2006 in Australian literature

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 2006.

Events

• South African-born Nobel laureate J. M. Coetzee takes up Australian citizenship ^[1]
• Australia's Prime Minister, John Howard, complains about the modern school English syllabus, stating that it is being "dumbed down" ^[2]
• Peter Carey's ex-wife, Alison Summers, takes a swipe at the author, accusing him of using his fiction to settle some old scores. She refers to a minor character in Carey's novel Theft: A Love Story (called The Plaintiff) and announces she is also writing a novel, titled Mrs Jekyll ^[3]
• the ABC board decides against publishing the new Chris Masters' book Jonestown , an unauthorised biography of Alan Jones, a Sydney radio presenter ^[4]
• the Australian Classification Review Board bans two radical Islamic books, prompting calls from the Australian Attorney-General for the Board to provide with even tougher laws ^[5]
• a large treasure trove of missing papers belonging to Patrick White is revealed to the public. Contrary to the wishes expressed in White's will, his literary executor, Barbara Mobbs, did not destroy the material but kept it and has since offered it to the National Library of Australia ^[6]

Major publications

Literary fiction

• Azhar Abidi – Passarola Rising
• Venero Armanno – Candle Life
• Max Barry – Company
• James Bradley – The Resurrectionist
• Peter Carey – Theft: A Love Story
• John Charalambous – Silent Parts
• Tegan Bennett Daylight – Safety
• Richard Flanagan – The Unknown Terrorist
• Sandra Hall – Beyond the Break
• Sheridan Hay – The Secret of Lost Things
• M. J. Hyland – Carry Me Down
• Gail Jones – Dreams of Speaking
• Simone Lazaroo – The Travel Writer
• Kate Legge – The Unexpected Elements of Love
• Angelo Loukakis – The Memory of Tides
• David Malouf – Every Move You Make
• Andrew McGahan – Underground
• William McInnes – Cricket Kings
• Andrew O'Connor – Tuvalu
• D. B. C. Pierre – Ludmila's Broken English
• Cameron S. Redfern – Landscape with Animals
• Deborah Robertson – Careless
• David Whish-Wilson – The Summons
• Mike Williams – The Music of Dunes
• Alexis Wright – Carpentaria

Children's and Young Adult fiction

• Catherine Bateson – Being Bee
• Michael Gerard Bauer – Don't Call Me Ishmael!
• Isobelle Carmody – A Fox Called Sorrow
• D. M. Cornish – Monster Blood Tattoo: Foundling
• Alison Croggon – The Crow
• Ursula Dubosarsky – The Red Shoe
• Mem Fox – A Particular Cow
• Jackie French – Macbeth and Son
• Lian Hearn – The Harsh Cry of the Heron
• Stephen Michael King – Layla, Queen of Hearts
• Margo Lanagan – Red Spikes
• Justine Larbalestier – Magic Lessons
• Kate McCaffrey – Destroying Avalon
• Melina Marchetta – On the Jellicoe Road
• Juliet Marillier – Wildwood Dancing
• John Marsden – Circle of Flight
• Jaclyn Moriarty – The Betrayal of Bindy Mackenzie
• Garth Nix – Sir Thursday
• Shaun Tan – The Arrival
• Scott Westerfeld
  • The Last Days
  • Peeps

Crime and Mystery

• Robert G. Barrett – The Tesla Legacy ^[7]
• Sydney Bauer – Undertow
• John Birmingham – Final Impact
• Laurent Boulanger – Better Dead Than Never
• Kirsty Brooks – The Lady Splash
• Marshall Browne
  • Inspector Anders and the Blood Vendetta
  • Rendezvous at Kamakura Inn
• Steve Caple – Blood On A Blue Line
• Paul Cleave – The Cleaner
• Peter Corris – The Undertow
• Kathryn Fox – Without Consent
• Edwina Grey – Prismatic
• Wayne Grogan – Vale Byron Bay
• Marion Halligan – The Apricot Colonel
• Katherine Howell – Frantic
• Adrian Hyland – Diamond Dove
• Martin Livings – Carnies
• Barry Maitland – Spider Trap
• P. D. Martin – The Murderers’ Club
• Jaclyn Moriarty – The Betrayal of Bindi Mackenzie
• Tara Moss – Hit
• Kel Robertson – Dead Set
• David Rollins – A Knife Edge
• Angela Savage – Behind the Night Bazaar
• Lindsay Simpson – The Curer of Souls
• John Trigger – Upshot
• Michael White – Equinox

Romance

• Marion Campbell – Shadow Thief
• Sophia James – Ashblane's Lady
• Marion Lennox – Princess of Convenience
• Di Morrissey – The Valley

