2008 in Australian literature

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 2008.

Events

• "The Bulletin" magazine publishes its last issue, the first was in 1880 ^[1]
• The Australia Council for the Arts announces Christopher Koch and Gerald Murnane as recipients of its 2008 emeritus writers awards ^[2]
• The Australian Federal Government announces funding for a new chair of Australian Literature based at the University of Western Australia ^[3]
• Clunes, Victoria, holds its second Booktown weekend ^[4]
• The first Crime and Justice Festival in held in Melbourne over the weekend of 19–20 July ^[5]
• Australia wins the right to host the 2010 World SF convention in Melbourne ^[6]
• A number of previously unknown Banjo Paterson poems are found in an old cash book dating back to the Boer War ^[7]
• UNESCO names Melbourne as its second City of Literature, after Edinburgh received the first such award in 2004 ^[8]
• Caro Llewellyn, a former director of the Sydney Writers' Festival and PEN World Voices Festival in New York, is appointed as director of the new Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas (now called the Wheeler Centre) in Melbourne ^[9]
• The Indie Book Awards are presented for the first time ^[10]

Major publications

Literary fiction

• Debra Adelaide – The Household Guide to Dying
• Murray Bail – The Pages
• Geraldine Brooks – People of the Book
• Peter Carey – His Illegal Self
• Luke Davies – God of Speed
• Robert Drewe – The Rip
• Richard Flanagan – Wanting
• Helen Garner – The Spare Room
• Peter Goldsworthy – Everything I Knew
• Kate Grenville – The Lieutenant
• Vicki Hastrich – The Great Arch
• Wendy James – The Steele Diaries
• Susan Johnson – Life in Seven Mistakes
• Toni Jordan – Addition
• Sofie Laguna – One Foot Wrong
• Nam Le – The Boat
• Joan London – The Good Parents
• Louis Nowra – Ice
• Kevin Rabelais – The Landscape of Desire
• Claire Thomas – fugitive blue
• Steve Toltz – A Fraction of the Whole
• Ian Townsend – The Devil's Eye
• Christos Tsiolkas – The Slap
• Tim Winton – Breath
• Arnold Zable – Sea of Many Returns

Children's and Young Adult fiction

• Isobelle Carmody – The Stone Key
• Kate Constable – Always Mackenzie
• Alison Croggon —The Singing
• Mem Fox and Helen Oxenbury – Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes
• Jackie French – A Rose for the Anzac Boys
• Mark Greenwood and Frane Lessac – Simpson and His Donkey
• Jack Heath – Money Run
• Simone Howell – Everything Beautiful
• Catherine Jinks – Genius Squad
• Maureen McCarthy – Somebody's Crying
• Melina Marchetta – Finnikin of the Rock
• Sophie Masson – The Case of the Diamond Shadow
• Garth Nix – Superior Saturday
• Penni Russon – The Indigo Girls
• Shaun Tan – Tales from Outer Suburbia
• Lili Wilkinson – The (Not Quite) Perfect Boyfriend
• Sean Williams – Dust Devils

Crime and Mystery

• Peter Corris – Open File
• Leah Giarratano – Voodoo Doll
• Kerry Greenwood – Murder on a Midsummer Night
• Marion Halligan – Murder on the Apricot Coast
• Jarad W. Henry – Blood Sunset
• Katherine Howell – The Darkest Hour
• Barry Maitland – Bright Air
• P.D. Martin – Fan Mail
• Camilla Nelson – Crooked
• Alex Palmer – The Tattooed Man
• Bronwyn Parry – As Darkness Falls
• Kel Robertson – Smoke and Mirrors
• Michael Robotham – Shatter

Romance

• Anne Gracie – The Stolen Princess
• Stephanie Laurens – The Edge of Desire
• Margaret Leigh – The Heart Divided
• Estelle Pinney – Burnt Sunshine

Science Fiction and Fantasy

• K. A. Bedford – Time Machines Repaired While-U-Wait
• Honey Brown – Red Queen
• Nathan Burrage – Fivefold
• Sara Douglass – The Twisted Citadel
• Greg Egan – Incandescence
• Jennifer Fallon – The Chaos Crystal
• Pamela Freeman – Deep Water
• Alison Goodman – The Two Pearls of Wisdom
• Traci Harding – The Dragon Queens
• Simon Haynes – Hal Spacejock: No Free Lunch
• Margo Lanagan – Tender Morsels
• Fiona McIntosh – Rogue Agent
• Juliet Marillier – Heir to Sevenwaters
• K.E. Mills – The Accidental Sorcerer
• Sean Williams – Earth Ascendent

