2015 in Australian literature

This is a list of the historical events and publications of 2015 in Australian literature.

Major publications

Literary fiction

• Tony Birch – Ghost River ^[1]
• Lisa Birman — How to Walk Away
• Geraldine Brooks – The Secret Chord
• Robyn Cadwallader — The Anchoress
• Stephen Daisley – Coming Rain ^[2]
• Gregory Day – Archipelago of Souls ^[3]
• Peggy Frew – Hope Farm ^[4]
• Lisa Gorton – The Life of Houses
• Sally Hepworth — The Secrets of Midwives
• David Ireland — The World Repair Video Game
• Susan Johnson – The Landing ^[5]
• Gail Jones – A Guide to Berlin
• Myfanwy Jones – Leap ^[6]
• Mireille Juchau – The World Without Us
• Malcolm Knox – The Wonder Lover ^[7]
• Amanda Lohrey – A Short History of Richard Kline ^[8]
• Judy Nunn — Spirits of the Ghan
• A. S. Patrić – Black Rock White City
• Gregory David Roberts — The Mountain Shadow
• Steve Toltz – Quicksand ^[9]
• Lucy Treloar – Salt Creek ^[10]
• Charlotte Wood – The Natural Way of Things

Children's and Young Adult fiction

• Nick Earls – New Boy ^[11]
• John Flanagan — The Tournament at Gorlan
• Mem Fox – This & That
• Mem Fox – Nellie Belle
• Andy Griffiths – The 65-Storey Treehouse ^[12]
• John Larkin — The Pause
• Maureen McCarthy – Stay With Me ^[13]
• Sophie Masson – Hunter's Moon ^[14]
• Gillian Mears – The Cat with the Coloured Tail ^[15]
• Louis Nowra – Prince of Afghanistan ^[16]
• Emily Rodda – Two Moons ^[17]
• R. A. Spratt — Friday Barnes, Under Suspicion
• Lili Wilkinson – Green Valentine ^[18]
• Fiona Wood – Cloudwish ^[19]

Crime and mystery

• Peter Corris – Gun Control
• Garry Disher – The Heat ^[20]
• Mark Dapin – R&R ^[21]
• Candice Fox – Fall ^[22]
• Katherine Howell – Tell the Truth ^[23]
• Adrian McKinty – Gun Street Girl ^[24]
• Barry Maitland – Ash Island ^[25]
• Michael Robotham – Close Your Eyes ^[26]
• Emma Viskic – Resurrection Bay
• Dave Warner – Before It Breaks

Science Fiction and Fantasy

• K. A. Bedford – Black Light ^[27]
• John Birmingham
  • Emergence
  • Resistance ^[28]
• Merlinda Bobis – Locust Girl: A Lovesong
• James Bradley – Clade ^[29]
• Trudi Canavan — Angel of Storms ^[30]
• Isobelle Carmody – The Red Queen ^[31]
• Kate Forsyth — The Beast of Blackmoor Bog ^[32]
• Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff — Illuminae
• Jane Rawson – Formaldehyde ^[33]

Romance

• Alison Goodman — The Dark Days Club

Poetry

• Robert Adamson – Net Needle ^[34]
• David Brooks – Open House ^[35]
• Brook Emery, with Sarah Holland-Batt eds. — Australian Poetry Anthology, Volume 4.
• Clive James – Sentenced to Life ^[36]
• Les Murray – Waiting for the Past ^[37]

Drama

• Daniel Keene – The Long Way Home ^[38]
• Matthew Whittet – Seventeen ^[39]

Biographies

• David Day – Paul Keating : The Biography ^[40]
• Peter Garrett – Big Blue Sky : A Memoir ^[41]
• Kate Grenville – One Life : My Mother's Story ^[42]
• Gerald Murnane – Something for the Pain : A Memoir of the Turf ^[43]
• Brenda Niall – Mannix ^[44]
• Magda Szubanski – Reckoning : A Memoir ^[45]
• Tim Winton – Island Home : A Landscape Memoir ^[46]

Non-fiction

• Joel Deane – Catch and Kill: The Politics of Power ^[47]
• Andrew Fowler – The War on Journalism: Media Moguls, Whistleblowers and the Price of Freedom ^[48]
• Gideon Haigh – Certain Admissions ^[49]
• Lucy Sussex – Blockbuster! : Fergus Hume and the Mystery of the Hansom Cab ^[50]

Awards and honours

Note: these awards were presented in the year in question.

