This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 2004.
Note: these awards were presented in the year in question.
| Award | Author |
|---|---|
| Christopher Brennan Award [82] | Kris Hemensley |
| Patrick White Award [83] | Nancy Phelan |
| Award | Author | Title | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Age Book of the Year Award [84] | Luke Davies | Totem | Allen & Unwin |
| ALS Gold Medal [85] | Laurie Duggan | Mangroves | University of Queensland Press |
| Colin Roderick Award [86] | Alan Wearne | The Lovemakers | ABC Books |
| Tim Winton | The Turning | Picador | |
| Nita Kibble Literary Award [87] | Fiona Capp | That Oceanic Feeling | Allen & Unwin |
| Award | Category | Author | Title | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commonwealth Writers' Prize [88] | Best Novel, SE Asia and South Pacific region | Michelle de Kretser | The Hamilton Case | Knopf |
| Best First Novel, SE Asia and South Pacific region | Nada Awar Jarrar | Somewhere, Home | Heineman | |
| Award | Category | Author | Title | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Children's Book of the Year Award | Older Readers | Melina Marchetta | Saving Francesca | Viking Books |
| Younger Readers | Carole Wilkinson | Dragon Keeper | Black Dog Books | |
| Picture Book | Joan Grant, illus. Neil Curtis | Cat and Fish | Lothian | |
| Early Childhood | Pamela Allen | Grandpa and Thomas | Viking Books | |
| New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards | Children's | Kierin Meehan | Night Singing | Puffin Books |
| Young People's | David Metzenthen | Boys of Blood and Bone | Penguin Books | |
| Queensland Premier's Literary Awards | Children's | Carole Wilkinson | Dragonkeeper | Black Dog Books |
| Young Adult | Martine Murray | How to Make a Bird | Allen & Unwin | |
| Victorian Premier's Literary Award [94] | Young Adult Fiction | Margo Lanagan | Black Juice | Allen & Unwin |
| Western Australian Premier's Book Awards | Writing for Young Adults | Colin Bowles | Nights in the Sun | Penguin Books |
| Children's | Mark Greenwood | The Legend of Lasseter's Reef | Cygnet | |
| Award | Category | Author | Title | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Davitt Award [96] | Novel | Janette Turner Hospital | Due Preparations for the Plague | HarperCollins |
| Readers' Choice | Lindy Cameron | Thicker Than Water | HarperCollins | |
| Young Adult Novel | Ruth Starke | Muck-Up Day | Lothian | |
| Ned Kelly Award [97] | Novel | Jon Cleary | Degrees of Connection | HarperCollins |
| First novel | Jane R. Goodall | The Walker | Hodder Headline | |
| Wayne Grogan | Junkie Pilgrim | Brandl and Schlesinger | ||
| True crime | Peter Rees | Killing Juanita | Allen & Unwin | |
| Lifetime achievement | Bob Bottom | |||
| Award | Category | Author | Title | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aurealis Award | Novel | K. A. Bedford | Eclipse | Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy |
| Short Story | Trent Jamieson | "Slow and Ache" | Aurealis | |
| Fantasy Novel | Juliet Marillier | Blade of Fortriu | Pan Macmillan | |
| Fantasy Short Story | Richard Harland | "The Greater Death of Saito Saku" | Agog! ( Daikaiju! Giant Monster Tales ) | |
| Rosaleen Love | "Once Giants Roamed the Earth" | Aqueduct Press ( The Traveling Tide ); Agog! ( Daikaiju! Giant Monster Tales ) | ||
| Horror Novel | No award. | |||
| Horror Short Story | Lee Battersby | "Pater Familias" | Shadowed Realms | |
| Young Adult Novel | Isobelle Carmody | Alyzon Whitestarr | Penguin Books | |
| Ditmar Award | Novel | K. J. Bishop | The Etched City | Prime Books |
| Novella/Novelette | Lucy Sussex | "La Sentinelle" | Southern Blood: New Australian Tales of the Supernatural | |
| Short Story | Trudi Canavan | "Room for Improvement" | Forever Shores | |
| Collected Work | Cat Sparks ed. | Agog! Terrific Tales | Agog! Press | |
| Peter McNamara and Margaret Winch eds. | Forever Shores | Wakefield Press | ||
| Award | Author | Title | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature [89] | Dorothy Porter | Wild Surmise | Picador |
| The Age Book of the Year [84] | Luke Davies | Totem | Allen & Unwin |
| Anne Elder Award [98] | Lidija Cvetkovic | War is Not the Season for Figs | University of Queensland Press |
| Grace Leven Prize for Poetry [99] | Luke Davies | Totem | Allen & Unwin |
| Mary Gilmore Prize [100] | Michael Brennan | The Imageless World | Salt Publishing |
| New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards [92] | Pam Brown | Dear Deliria: New & Selected Poems | Salt Publishing |
| Queensland Premier's Literary Awards [93] | Judith Beveridge | Wolf Notes | Giramondo Publishing |
| Victorian Premier's Literary Award [94] | Judith Beveridge | Wolf Notes | Giramondo Publishing |
| Western Australian Premier's Book Awards [95] | Miriam Wei Wei Lo | Against Certain Capture | Five Islands Press |
| Award | Author | Title | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|
| Patrick White Playwrights' Award | Stephen Carleton | Constance Drinkwater and the Final Days of Somerset | Playlab |
| Award | Category | Author | Title | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature [89] | Non-Fiction | Rebe Taylor | Unearthed: The Aboriginal Tasmanians of Kangaroo Island | Wakefield Press |
| The Age Book of the Year [84] | Non-Fiction | Peter Robb | A Death in Brazil | Duffy and Snellgrove |
| National Biography Award [101] | Biography | Barry Hill | Broken Song: T.G.H. Strehlow and Aboriginal Possession | Knopf |
| New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards | Non-Fiction | Inga Clendinnen | Dancing with Strangers | Text Publishing |
| New South Wales Premier's History Awards | Australian History | Stuart Macintyre and Anna Clark | The History Wars | Melbourne University Press |
| Community and Regional History | Patricia Crawford and Ian Crawford | Contested Country: A History of the Northcliffe Area | University of Western Australia Press | |
| General History | Edward Duyker | Citizen Labillardiere: A Naturalist's Life in Revolution and Exploration (1755–1834) | Melbourne University Press | |
| Young People's | David Hollinsworth | They Took the Children | Working Title Press | |
| Nita Kibble Literary Award | Fiona Capp | That Oceanic Feeling | Allen and Unwin | |
| Queensland Premier's Literary Awards | Non-fiction | Peter Robb | A Death in Brazil | Duffy and Snellgrove |
| History | Inga Clendinnen | Dancing with Strangers | Text Publishing | |
| Victorian Premier's Literary Award [94] | Non-fiction | Graeme Davison | Car Wars: How the Car Won Our Hearts and Conquered Our Cities | Allen and Unwin |
Note: all references relating to awards can, or should be, found on the relevant award's page.