Drama

• John Doyle – The Pig Iron People
• Tom Holloway – Beyond the Neck
• Joanna Murray-Smith – Ninety

Poetry

See also 2008 in poetry

• Robert Adamson – The Golden Bird: New and Selected Poems, winner of the C.J. Dennis Prize for Poetry in the 2009 Victorian Premier's Literary Awards, shortlisted for the 2009 Age Book of the Year Awards
• Michael Brennan – Unanimous Night
• David Brooks – The Balcony, finalist for the 2008 Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry; University of Queensland Press, ISBN   978-0-7022-3669-3
• Elizabeth Hodgson – Skin Painting, winner of the 2007 David Unaipon Award; University of Queensland Press, ISBN   978-0-7022-3677-8
• Sarah Holland-Batt – Aria
• Clive James – Opal Sunset: Selected Poems, 1958–2008
• John Kinsella – Divine Comedy, University of Queensland Press, ISBN   978-0-7022-3666-2
• Anthony Lawrence – Bark, University of Queensland Press, ISBN   978-0-7022-3664-8
• David Malouf – Revolving Days, University of Queensland Press, ISBN   978-0-7022-3635-8
• Peter Rose editor – The Best Australian Poems 2008 Black Inc., ISBN   978-1-86395-303-0

Non-fiction

• Germaine Greer – On Rage
• Chloe Hooper – The Tall Man

Biographies

• Peter Costello – The Costello Memoirs
• Jacqueline Kent – An Exacting Heart: The Story of Hephzibah Menuhin
• Andrew Riemer – A Family History of Smoking

Awards and honours

Lifetime achievement

Award	Author
Christopher Brennan Award	Not awarded
Patrick White Award [11]	John Romeril

Literary

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
The Age Book of the Year [12]	Don Watson	American Journeys	Random House
ALS Gold Medal [13]	Michelle de Kretser	The Lost Dog	Allen & Unwin
Colin Roderick Award [14]	Malcolm Knox	Jamaica	Allen & Unwin
Nita Kibble Literary Award [15]	Carol Lefevre	Nights in the Asylum	Vintage

Fiction

International

Award	Region	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Commonwealth Writers' Prize [16]	SE Asia and South Pacific	Best Novel	Steven Carroll	The Time We Have Taken	HarperCollins
		Best First Novel	Karen Foxlee	The Anatomy of Wings	University of Queensland Press

National

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
ABC Fiction Award [17]	Kain Massin	God for the Killing	ABC Books
The Age Book of the Year Award [18]	Tim Winton	Breath	Hamish Hamilton
Australia-Asia Literary Award	David Malouf	The Complete Stories	Knopf
The Australian/Vogel Literary Award [19]	Andrew Cromme	Document Z	Allen and Unwin
Barbara Jefferis Award [20]	Rhyll McMaster	Feather Man	Brandl and Schlesinger
Indie Book Awards Book of the Year – Fiction [21]	Tim Winton	Breath	Hamish Hamilton
Indie Book Awards Book of the Year – Debut Fiction [21]	Toni Jordan	Addition	Text Publishing
Miles Franklin Award [22]	Steven Carroll	The Time We Have Taken	HarperCollins
Nita Kibble Literary Award	Carol Lefevre	Nights in the Asylum	Vintage Books
Prime Minister's Literary Awards [23]	Steven Conte	The Zookeeper's War	HarperCollins
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards	Michelle de Kretser	The Lost Dog	Allen & Unwin
Queensland Premier's Literary Awards	Helen Garner	The Spare Room	Text Publishing
South Australian Premier's Awards	Roger McDonald	The Ballad of Desmond Kale	Vintage Books
Victorian Premier's Literary Award	Helen Garner	The Spare Room	Text Publishing
Western Australian Premier's Book Awards	Stephen Scourfield	Other Country	Allen & Unwin

Children and Young Adult

National

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Aurealis Award	Young Adult Novel	Melina Marchetta	Finnikin of the Rock	Viking Press
	Young Adult Short Story	Trent Jamieson	"Cracks"	Shiny, magazine
Children's Book of the Year Award	Older Readers	Sonya Hartnett	The Ghost's Child	Viking Books
	Younger Readers	Carole Wilkinson	Dragon Moon	Black Dog Books
	Picture Book	Matt Ottley	Requiem for a Beast	Lothian
	Early Childhood	Aaron Blabey	Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley	Viking Books
Davitt Award	Young Adult Novel	Mandy Sayer	The Night has a Thousand Eyes	Fourth Estate
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards	Children's	Li Cunxin and Anne Spudvilas	The Peasant Prince	Viking Books
	Young People's	James Roy	Town	University of Queensland Press
Queensland Premier's Literary Awards	Children's	Li Cunxin and Anne Spudvilas	The Peasant Prince	Viking Books
	Young Adult	Matt Ottley	Requiem for a Beast	Lothian
South Australian Premier's Awards	Children's	Michael Gerard Bauer	Don't Call Me Ishmael	Omnibus Books
Victorian Premier's Literary Award	Young Adult Fiction	Brigid Lowry| Tomorrow All Will Be Beautiful	Allen and Unwin
Western Australian Premier's Book Awards	Children's	Liz Lofthouse and Robert Ingpen	Ziba Came on a Boat	Viking Books
	Writing for Young Adults	Ken Spillman	Love is a UFO	Pan Macmillan

