2013 in Australian literature

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 2013.

Events

• James Ley launches the Sydney Review of Books ^[1] to provide "an opportunity for Australia's critics to rediscover the art of literary criticism". ^[2]
• The longlist for the inaugural Stella Prize is announced. ^[3]
• The shortlist of the Miles Franklin Award contains only female writers for the first time. ^[4]
• Nicole Bourke, writing under the pseudonym "N. A. Sulway", becomes the first Australian writer to win the James Tiptree, Jr. Award for her novel Rupetta . ^[5]
• Aora Children's Literature Research Centre in Sydney closes after 12 years of operation. ^[6]
• The Commonwealth Book Prize was discontinuted after 2013. ^[7]

Major publications

Literary fiction

• Debra Adelaide – Letter to George Clooney ^[8]
• Steven Carroll – A World of Other People
• J. M. Coetzee – The Childhood of Jesus
• Richard Flanagan – The Narrow Road to the Deep North
• Andrea Goldsmith – The Memory Trap ^[9]
• Ashley Hay – The Railwayman's Wife ^[10]
• Tom Keneally – Shame and the Captives ^[11]
• Hannah Kent – Burial Rites
• Melissa Lucashenko – Mullumbimby
• Colleen McCullough – Bittersweet ^[12]
• Fiona McFarlane – The Night Guest ^[13]
• Alex Miller – Coal Creek
• Di Morrissey – The Winter Sea ^[14]
• Cory Taylor – My Beautiful Enemy ^[15]
• Christos Tsiolkas – Barracuda ^[16]
• Felicity Volk – Lightning ^[17]
• Tim Winton – Eyrie
• Alexis Wright – The Swan Book
• Evie Wyld – All The Birds, Singing

Children's and young adult fiction

• Alyssa Brugman – Alex as Well
• J. C. Burke – Pretty Girl
• Felicity Castagna – The Incredible Here and How
• Mem Fox – Baby Bedtime
• Mem Fox – Yoo-hoo, Ladybird!
• Kerry Greenwood – Evan's Gallipoli: A Gripping Story of Unlikely Friendship and an Incredible Journey behind Enemy Lines
• Richard Harland – Song of the Slums
• Karen Healey – When We Wake
• Melissa Keil – Life in Outer Space
• Tania McCartney – An Aussie Year: Twelve Months in the Life of Australian Kids
• Fiona Wood – Wildlife

Science fiction and fantasy

• Max Barry – Lexicon
• Greg Egan – The Arrows of Time
• Jennifer Fallon – Reunion
• Traci Harding – Dreaming of Zhou Gong
• Simon Haynes – Hal Spacejock: Safe Art
• Fiona McIntosh – The Scrivener's Tale
• Juliet Marillier – The Caller
• James Phelan – 13
• N. A. Sulway – Rupetta

Crime and mystery

• Honey Brown – Dark Horse
• Peter Corris – The Dunbar Case
• Garry Disher – Bitter Wash Road
• Karen Foxlee – The Midnight Dress
• Poppy Gee – Bay of Fires
• Katherine Howell – Web of Deceit
• Stuart Littlemore —Harry Curry: Rats and Mice
• Adrian McKinty – I Hear the Sirens in the Street
• Barry Maitland – The Raven's Eye
• Matthew Reilly – The Tournament
• Michael Robotham – Watching You
• Angela Savage – The Dying Beach
• David Whish-Wilson – Zero at the Bone
• Chris Womersley – Cairo

Poetry

• Pamela Brown – Home by Dark
• Lisa Gorton
  • The Best Australian Poems 2013
  • Hotel Hyperion
• John Kinsella – The Vision of Error: A Sextet of Activist Poems
• Kate Middleton – Ephemeral Waters
• Geoff Page
  • 1953
  • New Selected Poems
• Dorothy Porter – The Best 100 Poems of Dorothy Porter
• Chris Wallace-Crabbe – New and Selected Poems