Science Fiction and Fantasy

• Damien Broderick – K-Machines ^[8]
• D. M. Cornish – Monster Blood Tattoo 1: Foundling ^[9]
• Sara Douglass – Druid's Sword ^[10]
• Terry Dowling – Basic Black: Tales of Appropriate Fear ^[11]
• Grace Dugan – The Silver Road ^[12]
• Will Elliott – The Pilo Family Circus
• Edwina Grey – Prismatic ^[13]
• Margo Lanagan
  • "A Fine Magic"
  • Red Spikes ^[14]
• Martin J. Livings – Carnies ^[15]
• Brett McBean – The Mother ^[16]
• Sean McMullen – Voidfarer ^[17]
• Michael Pryor – Blaze of Glory ^[18]
• Sean Williams & Shane Dix – Geodesica Descent ^[19]

Drama

• Jane Malone – The Rumour ^[20]
• Tommy Murphy – Holding the Man
• Debra Oswald – The Peach Season
• Stephen Sewell – It Just Stopped ^[21]

Poetry

• Robert Adamson – The Goldfinches of Baghdad
• Laurie Duggan – The Passenger
• Dennis Haskell – All the Time in the World
• Judy Johnson – Jack
• S. K. Kelen – Earthly Delights
• Graeme Miles – Phosphorescence
• Les Murray – The Biplane Houses
• Mark Reid – A Difficult Faith
• Thomas Shapcott – The City of Empty Rooms
• John Tranter – Urban Myths: 210 Poems
• Simon West – First Names
• Fay Zwicky – Picnic

Non-fiction

• Peter Andrews – Back from the Brink: How Australia's Landscape Can Be Saved
• Janine Burke – The Gods of Freud: Sigmund Freud's Art Collection
• Les Carlyon – The Great War
• Neil Chenoweth – Packer's Lunch
• Inga Clendinnen – Agamemnon's Kiss
• Peter Cochrane – Colonial Ambition: Foundations of Australian Democracy
• Peter Edwards – Arthur Tange: The Last of the Mandarins
• Ken Inglis – Whose ABC? The Australian Broadcasting Commission 1983-2006
• Justine Larbalestier – Daughters of Earth: Feminist Science Fiction in the Twentieth Century

Biographies

• Quentin Beresford – Rob Riley: an Aboriginal Leader's Quest for Justice
• Michael Gurr – Days Like These
• Robert Hughes – Things I Didn't Know
• Elizabeth Jolley & Caroline Lurie – Learning to Dance
• Sylvia Martin – Ida Leeson: A Life
• Chris Masters – Jonestown: The Power and the Myth of Alan Jones
• Alice Pung – Unpolished Gem

Awards and honours

Lifetime achievement

Award	Author
Christopher Brennan Award [22]	Geoff Page
Melbourne Prize for Literature [23]	Helen Garner
Patrick White Award [24]	Morris Lurie

Literary

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
The Age Book of the Year [25]	Jennifer Maiden	Friendly Fire	Giramondo Publishing
ALS Gold Medal [26]	Gregory Day	The Patron Saint of Eels	Picador
Colin Roderick Award [27]	Peter Temple	The Broken Shore	Text Publishing
Nita Kibble Literary Award [28]	Brenda Walker	The Wing of Night	Viking Press

Fiction

International

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Commonwealth Writers' Prize [29]	Best Novel, SE Asia and South Pacific region	Kate Grenville	The Secret River	Text Publishing
	Best Novel, Overall	Kate Grenville	The Secret River	Text Publishing

National

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
ABC Fiction Award [30]	Will Elliott	The Pilo Family Circus	ABC Books
Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature [31]	Gail Jones	Sixty Lights	Vintage Books
The Age Book of the Year Award [25]	Christos Tsiolkas	Dead Europe	Vintage
The Australian/Vogel Literary Award [32]	Belinda Castles	The River Baptists	Allen and Unwin
Miles Franklin Award [33]	Roger McDonald	The Ballad of Desmond Kale	Vintage
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards [34]	Kate Grenville	The Secret River	Text Publishing
Queensland Premier's Literary Awards	Brian Castro	The Garden Book	Giramondo Publishing
South Australian Premier's Awards	Gail Jones	Sixty Lights	Harvill Press
Victorian Premier's Literary Award [35]	Peter Carey	Theft: A Love Story	Knopf
Western Australian Premier's Book Awards	Carrie Tiffany	Everyman's Rules for Scientific Living	Picador

