2021 in Australian literature

Last updated

This is a list of historical events and publications of Australian literature during 2021.

Contents

Major publications

Literary fiction

Collected essays

Children's and young adult fiction

Crime and mystery

Poetry

Non-fiction

Awards and honours

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

Lifetime achievement

AwardAuthor
Melbourne Prize for Literature [46] Christos Tsiolkas
Patrick White Award [47] Adam Aitken

Literary

AwardAuthorTitlePublisher
ALS Gold Medal [48] Nardi Simpson Song of the Crocodile Hachette Australia
Colin Roderick Award [49] Sofie Laguna Infinite Splendours Allen & Unwin
Indie Book Awards Book of the Year [50] Pip Williams The Dictionary of Lost Words Affirm Press
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards [51] Ellen van Neerven Throat University of Queensland Press
Stella Prize [52] Evie Wyld The Bass Rock Penguin Random House
Victorian Premier's Literary Awards [53] [54] Laura Jean McKay The Animals in That Country Scribe

Fiction

National

AwardAuthorTitlePublisher
Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature [55] Not awarded
The Age Book of the Year [56] Robbie Arnott The Rain Heron Text Publishing
ARA Historical Novel Prize [57] Jock Serong The Burning Island Text Publishing
The Australian/Vogel Literary Award [58] Emma BatchelorNow That I See You Allen & Unwin
Barbara Jefferis Award [59] Not awarded
Indie Book Awards Book of the Year – Fiction [50] Craig Silvey Honeybee Allen & Unwin
Indie Book Awards Book of the Year – Debut Fiction [50] Pip Williams The Dictionary of Lost Words Affirm Press
Miles Franklin Award [60] Amanda Lohrey The Labyrinth Text Publishing
Prime Minister's Literary Awards [61] Amanda Lohrey The Labyrinth Text Publishing
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards [62] [63] Kate Grenville A Room Made of LeavesText Publishing
Queensland Literary Awards [64] Nardi Simpson Song of the Crocodile Hachette Australia
Victorian Premier's Literary Awards [53] [54] Laura Jean McKay The Animals in That Country Scribe

Children and Young Adult

National

AwardCategoryAuthorTitlePublisher
ARA Historical Novel Prize [57] Children and Young Adult Katrina Nannestad We are Wolves ABC Books
Children's Book of the Year Award [65] Older Readers Davina Bell The End of the World is Bigger than LoveText
Younger Readers Kate Gordon Aster's Good, Right ThingsRiveted Press
Picture Book Meg McKinlay, illus. Matt OttleyHow to Make a BirdWalker Books
Early Childhood Libby Hathorn & Lisa Hathorn-Jarman, illus. Mel PearceNo! Never!Lothian Books
Eve Pownall Award for Information Books Pamela Freeman, illus. Liz AnelliDry to Dry: The Seasons of KakaduWalker Books
Nan Chauncy Award [66] Jan Nicholls
Indie Book Awards Book of the Year [50] Children's Amelia MellorThe Grandest Bookshop in the WorldAffirm Press
Young Adult Kate O'DonnellThis One is Ours University of Queensland Press
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards [62] [63] Children'sAmelia MellorThe Grandest Bookshop in the World Affirm
Young People's Davina Bell The End of the World is Bigger than LoveText
Queensland Literary Awards [64] Children's Kirli Saunders, illustrated by Dub LefflerBindiMagabala Books
Young AdultCath MooreMetal Fish, Falling SnowText
Victorian Premier's Literary Awards [54] Young Adult FictionCath MooreMetal Fish, Falling SnowText

Crime and Mystery

National

AwardCategoryAuthorTitlePublisher
Davitt Award [67] NovelSally HepworthThe Good Sister Pan Macmillan
Young adult novelChristie NiemanWhere We Begin Pan Macmillan
Children's novel Lian Tanner A Clue for Clara Allen & Unwin
True crime Louise Milligan Witness: An Investigation into the Brutal Cost of Seeking JusticeHachette Australia
Debut novelLeah SwannSheerwater HarperCollins
Readers' choiceKatherine KovacicThe Shifting LandscapeEcho Publishing
Ned Kelly Award [68] Novel Garry Disher Consolation Text Publishing
First novelLoraine PeckThe Second Son Penguin Books
True crimeBret ChristianStalking Claremont HarperCollins