Biography

• Alison Alexander – The Ambitions of Jane Franklin: Victorian Lady Adventurer
• Andrew Burell – Twiggy: The High-Stakes Life of Andrew Forest
• Gabrielle Carey – Moving Among Strangers: Randolph Stow and My Family
• Matthew Condon – Three Crooked Kings
• David Day – Flaws in the Ice: In Search of Douglas Mawson
• Stephen Dando-Collins – Sir Henry Parkes: The Australian Colossus
• Susanna de Vries – Australian Heroines of World War One: Gallipoli, Lemnos and the Western Front
• Jesse Fink – The Youngs: The Brothers Who Built AC/DC
• Peter FitzSimons – Ned Kelly: The Story of Australia's Most Notorious Legend
• David Marr – The Prince: Faith, Abuse and George Pell
• Kristina Olsson – Boy, Lost: A Family Memoir
• Michael Pembroke – Arthur Phillip: Sailor, Mercenary, Governor, Spy
• John Safran – Murder in Mississippi: The True Story of How I Met a White Supremacist, Befriended His Black Killer and Wrote this Book
• Margaret Simons – Kerry Stokes: Self-Made Man
• Helen Trinca – Madeleine: A Life of Madeleine St. John
• Clare Wright – The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka

Awards and honours

Lifetime achievement

Award	Author
Christopher Brennan Award [18]	Judith Beveridge
Patrick White Award [19]	Louis Nowra

Literary

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
ALS Gold Medal [20]	Michelle de Kretser	Questions of Travel	Allen & Unwin
Colin Roderick Award [21]	Ashley Hay	The Railwayman's Wife	Allen & Unwin
	Stephen Edgar	Eldershaw	Black Pepper
Nita Kibble Literary Award [22]	Annah Faulkner	The Beloved	Picador
Stella Prize [23]	Carrie Tiffany	Mateship with Birds	Pan Macmillan
Victorian Prize for Literature [24]	Not awarded

Fiction

International

Award	Region	Author	Title	Publisher
Commonwealth Book Prize [25]	Pacific	Michael Sala	The Last Thread	Affirm Press

National

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
The Australian/Vogel Literary Award [26]	Not awarded
Barbara Jefferis Award [27]	Not awarded
Indie Book Awards Book of the Year – Fiction [28]	Toni Jordan	Nine Days	Text Publishing
Indie Book Awards Book of the Year – Debut Fiction [28]	M. L. Stedman	The Light Between Oceans	Vintage Australia
Miles Franklin Award [29]	Michelle de Kretser	Questions of Travel	Allen & Unwin
Prime Minister's Literary Awards [30]	Michelle de Kretser	Questions of Travel	Allen & Unwin
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards [31]	Carrie Tiffany	Mateship with Birds	Pan Macmillan
Queensland Literary Awards [32]	Melissa Lucashenko	Mullumbimby	University of Queensland Press
Victorian Premier's Literary Awards [24]	Not awarded

Children and young adult

National

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Children's Book of the Year Award	Older Readers	Margo Lanagan	Sea Hearts	Allen and Unwin
	Younger Readers	Sonya Hartnett	The Children of the King	Viking Books
	Picture Book	Ron Brooks and Julie Hunt	The Coat	Allen and Unwin
	Early Childhood	Emma Allen, illus. Freya Blackwood	The Terrible Suitcase	Scholastic Press, Scholastic Australia
Davitt Award	Young Adult Novel	Jennifer Walsh	The Tunnels of Tarcoola	Allen & Unwin
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards	Children's	Aaron Blabey	The Ghost of Miss Annabel Spoon	Penguin Books
	Young People's	Jaclyn Moriarty	A Corner of White	Pan Macmillan
Queensland Literary Awards	Children's	Narelle Oliver	Don't Let a Spoonbill in the Kitchen!	Omnibus Books
	Young Adult	Jaclyn Moriarty	A Corner of White	Pan Macmillan
Victorian Premier's Literary Award	Young Adult Fiction	No award
Western Australian Premier's Book Awards	Children's	Dianne Wolfer, illus. by Brian Simmonds	Light Horse Boy	Fremantle Press
		Jan Ormerod, illus. by Andrew Joyner	The Swap	Hardie Grant
	Writing for Young Adults	Alyssa Brugman	Alex As Well	Text Publishing

Crime and mystery

National

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Davitt Award [33]	Novel	Maggie Groff	Mad Men, Bad Girls and the Guerilla Knitters Institute	Pan Macmillan
	Young adult novel	Jennifer Walsh	The Tunnels of Tarcoola	Allen & Unwin
	True Crime	Pamela Burton	The Waterlow Killings	Melbourne University Press
	Debut novel	Maggie Groff	Mad Men, Bad Girls and the Guerilla Knitters Institute	Pan Macmillan
	Readers' choice	Kerry Greenwood	Tamam Shud: The Somerton Man Mystery	NewSouth Publishing
Ned Kelly Award [34]	Novel	Geoffrey McGeachin	Blackwattle Creek	Penguin Books
	First novel	Zane Lovitt	The Midnight Promise	Text Publishing
	True crime	Robin de Crespigny	The People Smuggler	Viking
	Lifetime Achievement	Not awarded