Lifetime achievement

Award	Author
Christopher Brennan Award [51]	Gig Ryan
Melbourne Prize for Literature [52]	Chris Wallace-Crabbe
Patrick White Award [53]	Joan London

Literary

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
ALS Gold Medal [54]	Jennifer Maiden	Drones and Phantoms	Giramondo Publishing
Colin Roderick Award [55]	Not awarded
Indie Book Awards Book of the Year [56]	Don Watson	The Bush: Travels in the Heart of Australia	Penguin
Nita Kibble Literary Award [57]	Joan London	The Golden Age	Vintage Books
Stella Prize [58]	Emily Bitto	The Strays	Affirm Press
Victorian Prize for Literature [59]	Alan Atkinson	The Europeans in Australia: Volume Three: Nation	NewSouth

Fiction

National

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature [60]	Not awarded
The Australian/Vogel Literary Award [61]	Murray Middleton	When There’s Nowhere Else to Run	Allen & Unwin
Barbara Jefferis Award [62]	Not awarded
Indie Book Awards Book of the Year – Fiction [56]	Sonya Hartnett	Golden Boys	Penguin
Indie Book Awards Book of the Year – Debut Fiction [56]	Maxine Beneba Clarke	Foreign Soil	Hachette
Miles Franklin Award [63]	Sofie Laguna	The Eye of the Sheep	Allen & Unwin
Prime Minister's Literary Awards [64]	Joan London	The Golden Age	Random House
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards [65]	Mark Henshaw	The Snow Kimono	Text Publishing
Queensland Literary Awards [66]	Joan London	The Golden Age	Random House
Victorian Premier's Literary Award [59]	Rohan Wilson	To Name Those Lost	Allen & Unwin
Western Australian Premier's Book Awards [67]	Not awarded
Voss Literary Prize [68]	Elizabeth Harrower	In Certain Circles	Text Publishing

Children and Young Adult

National

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Children's Book of the Year Award [69]	Older Readers	Claire Zorn	The Protected	University of Queensland Press
	Younger Readers	Libby Gleeson	The Cleo Stories : The Necklace and the Present	Allen & Unwin
	Picture Book	Freya Blackwood, text Irema Kobald	My Two Blankets	Little Hare, Hardie Grant Egmont
	Early Childhood	Libby Gleeson, illus. Freya Blackwood	Go to Sleep, Jessie!	Little Hare, Hardie Grant Egmont
Indie Book Awards Book of the Year [56]	Children's & YA	Judith Rossell	Withering-by-Sea	Penguin
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards	Children's	Catherine Norton	Crossing	Omnibus/Scholastic Australia
		Tamsin Janu	Figgy in the World	Omnibus/Scholastic Australia
	Young People's	Jaclyn Moriarty	The Cracks in the Kingdom	Pan Macmillan Australia
Victorian Premier's Literary Award [59]	Young Adult Fiction	Claire Zorn	The Protected	University of Queensland Press

Crime and Mystery

International

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
CWA Gold Dagger Award [70]	Michael Robotham	Life or Death	Hachette

National

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Davitt Award [71]	Novel	Liane Moriarty	Big Little Lies	Penguin Books
	Young adult novel	Ellie Marney	Every Word	Allen & Unwin
	Children's novel	Judith Rossell	Withering-By-Sea	HarperCollins
	True crime	Caroline Overington	Last Woman Hanged	HarperCollins
	Debut novel	Christine Bongers	Intruder	Random House
	Readers' choice	Sandi Wallace	Tell Me Why	Clan Destine Press
Ned Kelly Award [72]	Novel	Candice Fox	Eden	Random House
	First novel	Jock Serong	Quota	Text Publishing
	True crime	Helen Garner	This House of Grief: The Story of a Murder Trial	Text Publishing
	Lifetime achievement	Not awarded

Science fiction

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Aurealis Award	Sf Novel	Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff	Illuminae	Allen & Unwin
	Sf Short Story	Sean Williams	"All the Wrong Places"	Meeting Infinity (Solaris Books)
	Fantasy Novel	Trent Jamieson	Day Boy	Text Publishing
	Fantasy Short Story	Rowena Cory Daniels	"The Giant's Lady"	Legends 2 (Newcon Press)
	Horror Novel	Trent Jamieson	Day Boy	Text Publishing
	Horror Short Story	Joanne Anderton	"Bullets"	In Sunshine Bright and Darkness Deep (AHWA)
	Young Adult Novel	Kathryn Barker	In the Skin of a Monster	Allen & Unwin
	Young Adult Short Story	Deborah Kalin	"The Miseducation of Mara Lys"	Cherry Crow Children (Twelfth Planet Press)
Ditmar Award	Novel	Glenda Larke	The Lascar's Dagger	Hachette
	Best Novella or Novelette	Sean Williams	"The Legend Trap"	Kaleidoscope (Twelfth Planet Press)
	Best Short Story	Cat Sparks	"The Seventh Relic"	Phantazein (FableCroft Publishing)

Poetry

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature [60]	Not awarded
Anne Elder Award [73]	Cathy Altmann	Circumnavigation	Poetica Christi Press
Mary Gilmore Award [74]	Not awarded
Prime Minister's Literary Awards [64]	Geoffrey Lehmann	Poems 1957–2013	UWA Publishing
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards [75]	David Malouf	Earth Hour	University of Queensland Press
Queensland Literary Awards [66]	Les Murray	Waiting for the Past	Black Inc
Victorian Premier's Literary Award [59]	Jill Jones	The Beautiful Anxiety	Puncher and Wattmann
Western Australian Premier's Book Awards [67]	Not awarded

Drama

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards	Script	Jennifer Kent	The Babadook	Causeway Films
Patrick White Playwrights' Award	Award	Neil Levi	Kin	Sydney Theatre Company
	Fellowship	Tommy Murphy

Non-Fiction

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature [60]	Non-Fiction	Not awarded
Indie Book Awards Book of the Year [56]	Non-Fiction	Don Watson	The Bush: Travels in the Heart of Australia	Penguin
National Biography Award [76]	Biography	Philip Butterss	An Unsentimental Bloke: The Life and Work of C J Dennis	Wakefield Press
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards	Non-Fiction	Don Watson	The Bush : Travels in the Heart of Australia	Penguin
New South Wales Premier's History Awards	Australian History	Alan Atkinson	The Europeans in Australia: Volume Three: Nation	Oxford University Press
	Community and Regional History	Babette Smith	The Luck of the Irish : How a Shipload of Convicts Survived the Wreck of the Hive to Make a New Life in Australia	Allen & Unwin
	General History	Warwick Anderson & Ian R Mackay	Intolerant Bodies : A Short History of Autoimmunity	Johns Hopkins University Press
Queensland Literary Awards	Non-Fiction	Don Watson	The Bush : Travels in the Heart of Australia	Penguin
Victorian Premier's Literary Award [59]	Non-fiction	Alan Atkinson	The Europeans in Australia: Volume Three: Nation	Oxford University Press

Deaths

• 28 January — Lionel Gilbert, historian, author, and academic, (born 1924) ^[77]
• 29 January — Colleen McCullough, novelist (born 1937) ^[78]
• 13 February — Faith Bandler, author and civil rights activist (born 1918) ^[79]
• 23 February — James Aldridge, novelist (born 1918) ^[80]
• 20 March — Malcolm Fraser, politician and author (born 1930) ^[81]
• 23 March — Alan Seymour, playwright (born 1927) ^[82]
• 20 May — J. S. Harry, poet (born 1939) ^[83]
• 29 May — Syd Harrex, poet and academic (born 1935) ^[84]
• 20 August — Veronica Brady, poet and critic (born 1929) ^[85]
• 4 October — Nan Hunt, children's writer who also wrote as N. L. Ray (born 1918) ^[86]

See also

• 2015 in Australia
• 2015 in literature
• 2015 in poetry
• List of years in Australian literature
• List of years in literature
• List of Australian literary awards

References

1. "Ghost River by Tony Birch". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 31 March 2025.
2. "Coming Rain by Stephen Daisley". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 31 March 2025.
3. "Archipelago of Souls by Gregory Day". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 31 March 2025.
4. "Hope Farm by Peggy Frew". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 31 March 2025.
5. "The Landing by Susan Johnson". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 31 March 2025.
6. "Leap by Myfanwy Jones". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 31 March 2025.
7. "The Wonder Lover by Malcolm Knox". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 31 March 2025.
8. "A Short History of Richard Kline by Amanda Lohrey". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 31 March 2025.
9. "Quicksand by Steve Toltz". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 31 March 2025.
10. "Salt Creek by Lucy Treloar". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 31 March 2025.
11. "New Boy by Nick Earls". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 27 May 2025.
12. "The 65-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 27 May 2025.
13. "Stay With Me by Maureen McCarthy". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 27 May 2025.
14. "Hunter's Moon by Sophie Masson". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 27 May 2025.
15. "The Cat with the Coloured Tail by Gillian Mears". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 27 May 2025.
16. "Prince of Afghanistan by Louis Nowra". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 27 May 2025.
17. "Two Moons by Emily Rodda". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 27 May 2025.
18. "Green Valentine by Lili Wilkinson". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 27 May 2025.
19. "Cloudwish by Fiona Wood". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 27 May 2025.
20. "The Heat by Garry Disher". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 20 April 2025.
21. "R&R by Mark Dapin". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 20 April 2025.
22. "Fall by Candice Fox". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 20 April 2025.
23. "Tell the Truth by Katherine Howell". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 20 April 2025.
24. "Gun Street Girl by Adrian McKinty". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 20 April 2025.
25. "Ash Island by Barry Maitland". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 20 April 2025.
26. "Close Your Eyes by Michael Robotham". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 20 April 2025.
27. "Black Light by K. A. Bedford". ISFDB. Retrieved 25 April 2025.
28. "Austlit — Resistance by John Birmingham". Austlit. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
29. "Clade by James Bradley". ISFDB. Retrieved 25 April 2025.
30. "Angel of Storms by Trudi Canavan". ISFDB. Retrieved 25 April 2025.
31. "The Red Queen by Isobelle Carmody". ISFDB. Retrieved 25 April 2025.
32. "The Beast of Blackmoor Bog by Kate Forsyth". ISFDB. Retrieved 25 April 2025.
33. "Formaldehyde by Jane Rawson". ISFDB. Retrieved 25 April 2025.
34. "Net Needle by Robert Adamson". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
35. "Open House by David Brooks". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
36. "Sentenced to Life by Clive James". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
37. "Waiting for the Past by Les Murray". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
38. "The Long Way Home by Daniel Keene". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 23 May 2025.
39. "Seventeen by Matthew Whittet". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 23 May 2025.
40. "Paul Keating : The Biography by David Day". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 24 May 2025.
41. "Big Blue Sky : A Memoir by Peter Garrett". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 24 May 2025.
42. "One Life : My Mother's Story by Kate Grenville". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 24 May 2025.
43. "Something for the Pain : A Memoir of the Turf by Gerald Murnane". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 24 May 2025.
44. "Mannix by Brenda Niall". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 24 May 2025.
45. "Reckoning : A Memoir by Magda Szubanski". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 24 May 2025.
46. "Island Home : A Landscape Memoir by Tim Winton". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 24 May 2025.
47. "Catch and Kill: The Politics of Power by Joel Deane". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 23 May 2025.
48. "The War on Journalism: Media Moguls, Whistleblowers and the Price of Freedom by Andrew Fowler". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 23 May 2025.
49. "Certain Admissions by Gideon Haigh". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 23 May 2025.
50. "Blockbuster! : Fergus Hume and the Mystery of the Hansom Cab by Lucy Sussex". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 23 May 2025.
51. National Literary Awards Results 2015 (PDF). Fellowship of Australian Writers Victoria. 2015. p. 15.
52. "Austlit — Melbourne Prize". Austlit. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
53. ""London wins 2015 Patrick White Literary Award"". Books+Publishing, 29 October 2015. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
54. "ALS Gold Medal — Previous Winners". Association for the Study of Australian Literature. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
55. "Colin Roderick Award — Other Winners". James Cook University. 13 July 2020. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
56. ""Indie Book Awards - Winners 2015"". Australian Independent Booksellers. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
57. "Kibble Literary Award". Australian National University . 9 June 2009. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
58. ""The Stella Prize — 2015"". The Stella prize. Archived from the original on 16 March 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
59. "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2015". The Wheeler Centre. 2015. Retrieved 12 August 2025.
60. "Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature – Past Literary Award Winners". State Library of South Australia. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
61. "Middleton wins 2015 Vogel". Books+Publishing. 21 April 2015. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
62. ""Barbara Jefferis Award"". Australian Society of Authors. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
63. "Miles Franklin Literary Award: Sofie Laguna wins for novel The Eye Of The Sheep". ABC News. ABC News, 23 June 2015. 23 June 2015. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
64. ""Prime Minister's Literary Awards - Shortlist and winners: 2021-2008"". Creative Australia. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
65. ""Rejected 32 times, The Snow Kimono by Mark Henshaw wins NSW Premier's Literary Award"". 18 May 2015. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
66. ""2015 Queensland Literary Awards"". The Queensland Cabinet and Ministerial Directory. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
67. ""Australian Literary Awards: Western Australian Premier's"". University Libraries, University of Washington. Retrieved 23 May 2025.
68. "Harrower wins 2015 Voss Literary Prize". Books + Publishing. 26 November 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
69. ""CBCA – Winners 2015"". CBCA. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
70. ""The Crime Writers' Association - Past Winners"". CWA. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
71. "Announcing the 15th Davitt Awards' Results for Best Crime Books". Archived from the original on 10 September 2015. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
72. "Awards: Hugo and Ned Kelly Winners". Shelf Awareness . 24 August 2015. Archived from the original on 21 December 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
73. "Austlit — Anne Elder Award". Austlit. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
74. "Mary Gilmore Award". Association for the Study of Australian Literature . Retrieved 5 February 2024.
75. ""Don Watson wins Book of the Year in 2015 NSW Premier's Literary Awards with a grand and gloomy portrait of The Bush"". The Age, 18 May 2015. 18 May 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
76. "National Biography Award 2015 Winner". State Library of New South Wales. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
77. "OBITUARY: Dr Lionel Gilbert OAM 1924-2015". Northern Daily Leader . Fairfax Regional Media. 14 February 2015. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
78. Fox, Margalit (29 January 2015). "Colleen McCullough, Author of 'The Thorn Birds', Dies at 77". New York Times. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
79. "Political activist and writer Faith Bandler AC dies aged 96". Australian Broadcasting Corporation . 13 February 2015. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
80. "Remembering James Aldridge". Text Publishing. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
81. "Malcolm Fraser (1930-2015)". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
82. Gilbert, W. Stephen (1 April 2015). "Alan Seymour obituary". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 1 October 2023.
83. Stasko, Nicolette (4 June 2015). "JS Harry, the virtuoso poet who took her curious rabbit on world discovery tour". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
84. "S. C. Harrex". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
85. "Veronica Brady (1929-2015)". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
86. "Nan Hunt (1918-2015)". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. Retrieved 2 March 2022.

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