Crime and Mystery

National

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Davitt Award [24]	Novel	Katherine Howell	Frantic	Pan Macmillan
	Young adult novel	Mandy Sayer	The Night Has a Thousand Eyes	Fourth Estate
	True crime	Janet Fife-Yeomans	Killing Jodie	Penguin
	Readers' Choice	Lindy Cameron	Scarlet Stiletto: The First Cut	Mira Books
Ned Kelly Award [25]	Novel	Michael Robotham	Shatter	Sphere Books
	First novel	Chris Womersley	The Low Road	Scribe
	True crime	Evan McHugh	Red Centre, Dark Heart	Penguin
	Lifetime achievement	Marele Day

Science fiction

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Aurealis Award	SF Novel	K. A. Bedford	Time Machines Repaired While-U-Wait	Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing
	SF Short Story	Simon Brown	"The Empire"	Dreaming Again, Voyager
	Fantasy Novel	Alison Goodman	The Two Pearls of Wisdom	HarperCollins
	Fantasy Short Story	Cat Sparks	"Sammarynda Deep"	Paper Cities, Senses 5 Press
	Horror Novel	John Harwood	The Seance	Random House
	Horror Short Story	Kirstyn McDermott	"Painlessness"	Greatest Uncommon Denominator #2
Ditmar Award	Novel	Sean Williams	Saturn Returns	Orbit Books
	Novella/Novelette	Cat Sparks	"Lady of Adestan"	Orb #7
	Short Story	Rick Kennett	"The Dark and What It Said"	Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #28
	Collected Work	Jonathan Strahan ed.	The New Space Opera	HarperCollins
		Russell B. Farr ed.	Fantastic Wonder Stories	Ticonderoga Publications

Non-Fiction

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
The Age Book of the Year	Non-fiction	Don Watson	American Journeys	Random House
Children's Book of the Year Award	Eve Pownall Award for Information Books	Frances Watts, illus David Legge	Parsley Rabbit's Book about Books	ABC Books
Davitt Award	True crime	Janet Fife-Yeomans	Killing Jodie	Penguin Books
National Biography Award		Philip Dwyer	Napoleon: The Path To Power 1769–1799	Bloomsbury Publishing
		Graham Seal	These Few Lines: A Convict Story – The Lost Lives of Myra & William Sykes	ABC Books
Prime Minister's Literary Awards	Non-fiction	Philip Jones	Ochre and Rust: Artefacts and Encounters on Australian Frontiers	Wakefield Press
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards	Non-fiction	Tom Griffiths	Slicing the Silence: Voyaging to Antarctica	University of New South Wales Press
New South Wales Premier's History Awards	Australian History	Paul Ham	Vietnam: The Australian War	HarperCollins
	Community and Regional History	Dianne Johnson, in collaboration with the residents of the Gully and their descendants	Sacred Waters: the story of the Blue Mountains Gully Traditional Owners	Halstead Press
	General History	Michael A. McDonnell	The Politics of War: Race, Class and Conflict in Revolutionary Virginia	University of North Carolina Press
	Young People's	Robert Lewis and Tim Gurry	Australians in the Vietnam War	Ryebuck Media Pty Ltd
Queensland Premier's Literary Awards	Non-fiction	Craig Sherborne	Muck	Black Inc
	History	Professor Marilyn Lake and Professor Henry Reynolds	Drawing the Global Colour Line	Melbourne University Press
South Australian Premier's Awards	Non-fiction	Jacob G. Rosenberg	Sunrise West	Brandl and Schlesinger
Victorian Premier's Literary Award	Non-fiction	Meredith Hooper	The Ferocious Summer: Palmer's Penguins and the Warming of Antarctica	Allen & Unwin
Western Australian Premier's Book Awards	Non-fiction	Antonio Buti	Sir Ronald Wilson: A Matter of Conscience	University of Western Australia Press
	Western Australian history	Ruth Marchant James	Cottesloe: A Town of Distinction	Town of Cottesloe

Poetry

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
The Age Book of the Year	J. S. Harry	Not Finding Wittgenstein	Giramondo Publishing
Anne Elder Award [26]	Sarah Holland-Batt	Aria	University of Queensland Press
	Sandy Fitts	View from the Lucky Hotel	Five Islands Press
Grace Leven Prize for Poetry [27]	Alan Wearne	The Australian Popular Songbook	Giramondo Publishing
Mary Gilmore Prize [28]	Nathan Shepherdson	Sweeping the Light Back into the Mirror	University of Queensland Press
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards	Kathryn Lomer	Two Kinds of Silence	University of Queensland Press
Queensland Premier's Literary Awards	David Malouf	Typewriter Music	University of Queensland Press
Victorian Premier's Literary Award	Lisa Gorton	Press Release	Giramondo Publishing
Western Australian Premier's Book Awards	Hal Colebatch	The Light River	Connorcourt Publishing

Drama

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
Patrick White Playwrights' Award	Nicki Bloom	Bloodwood

Deaths

• 11 January – Nancy Phelan, author (born 1913) ^[29]
• 27 March – Alan Collins, short story writer (born 1928)
• 8 April – John Button, politician and author (born 1933) ^[30]
• 26 April – Pamela Bone, journalist and author (born 1940)
• 29 April – John Hooker, author (born 1932)
• 21 June – Justina Williams, poet (born 1916) ^[31]
• 24 August – Patricia Rolfe, short story writer and critic (born 1920)
• 30 September – Eleanor Spence, writer for children (born 1928) ^[32]
• 30 October – Jacob G. Rosenberg, poet and memoirist (born 1922) ^[33]
• 15 November – Ivan Southall, writer for children (born 1921) ^[34]
• 10 December – Dorothy Porter, poet (born 1954) ^[35]

See also

• 2008 in Australia
• 2008 in literature
• 2008 in poetry
• List of years in literature
• List of years in Australian literature
• List of Australian literary awards

References

1. The Bulletin shuts down after 128 years
2. "Critically acclaimed writers honoured with top literary prize". Archived from the original on 20 June 2009. Retrieved 2 February 2009.
3. "Government funds new Chair in Australian Literature". Archived from the original on 2 October 2008. Retrieved 2 February 2009.
4. The book of regenesis
5. Crime and Justice Festival
6. Aussiecon 4
7. Poet's works discovered in war diary
8. Write at the centre
9. Centre for writing and books gains services of a mind much travelled
10. ""Indie Book Awards"". Australian Indpendent Booksellers. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
11. "Austlit — Patrick White Award - Past Winners". Austlit. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
12. Steger, Jason (22 August 2008). "US travel memoir wins Age Book of the Year Award". The Age. Archived from the original on 14 June 2022. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
13. "ALS Gold Medal — Previous Winners". Association for the Study of Australian Literature. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
14. "Colin Roderick Award — Other Winners". James Cook University. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
15. "Kibble Literary Award". Australian National University . 9 June 2009. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
16. ""2008 Commonwealth Writers' Prize"". Literary Awards. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
17. "ABC Fiction Award announces 2008 winner Accessed: 2008-06-28". Archived from the original on 14 September 2007. Retrieved 28 June 2008.
18. Steger, Jason (22 August 2008). "US travel memoir wins Age Book of the Year Award". The Age. Archived from the original on 14 June 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
19. ""Austlit – Australian/Vogel Award 2006-2008"". Austlit. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
20. ""Barbara Jefferis Award"". Australian Society of Authors. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
21. ""Indie Book Awards - Winners 2012 & prior"". Australian Independent Booksellers. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
22. "Miles Franklin Award winner 2008 - Steven Carroll". ABC Radio National. 20 June 2008. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
23. ""Prime Minister's Literary Awards - Shortlist and winners: 2021-2008"". Creative Australia. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
24. ""LibraryThing: Davitt Awards 2008"". LibraryThing. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
25. "2008 Ned Kelly Award Winners". Australian Crime Writers. Archived from the original on 27 March 2016. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
26. 2008 National Literary Awards Results Archived 13 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine
27. "Austlit — Grace Leven Poetry prize (2008-2012)". Austlit. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
28. "Mary Gilmore Award". Association for the Study of Australian Literature . Retrieved 29 February 2024.
29. "Austlit — Nancy Phelan". Austlit. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
30. "John Button". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
31. "Justina Williams". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
32. "Eleanor Spence". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
33. "Jacob G. Rosenberg". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
34. "Ivan Southall". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
35. "Dorothy Porter". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 21 February 2024.

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