Science fiction

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Aurealis Award	SF Novel	Max Barry	Lexicon	Hachette
	SF Short Story	Kaaron Warren	"Air, Water, and the Grove"	Pandemonimum Press (The Lowest Heaven)
	Fantasy Novel	Mitchell Hogan	A Crucible of Souls	Mitchell Hogan
	Fantasy Short Story	Jay Kristoff	"The Last Stormdancer"	Thomas Dunne Books
	Horror Novel	Allyse Near	Fairytales for Wilde Girls	Random House Australia
	Horror Short Story	Kim Wilkins	"The Year of Ancient Ghosts"	Ticonderoga Publications (The Year of Ancient Ghosts)
	Anthology	Liz Grzyb & Talie Helene	The Year's Best Australian Fantasy and Horror	Ticonderoga Publications
		Tehani Wessely	One Small Step, An Anthology of Discoveries	FableCroft Publishing
	Collection	Joanne Anderton	The Bone Chime Song and Other Stories	FableCroft Publishing
Australian Shadows Awards	Novel	Marty Young	809 Jacob Street	Black Beacon Books
	Long Fiction	Kaaron Warren	"The Unwanted Women of Surrey"	Queen Victoria's Book of Spells: An Anthology of Gaslamp Fantasy edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
	Short Fiction	Debbie Cowens	"Caterpillars"	Baby Teeth: Bite-sized Tales of Terror edited by Dan Rabarts and Lee Murray
	Edited Publication	Dan Rabarts and Lee Murray, editors	Baby Teeth: Bite-sized Tales of Terror	Paper Road Press
	Collected Works	Jo Anderton	The Bone Chime Song and other stories	FableCroft Publishing
Ditmar Award	Novel	Margo Lanagan	Sea Hearts	Allen & Unwin
	Novella/Novelette	Kaaron Warren	"Sky"	Twelfth Planet Press (Through Splintered Walls)
	Short Story	Thoraiya Dyer	"The Wisdom of Ants"	Clarkesworld 75
	Collected Work	Kaaron Warren, edited by Alisa Krasnostein	Through Splintered Walls	Twelfth Planet Press

Non-fiction

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Children's Book of the Year Award	Eve Pownall Award for Information Books	Kristin Weidenbach, illus. Timothy Ide	Tom the Outback Mailman	Lothian Children's Books, Hachette Australia
Davitt Award	True crime	Pamela Burton	The Waterlow Killings	Melbourne University Publishing
National Biography Award		Peter Fitzpatrick	The Two Frank Thrings	Monash University Publishing
Prime Minister's Literary Awards	Non-fiction	George Megalogenis	The Australian Moment	Penguin Books
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards	Non-fiction	Gideon Haigh	The Office: A Hard Working History	Miegunyah
New South Wales Premier's History Awards	Australian History	Janet Butler	Kitty's War: The remarkable wartime experiences of Kit McNaughton	University of Queensland Press
	Community and Regional History	Patti Miller	The Mind of a Thief	University of Queensland Press
	General History	Saliha Belmessous	Assimilation and Empire: Uniformity in the French and British Colonies, 1541–1954	Oxford University Press
	Young People's	Jackie French	Pennies for Hitler	HarperCollins
Queensland Literary Awards	Non-fiction	Kristina Olsson	Boy, Lost	University of Queensland Press
	History	Jane Lydon	The Flash of Recognition	New South Books
Victorian Premier's Literary Award	Non-fiction	No award
Western Australian Premier's Book Awards	Non-fiction	Kristina Olsson	Boy, Lost	University of Queensland Press
	Western Australian history	Margaret Simons	Kerry Stokes: Self-Made Man	Penguin Books

Poetry

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
Anne Elder Award [35]	Elizabeth Allen	Body Language	Vagabond Press
Mary Gilmore Prize [36]	Not awarded
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards [31]	Ali Cobby‐Eckermann	Ruby Moonlight	Magabala Books
Queensland Literary Awards	John Kinsella	Jam Tree Gully	W. W. Norton
Victorian Premier's Literary Award	No award
Western Australian Premier's Book Awards	Paul Hetherington	Six Different Windows	UWA Publishing