Children and Young Adult

National

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Children's Book of the Year Award	Older Readers	J. C. Burke	The Story of Tom Brennan	Random House
	Younger Readers	Elizabeth Fensham	Helicopter Man	Bloomsbury Press
	Picture Book	Colin Thompson	The Short and Incredibly Happy Life of Riley	Lothian
	Early Childhood	Deborah Niland	Annie's Chair	Viking Books
Davitt Award	Young Adult	Catherine Jinks	Evil Genius	Allen and Unwin
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards	Children's	Kierin Meehan	In the Monkey Forest	Penguin Books
	Young People's	Ursula Dubosarsky	Theodora's Gift	Penguin Books
Queensland Premier's Literary Awards	Children's	Martine Murray	The Slightly Bruised Glory of Cedar B. Hartley	Allen & Unwin
	Young Adult	Ursula Dubosarsky	The Red Shoe	Allen & Unwin
South Australian Premier's Awards	Children's	Barry Jonsberg	It's Not All About you, Calma!	Allen & Unwin
Victorian Premier's Literary Award	Young Adult Fiction	Ursula Dubosarsky	Theodora's Gift	Penguin Books
Western Australian Premier's Book Awards	Writing for Young Adults	Kirsty Murray	A Prayer for Blue Delaney	Allen & Unwin
	Children's	Wendy Binks	Where's Stripey?	Stunned Emu Press

Crime and Mystery

National

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Davitt Award [36]	Novel	Heather Rose	The Butterfly Man	University of Queensland Press
	Readers' Choice	Kerry Greenwood	Heavenly Pleasures	Allen & Unwin
		Leigh Redhead	Rubdown	Allen & Unwin
	Young Adult Novel	Catherine Jinks	Evil Genius	Allen & Unwin
Ned Kelly Award [37]	Novel	Chris Nyst	Crook as Rookwood	HarperCollins
		Peter Temple	The Broken Shore	Text Publishing
	First novel	Wendy James	Out of the Silence	Random House
	True crime	Lauchlin McCulloch	Packing Death	Floradale/Sly Ink
	Lifetime achievement	Andrew Rule & John Silvester

Science fiction

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Aurealis Award	Novel	Damien Broderick	K-Machines	Thunder's Mouth Press
	Short Story	Sean Williams	The Seventh Letter	"Bulletin" Magazine, Summer Reading Edition
Ditmar Award	Novel	Sean Williams & Shane Dix	Geodesica: Ascent	HarperCollins
	Novella/Novelette	Kaaron Warren	"The Grinding House"	The Grinding House
	Short Story	Kaaron Warren	"Fresh Young Widow"	The Grinding House
	Collected Work	Robert Hood & Robin Pen	Daikaiju! Giant Monster Tales	Agog! Press
Australian Shadows Award		Will Elliott	The Pilo Family Circus	ABC Books

Poetry

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature [31]	Luke Davies	Totem	Allen & Unwin
The Age Book of the Year [25]	Jennifer Maiden	Friendly Fire	Giramondo Publishing
Anne Elder Award [38]	Libby Hart	Fresh News from the Arctic	Interactive Press
Grace Leven Prize for Poetry [39]	Alan Gould	The Past Completes Me: Selected Poems 1973-2003	University of Queensland Press
Mary Gilmore Prize [40]	David McCooey	Blister Pack	Salt Publishing
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards	Jaya Savige	Latecomers	University of Queensland Press
Queensland Premier's Literary Awards	John Kinsella	The New Arcadia	Fremantle Arts Centre Press
Victorian Premier's Literary Award	John Tranter	Urban Myths: 210 Poems	University of Queensland Press
Western Australian Premier's Book Awards	Rod Moran	The Paradoxes of Water: Selected and New Poems, 1970-2005	Salt Publishing

Drama

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
Patrick White Playwrights' Award	Patricia Cornelius	Do Not Go Gentle...	Currency Press

Non-Fiction

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature [31]	Non-Fiction	Mandy Sayer	Velocity	Vintage Books
The Age Book of the Year [25]	Non-Fiction	Mandy Sayer	Velocity	Vintage Books
National Biography Award [41]	Biography	John Hughes	The Idea of Home: Autobiographical Essays	Giramondo Publishing
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards	Non-Fiction	Jacob G. Rosenberg	East of Time	Brandl & Schlesinger
New South Wales Premier's History Awards	Australian History	Richard Broome	Aboriginal Victorians: A History Since 1800	Allen & Unwin
	Community and Regional History	Maria Nugent	Botany Bay: Where Histories Meet	Allen & Unwin
	General History	R. J. B. Bosworth	Mussolini's Italy: Life Under the Dictatorship 1915-1945	Penguin Books
	Young People's	Pamela Freeman	The Black Dress: Mary MacKillop’s Early Years	Black Dog Books
Queensland Premier's Literary Awards	Non-fiction	Neil Chenoweth	Packer's Lunch: A Rollicking Tale of Swiss Bank Accounts and Money-Making	Allen & Unwin
	History	Peter Edwards	Arthur Tange: The Last of the Mandarins	Allen & Unwin
Victorian Premier's Literary Award	Non-fiction	Helen Ennis	Margaret Michaelis: Love, Loss and Photography	National Gallery of Australia

