — Drylands
• Lily Brett — Too Many Men
• Marshall Browne – The Burnt City ^[1]
• Kate Grenville — The Idea of Perfection
• Dorothy Hewett — Neap Tide ^[2]
• Julia Leigh — The Hunter
• Michael Meehan — The Salt of Broken Tears
• Bruce Pascoe — Shark ^[3]
• Dorothy Porter — What a Piece of Work
• Matthew Reilly — Ice Station
• Heather Rose — White Heart ^[4]
• Kim Scott — Benang
• Amy Witting — Isobel on the Way to the Corner Shop

Science fiction and fantasy

• James Bradley — The Deep Field
• Trudi Canavan – "Whispers of the Mist Children"
• Sara Douglass — Crusader
• Kate Forsyth – The Cursed Towers ^[5]
• Greg Egan
  • "Border Guards"
  • Teranesia
• Ian Irvine — Dark is the Moon ^[6]
• Juliet Marillier – Daughter of the Forest
• Sean McMullen – Souls in the Great Machine ^[7]
• George Turner – Down There in Darkness ^[8]

Crime

• Marshall Browne — The Wooden Leg of Inspector Anders
• Garry Disher — The Dragon Man
• Kerry Greenwood – Death Before Wicket ^[9]
• Gabrielle Lord – Feeding the Demons ^[10]
• Barry Maitland – The Chalon Heads
• Tara Moss – Fetish ^[11]
• Chris Nyst — Cop This!
• Peter Temple
  • Black Tide
  • Shooting Star

Children's and young adult fiction

• Helen Barnes — Killing Aurora
• Graeme Base — The Worst Band in the Universe
• Damien Broderick, with Rory Barnes — Stuck in Fast Forward
• Kim Caraher — Goanna Anna ^[12]
• Nick Earls — 48 Shades of Brown
• Christine Harris — Foreign Devil
• Sonya Hartnett — Stripes of the Sidestep Wolf
• Victor Kelleher — The Ivory Trail
• Markus Zusak — The Underdog

Poetry

• Kevin Hart — Wicked Heat ^[13]
• John Kinsella — Visitants ^[14]
• Jennifer Maiden — Mines ^[15]
• Les Murray — Conscious and Verbal ^[16]

Drama

• Van Badham — The Wilderness of Mirrors ^[17]

Non-fiction

• Ian McFarlane — Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop
• Drusilla Modjeska — Stravinsky's Lunch
• Les Murray — The Quality of Sprawl: Thoughts about Australia ^[18]
• Anne Summers — Ducks on the Pond: An Autobiography 1945–1976 ^[19]
• David Walker— Anxious Nation: Australia and the Rise of Asia 1850–1939

Awards and honours

• Michael Fitzgerald Page AM "for service to the book publishing industry and to literature as a writer, and through the encouragement and support of upcoming Australian authors" ^[20]
• Frank John Ford AM "for service to the development of the performing arts in South Australia as a director, playwright, administrator and educator" ^[21]
• Kay Saunders AM "for service to Australian history as a scholar, author and commentator on social issues" ^[22]
• John Antill Millett OAM "for service to literature as editor of Poetry Australia" ^[23]

Lifetime achievement

Award	Author
Christopher Brennan Award [24]	Kevin Hart
Patrick White Award [25]	Gerald Murnane

Literary

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
The Age Book of the Year Award [26]	K. S. Inglis	Sacred Places: War Memorials in the Australian Landscape	Miegunyah Press
ALS Gold Medal [27]	Murray Bail	Eucalyptus	Random House
Colin Roderick Award [28]	Christopher Koch	Out of Ireland	Doubleday
Nita Kibble Literary Award [29]	Geraldine Brooks	Foreign Correspondence: A Pen Pal's Journey From Down Under to All Over	Anchor Books

Fiction

International

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Commonwealth Writers' Prize [30]	Best Novel, SE Asia and South Pacific region	Murray Bail	Eucalyptus	Harvill Press
	Best Overall Novel	Murray Bail	Eucalyptus	Harvill Press

National

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature [31]	Not awarded
The Age Book of the Year Award [26]	James Bradley	The Deep Field	Sceptre
The Australian/Vogel Literary Award [32]	Hsu-Ming Teo	Love and Vertigo	Allen and Unwin
Miles Franklin Award [33]	Murray Bail	Eucalyptus	Random House
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards [34]	Roger McDonald	Mr Darwin's Shooter	Random House
Queensland Premier's Literary Awards [35]	Les Murray	Fredy Neptune: A Novel in Verse	Duffy & Snellgrove
Victorian Premier's Literary Awards [36]	Roger McDonald	Mr Darwin's Shooter	Random House
Western Australian Premier's Book Awards [37]	Kim Scott	Benang : From the Heart	Fremantle Arts Centre Press

Crime and Mystery

National

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Ned Kelly Award [38]
	Novel	Peter Doyle	Amaze Your Friends	Random House
	First novel	Andrew Masterson	The Last Days	Picador
	Lifetime Achievement	Peter Corris

Children and Young Adult

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Children's Book of the Year Award [39]	Older Readers	Phillip Gwynne	Deadly, Unna?	Penguin Books
	Picture Book	John Marsden & Shaun Tan	The Rabbits	Lothian
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards [34]	Young People's Literature	Garry Disher	The Divine Wind	Hodder Headline Australia
Victorian Premier's Prize for Young Adult Fiction [36]		Phillip Gwynne	Deadly, Unna?	Penguin

Poetry

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature [31]	Not awarded
The Age Book of the Year [26]	R. A. Simpson	The Impossible, and Other Poems	Five Islands Press
Anne Elder Award [40]	Not awarded
Grace Leven Prize for Poetry [41]	Not awarded
Mary Gilmore Award [42]	Not awarded
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards [34]	Lee Cataldi	Race Against Time	Penguin Books Australia
Victorian Premier's Literary Awards [36]	Gig Ryan	Pure and Applied	Paper Bark Press
Western Australian Premier's Book Awards [37]	Tracy Ryan	The Willing Eye	Fremantle Arts Centre Press

Non-fiction

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature [31]	Non-Fiction	Not awarded
The Age Book of the Year [26]	Non-Fiction	K. S. Inglis	Sacred Places: War Memorials in the Australian Landscape	Anchor
National Biography Award [43]	Biography	Not awarded

Deaths

A list, ordered by date of death (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of deaths in 1999 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of birth.