Poetry

AwardAuthorTitlePublisher
Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature [55] Not awarded
Anne Elder Award [69] Ella JefferyDead BoltPuncher & Wattmann
Mary Gilmore Award [70] Em KönigBreathing PluralCordite
Prime Minister's Literary Awards [61] Stephen Edgar The Strangest Place: New and Selected PoemsBlack Pepper
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards [62] [63] Ellen van Neerven ThroatUniversity of Queensland Press
Judith Wright Calanthe Award for a Poetry Collection [64] Ouyang Yu Terminally PoeticGinninderra Press
Victorian Premier's Literary Awards [54] David StavangerCase NotesUWA Publishing

Drama

AwardCategoryAuthorTitlePublisher
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards [62] [63] ScriptLaurence BillietFreemanGeneral Strike and Matchbox Pictures
PlayDylan Van Den BergMilkThe Street Theatre
Victorian Premier's Literary Awards [54] Angus CeriniWonnangattaSydney Theatre Company

Non-Fiction

AwardCategoryAuthorTitlePublisher
Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature [55] Non-FictionNot awarded
Indie Book Awards Book of the Year [50] Non-Fiction Julia Baird Phosphorescence Random House
Illustrated Non-Fiction Lauren Camilleri & Sophia KaplanPlantopediaSmith Street Books
National Biography Award [71] Biography Cassandra Pybus Truganini: Journey Through the Apocalypse Allen & Unwin
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards [62] [63] Non-FictionKate FullagarThe Warrior, the Voyager, and the Artist: Three Lives in an Age of EmpireYale University Press
New South Wales Premier's History Awards [72] Australian History Grace Karskens People of the River: Lost worlds of early Australia Allen & Unwin
Community and Regional HistoryMatthew ColloffLandscapes of Our Hearts: Reconciling people and environmentThames & Hudson
General HistoryLuke KeoghThe Wardian Case: How a simple box moved plants and changed the worldThe University of Chicago Press
Queensland Literary Awards [64] Non-FictionLuke StegemannAmnesia Road: Landscape, violence and memoryNewSouth Publishing
Victorian Premier's Literary Awards [54] Non-FictionPaddy ManningBody Count: How Climate Change is Killing UsSimon & Schuster

Deaths

See also

Related Research Articles

The Miles Franklin Literary Award is an annual literary prize awarded to "a novel which is of the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases". The award was set up according to the will of Miles Franklin (1879–1954), who is best known for writing the Australian classic My Brilliant Career (1901). She bequeathed her estate to fund this award. As of 2016, the award is valued at A$60,000.

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The Victorian Premier's Prize for Fiction, formerly known as the Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction, is a prize category in the annual Victorian Premier's Literary Award. As of 2011 it has an remuneration of A$25,000. The winner of this category prize vies with 4 other category winners for overall Victorian Prize for Literature valued at an additional A$100,000.

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The Victorian Premier's Prize for Nonfiction, formerly known as the Nettie Palmer Prize for Non-Fiction, is a prize category in the annual Victorian Premier's Literary Award. As of 2011 it has a remuneration of A$25,000. The winner of this category prize vies with 4 other category winners for overall Victorian Prize for Literature valued at an additional A$100,000.

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This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 2009.

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 2012.

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

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 2017.

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 2018.

This is a list of historical events and publications of Australian literature during 2022.

This is a list of historical events and publications of Australian literature during 2024.

References

  1. ↑ "Amnesty by Aravind Adiga". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  2. ↑ "The Other Half of You by Michael Mohammed Ahmad". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  3. ↑ "After Story by Larissa Behrendt". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  4. ↑ "O by Steven Carroll". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  5. ↑ "Scary Monsters by Michelle de Kretser". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  6. ↑ "Echolalia by Briohny Doyle". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  7. ↑ "The Magpie Wing by Max Easton". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  8. ↑ "The Ripping Tree by Nikki Gemmell". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  9. ↑ "Pushing Back by John Kinsella". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  10. ↑ "Love Objects by Emily Maguire". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  11. ↑ "The Airways by Jennifer Mills". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  12. ↑ "One Hundred Days by Alice Pung". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  13. ↑ "The Performance by Max Easton". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  14. ↑ "7 ½ by Christos Tsiolkas". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  15. ↑ "Another Day in the Colony by Chelsea Watego". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  16. ↑ "Girls in Boys' Cars by Felicity Castagna". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  17. ↑ "Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  18. ↑ "Rabbit, Soldier, Angel Thief by Katrina Nannestad". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  19. ↑ "The Enemy Within by Tim Ayliffe". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  20. ↑ "The Others by Mark Brandi". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  21. ↑ "You Had It Coming by B. M. Carroll". Austlit. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  22. ↑ "Ash Mountain by Helen FitzGerald". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  23. ↑ "Kill Your Brother by Jack Heath". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  24. ