This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 2009.
| Award | Author |
|---|---|
| Christopher Brennan Award [62] | Jennifer Strauss |
| Melbourne Prize for Literature [63] | Gerald Murnane |
| Patrick White Award [64] | Beverley Farmer |
| Award | Author | Title | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Age Book of the Year [65] | Steven Amsterdam | Things We Didn't See Coming | Sleepers Publishing |
| ALS Gold Medal [66] | Christos Tsiolkas | The Slap | Allen & Unwin |
| Colin Roderick Award [67] | Graham Freudenberg | Churchill and Australia | Pan Macmillan |
| James Boyce | Van Diemen's Land | Black Inc | |
| Indie Book Awards Book of the Year [68] | Craig Silvey | Jasper Jones | Allen & Unwin |
| Nita Kibble Literary Award [69] | Jacqueline Kent | An Exacting Heart: The Story of Hephzibah Menuhin | Viking |
| Award | Region | Category | Author | Title | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commonwealth Writers' Prize [70] | SE Asia and South Pacific | Best Novel | Christos Tsiolkas | The Slap | Allen & Unwin |
| Overall winner | Best Novel | Christos Tsiolkas | The Slap | Allen & Unwin | |
| Award | Category | Author | Title | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Children's Book of the Year Award | Older Readers | Shaun Tan | Tales from Outer Suburbia | Allen & Unwin |
| Younger Readers | Glenda Millard, illus. Stephen Michael King | Perry Angel's Suitcase | ABC Books | |
| Picture Book | Kylie Dunstan | Collecting Colour | Lothian | |
| Early Childhood | Bob Graham | How to Heal a Broken Wing | Walker Books | |
| Davitt Award | Young Adult Novel | Catherine Jinks | Genius Squad | Allen & Unwin |
| Indie Book Awards Book of the Year [68] | Children's & YA | Sally Murphy & Heather Potter (Illus) | Pearl Verses The World | Walker Books |
| New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards [77] | Children's | Ursula Dubosarsky and Tohby Riddle | The Word Spy | Penguin |
| Young People's | Michelle Cooper | A Brief History of Montmaray | Random House Australia | |
| Queensland Premier's Literary Awards [78] | Children's | Gaye Chapman | Little Blue | Little Hare Books |
| Young Adult | Glenda Millard | A Small Free Kiss in the Dark | Allen & Unwin | |
| South Australian Premier's Awards | Children's | Not awarded | ||
| Victorian Premier's Literary Award [79] | Young Adult Fiction | Sue Saliba | Something in the World Called Love | Penguin |
| Western Australian Premier's Book Awards | Children's | Bob Graham | How to Heal a Broken Wing | Walker Books |
| Writing for Young Adults | Shaun Tan | Tales from Outer Suburbia | Allen & Unwin | |
| Award | Category | Author | Title | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Davitt Award [81] | Novel | Malla Nunn | A Beautiful Place to Die | Pan Macmillan |
| Young adult novel | Catherine Jinks | Genius Squad | Allen & Unwin | |
| True crime | Chloe Hooper | The Tall Man | Penguin | |
| Readers' choice | Katherine Howell | The Darkest Hour | Pan Macmillan | |
| Ned Kelly Award [82] | Novel | Peter Corris | Deep Water | Allen & Unwin |
| Kel Robertson | Smoke and Mirrors | Ginninderra Press | ||
| First novel | Nick Gadd | Ghostlines | Scribe | |
| True crime | Chloe Hooper | The Tall Man | Penguin | |
| Lifetime achievement | Shane Maloney | |||
| Award | Category | Author | Title | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| World Fantasy Award [83] | Best Novel | Margo Lanagan | Tender Morsels | Knopf |
| Award | Category | Author | Title | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aurealis Award | SF Novel | Andrew McGahan | Wonders of a Godless World | Allen & Unwin |
| SF Short Story | Peter M. Ball | "Clockwork, Patchwork and Ravens" | Apex Magazine | |
| Fantasy Novel | Trudi Canavan | The Magician's Apprentice | Orbit Books | |
| Fantasy Short Story | Christopher Green | "Father's Kill" | Beneath Ceaseless Skies | |
| Ian McHugh | "Once a Month, On a Sunday" | Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine | ||
| Horror Novel | Honey Brown | Red Queen | Penguin Books | |
| Horror Short Story | Paul Haines | "Slice of Life – A Spot of Liver" | The Mayne Press | |
| Paul Haines | "Wives" | Coeur de Lion Publishing (X6) | ||
| Ditmar Award [84] | Novel | Margo Lanagan | Tender Morsels | Allen & Unwin |
| Novella/Novelette | Kirstyn McDermott | "Painlessness" | Greatest Uncommon Denominator | |
| Short Story | Margo Lanagan | "The Goosle" | The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy | |
| Collected Work | ed. Jack Dann | Dreaming Again | Voyager | |
| Shadows Award | Kaaron Warren | Slights | Angry Robot |
| Award | Author | Title | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature [71] | Not awarded | ||
| The Age Book of the Year [72] | Peter Porter | Better Than God | Picador |
| Anne Elder Award [85] | Emma Jones | The Striped World | Faber and Faber |
| Grace Leven Prize for Poetry [86] | Not awarded | ||
| Mary Gilmore Prize [87] | Not awarded | ||
| New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards [77] | L. K. Holt | Man Wolf Man | John Leonard Press |
| Queensland Premier's Literary Awards [78] | Emma Jones | The Striped World | Faber and Faber |
| Victorian Premier's Literary Award [79] | Robert Adamson | The Golden Bird | Black Inc. |
| Western Australian Premier's Book Awards [80] | Kate Middleton | Fire Season | Giramondo Publishing |
| Award | Author | Title | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|
| Patrick White Playwrights' Award | Ian Wilding | Forever Seven | |
| Award | Category | Author | Title | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature [71] | Non-Fiction | Not awarded | ||
| The Age Book of the Year | Non-fiction | Guy Rundle | Down to the Crossroads | Penguin Books |
| Indie Book Awards Book of the Year [68] | Non-Fiction | Chloe Hooper | The Tall Man: Death and Life on Palm Island | Hamish Hamilton |
| Children's Book of the Year Award | Eve Pownall Award for Information Books | Lincoln Hall | Alive in the Death Zone | Random House |
| Davitt Award | True crime | Chloe Hooper | The Tall Man: Death and Life on Palm Island | Hamish Hamilton |
| National Biography Award [88] | Biography | Ann Blainey | I Am Melba | Black Inc. |
| Prime Minister's Literary Awards | Non-fiction | Evelyn Juers | House of Exile: The Life and Times of Heinrich Mann and Nelly-Kroeger Mann | Giramondo Publishing |
| Marilyn Lake and Henry Reynolds | Drawing the Global Colour Line | Melbourne University Press | ||
| New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards [77] | Non-fiction | Chloe Hooper | The Tall Man: Death and Life on Palm Island | Hamish Hamilton |
| New South Wales Premier's History Awards | Australian History | Robin Gerster | Travels in Atomic Sunshine: Australia and the Occupation of Japan | Scribe |
| Community and Regional History | David Bollen | Up on the Hill: A History of St Patrick's College | UNSW Press | |
| General History | Warwick Anderson | The Collectors of Lost Souls: Turning Kuru Scientists into Whitemen | Johns Hopkins University Press | |
| Young People's | Anthony Hill | Captain Cook's Apprentice | Penguin Books | |
| Queensland Premier's Literary Awards [78] | Non-fiction | Chloe Hooper | The Tall Man: Death and Life on Palm Island | Hamish Hamilton |
| History | Jill Roe | Stella Miles Franklin | Fourth Estate | |
| Victorian Premier's Literary Award [79] | Non-fiction | Chloe Hooper | The Tall Man: Death and Life on Palm Island | Hamish Hamilton |
| Western Australian Premier's Book Awards | Non-fiction | Iain McCalman | Darwin's Armada | W.W. Norton |
| Western Australian history | Penelope Hetherington | Paupers, Poor Relief & Poor Houses | UWA Publishing | |
Note: all references relating to awards can, or should be, found on the relevant award's page.