• 15 February — Gordon Neil Stewart, writer (born 1912) ^[44]
• 1 March — Richard Beynon, playwright, actor and television producer (born 1925) ^[45]
• 20 April — Ric Throssell, diplomat and author whose writings included novels, plays, film and television scripts and memoirs (born 1922) ^[46]
• 8 July — Mavis Thorpe Clark, novelist and writer for children (born 1909) ^[47]
• 12 July — Mungo Ballardie MacCallum, journalist, broadcaster and poet (born 1913) ^[48]
• 9 October — Morris West, novelist and playwright (born 1916) ^[49]
• 16 November — Mal Morgan, poet (born 1936, London, England) ^[50]

See also

• 1999 in Australia
• 1999 in literature
• 1999 in poetry
• List of years in literature
• List of years in Australian literature

References

1. "The Burnt City by Marshall Browne". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
2. "Austlit — Neap Tide by Dorothy Hewett". Austlit. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
3. "Austlit — Shark by Bruce Pascoe". Austlit. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
4. "Austlit — White Heart by Heather Rose". Austlit. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
5. "The Cursed Towers by Kate Forsyth". ISFDB. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
6. "Dark is the Moon by Ian Irvine". ISFDB. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
7. "Souls in the Great Machine by Sean McMullen". ISFDB. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
8. "Down There in Darkness by George Turner". ISFDB. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
9. "Death Before Wicket by Kerry Greenwood". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
10. "Feeding the Demons by Gabrielle Lord". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
11. "Fetish by Tara Moss". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
12. "Goanna Anna by Kim Caraher". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
13. "Wicked Heat by Kevin Hart". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
14. "Visitants by John Kinsella". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
15. "Mines by Jennifer Maiden". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
16. "Conscious and Verbal by Les Murray". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
17. "Austlit — The Wilderness of Mirrors by Van Badham". Austlit. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
18. "Austlit — The Quality of Sprawl: Thoughts about Australia by Les Murray". Austlit. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
19. "Austlit — Ducks on the Pond: An Autobiography 1945–1976 by Anne Summers". Austlit. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
20. "Michael Fitzgerald Page". honours.pmc.gov.au. Archived from the original on 27 December 2019. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
21. "Frank John Ford". honours.pmc.gov.au. Archived from the original on 3 October 2019. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
22. "Dr Kay Elizabeth Bass Saunders". honours.pmc.gov.au. Archived from the original on 14 October 2019. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
23. "John Antill Millett". honours.pmc.gov.au. Archived from the original on 26 May 2019. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
24. "Austlit — FAW Christopher Brennan Award". Austlit. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
25. "Austlit — Patrick White Award - Past Winners". Austlit. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
26. ""Age Book of the Year"". The Age, 27 August 1999, p99. ProQuest   2521759779 . Retrieved 16 June 2024.
27. "ALS Gold Medal — Previous Winners". Association for the Study of Australian Literature. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
28. "Colin Roderick Award - Other Winners". James Cook University. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
29. "Kibble Literary Award". Australian National University. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
30. "Commonwealth Writers' Prize Regional Winners 1987-2007" (PDF). Commonwealth Foundation. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
31. "Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature – Past Literary Award Winners". State Library of South Australia. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
32. "Austlit — The Australian/Vogel National Literary Award 1999". Austlit. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
33. "Austlit — Miles Franklin Literary Award : 1997-1999". Austlit. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
34. ""30-year Endeavour sails off with prize"". Sydney Morning Herald, 18 May 1999. ProQuest   2674374036 . Retrieved 10 May 2024.
35. ""Queensland Premier's Literary Awards - Previous Winners"". Queensland Government. Retrieved 13 May 2025.
36. ""Literary prizes sail under the bridge"". The Age, 16 October 1999, p7. ProQuest   363426003 . Retrieved 18 January 2025.
37. ""Australian Literary Awards: Western Australian Premier's"". University Libraries, University of Washington. Retrieved 19 March 2025.
38. "1999 Ned Kelly Award Winners". Australian Crime Writers. Archived from the original on 27 March 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
39. ""CBCA - Previous Winners - 1946 Onwards"" (PDF). CBCA. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
40. "Austlit — Anne Elder Award 1998-2000". Austlit. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
41. "Austlit — Grace Leven Poetry Prize 1994-2001". Austlit. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
42. "Mary Gilmore Award". Association for the Study of Australian Literature . Retrieved 10 February 2024.
43. ""National Biography Award – Past Winners"". State Library of NSW. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
44. "Austlit — Gordon Neil Stewart (1912-1999)". Austlit. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
45. "Austlit — Richard Beynon (1925-1999)". Austlit. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
46. "Ric Prichard Throssell (1922–1999) by Nathan Hobby". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
47. "Austlit — Mavis Thorpe Clark (1909-1999)". Austlit. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
48. "Austlit — Mungo Ballardie MacCallum (1913-1999)". Austlit. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
49. "Austlit — Morris West (1916-1999)". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
50. "Austlit — Mal Morgan (1936-1999)". Austlit. Retrieved 18 January 2024.