Drama

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards	Play	Reg Cribb	The Damned	The Yellow Agency
	Script	Louise Fox	Dead Europe	See Saw Films; Porchlight Films
Patrick White Playwrights' Award	Award	Chris Summers	King Artur
	Fellowship	Angela Betzien

Deaths

• 23 May – Hazel Hawke, memoirist (born 1929) ^[37]
• 16 July – Christopher Koch, novelist (born 1932) ^[38]
• 5 September – Elisabeth Wynhausen, Dutch-born journalist and author (born 1946) ^[39]
• 11 September – Keith Dunstan, journalist and author (born 1925) ^[40]
• 9 October – Mark "Chopper" Read, writer (born 1954) ^[41]
• 16 November – Graham Stone, bibliographer (born 1926) ^{[42] [43]}

See also

• 2013 in Australia
• 2013 in literature
• 2013 in poetry
• List of years in Australian literature
• List of years in literature
• List of Australian literary awards

References

1. Sydney Review of Books
2. Introducing the Sydney Review of Books
3. Stella Prize Longlist Announced
4. All Female Shortlist for the Miles Franklin
5. "N.A. Sulway’s Acceptance Speech for Rupetta "
6. Harrowell, Miranda (August 2014). "Farewell to an iconic collection" (PDF). IBBY Australia Newsletter. 22. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
7. Bury, Liz (21 August 2013). "Commonwealth novel prize culled to focus on short-story competition". The Guardian .
8. "Letter to George Clooney by Debra Adelaide". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
9. "The Memory Trap by Andrea Goldsmith". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
10. "The Railwayman's Wife by Ashley Hay". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
11. "Shame and the Captives by Tom keneally". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
12. "Bittersweet by Colleen McCullough". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
13. "The Night Guest by Fiona McFarlane". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
14. "The Winter Sea by Di Morrissey". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
15. "My Beautiful Enemy by Cory Taylor". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
16. "Barracuda by Christos Tsiolkas". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
17. "Lightning by Felecity Volk". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
18. ""Judith Beveridge Honoured with the Christopher Brennan Award"". Giromondo Publishing, 22 April 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
19. Susan Wyndham (9 November 2013). "Louis Nowra wins $23,000 Patrick White Literary Award". Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 10 September 2023.
20. "ALS Gold Medal — Previous Winners". Association for the Study of Australian Literature. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
21. "Colin Roderick Award — Other Winners". James Cook University. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
22. "Kibble Literary Award". Australian National University . 9 June 2009. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
23. ""The Stella Prize — 2013"". The Stella prize. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
24. "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2013". The Wheeler Centre. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
25. "Commonwealth Writers announces regional winners for 2013 prizes". Commonwealth Writers. 16 May 2013. Archived from the original on 12 August 2013. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
26. "No Vogel Award to be presented in 2013". Books+Publishing. 30 April 2013. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
27. ""Barbara Jefferis Award"". Australian Society of Authors. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
28. ""Indie Book Awards - Winners 2013"". Australian Independent Booksellers. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
29. "Michelle de Kretser wins Miles Franklin literary award". the Guardian. 19 June 2013. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
30. ""Prime Minister's Literary Awards - Shortlist and winners: 2021-2008"". Creative Australia. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
31. "Winners announced for 2013 NSW Premier's Literary Awards" (PDF) (Press release). State Library of New South Wales. 19 May 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 June 2014. Retrieved 21 May 2013.
32. ""2013 Winners (Queensland Literary Awards)"". State Library of Queensland. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
33. ""LibraryThing: Davitt Awards 2013"". LibraryThing. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
34. "2013 Ned Kelly award winners". Crimespree Magazine. 7 September 2013. Archived from the original on 30 October 2013. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
35. "Austlit — Anne Elder Award". Austlit. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
36. "Mary Gilmore Award". Association for the Study of Australian Literature . Retrieved 5 February 2024.
37. "Hazel Hawke (1929-2013)". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
38. "Christopher Koch (1932-2013)". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
39. "Austlit — Elisabeth Wynhausen (1946-2013)". Austlit. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
40. "Keith Dunstan (1946-2013)". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
41. "Austlit — Mark Read (1954-2013)". Austlit. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
42. "A life evolved around science fiction". The Sydney Morning Herald. 5 December 2013. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
43. "Graham Stone (1926-2013)". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 19 October 2023.