Deaths

• 12 January – Rae Sexton, poet (born 1936 in New Zealand) ^[42]
• 16 March – Michael Dugan, writer for children (born 1947) ^[43]
• 14 April – Geoffrey Bewley, journalist and short story writer (born 1947) ^[44]
• 6 July – Lisa Bellear, poet (born 1961)
• 10 July – Vera Newsom, poet (born 1912)
• 16 August – Alex Buzo, dramatist (born 1944) ^[45]
• 4 September – Colin Thiele, writer for children (born 1920) ^[46]
• 13 September – J. E. Macdonnell, novelist of the sea (born 1917)
• 22 September – Joy Williams, poet (born 1942)
• 3 October – Gwen Meredith, novelist (born 1907) ^[47]

Unknown date

• Cecily Crozier, artist, poet and literary editor who co-founded A Comment (born 1911)
• Barbara Giles, poet (born 1912) ^[48]

See also

• 2006 in Australia
• 2006 in literature
• 2006 in poetry
• List of years in literature
• List of years in Australian literature
• List of Australian literary awards

References

1. Citizen Coetzee
2. PM attacks 'dumb' English
3. "Suzanne Goldenberg to Alison Summers about her bitter divorce of Peter Carey". The Guardian . 9 May 2006. Archived from the original on 26 January 2022.
4. "ABC confirms Jones book dumped by board". Archived from the original on 14 July 2006. Retrieved 29 December 2008.
5. "Ruddock seeks tougher classification laws". Archived from the original on 5 December 2008. Retrieved 29 December 2008.
6. White's literary treasure found
7. "The Tesla Legacy by Robert G. Barrett". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 17 February 2025.
8. "K-Machines by Damien Broderick". ISFDB. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
9. "Monster Blood Tattoo 1: Foundling by D. M. Cornish". ISFDB. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
10. "Druid's Sword by Sara Douglass". ISFDB. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
11. "Basic Black: Tales of Appropriate Fear by Terry Dowling". ISFDB. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
12. "The Silver Road by Grace Dugan". ISFDB. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
13. "Prismatic by Edwina Grey". ISFDB. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
14. "Red Spikes by Margo Lanagan". ISFDB. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
15. "Carnies by Martin J. Livings". ISFDB. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
16. "The Mother by Brett McBean". ISFDB. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
17. "Voidfarer by Sean McMullen". ISFDB. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
18. "Blaze of Glory by Michael Pryor". ISFDB. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
19. "Geodesica Descent by Sean Williams & Shane Dix". ISFDB. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
20. "The Rumour by Jane Malone". Austlit. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
21. "It Just Stopped by Stephen Sewell". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
22. "Austlit — FAW Christopher Brennan Award". Austlit. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
23. "Austlit — Melbourne Prize". Austlit. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
24. "In the right place at the White time, for $25,000". Theage.com.au. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
25. Steger, Jason (26 August 2006). "Poet of the political takes Age Book of the Year prize". The Age. Archived from the original on 17 February 2020. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
26. "ALS Gold Medal — Previous Winners". Association for the Study of Australian Literature. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
27. "Colin Roderick Award — Other Winners". James Cook University. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
28. "Kibble Literary Award". Australian National University . 9 June 2009. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
29. "Commonwealth Writers' Prize Regional Winners 1987-2007" (PDF). Commonwealth Foundation. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
30. ""ABC announces Fiction Award"". RadioInfo. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
31. "Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature – Past Literary Award Winners". State Library of South Australia. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
32. ""Austlit – Australian/Vogel Award 2006-2008"". Austlit. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
33. "Austlit — Miles Franklin Literary Award (1957-)". Austlit. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
34. ""NSW Premier's Literary Awards 2006 winners"". Sydney Morning Herald, 24 May 2006. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
35. "Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction - 2006 Winner". Archived from the original on 11 August 2008. Retrieved 7 February 2025.
36. ""LibraryThing: Davitt Awards 2006"". LibraryThing. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
37. "2006 Ned Kelly Award Winners". Australian Crime Writers. Archived from the original on 22 July 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
38. 2006 National Literary Awards Results Archived 1 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine p. 2.
39. "Austlit — Grace Leven Poetry Prize 2005-2007". Austlit. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
40. "Mary Gilmore Award". Association for the Study of Australian Literature . Retrieved 29 February 2024.
41. ""National Biography Award – Past Winners"". State Library of NSW. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
42. "Rae Sexton". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
43. "Michael Dugan". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
44. "Geoffrey Bewley". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
45. "Alex Buzo". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
46. "Colin Thiele". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
47. "Austlit — Gwen Meredith". Austlit. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
48. "Austlit — Barbara Giles". Austlit. Retrieved 25 November 2023.

Note: all references relating to awards can, or should be, found on the relevant award's page.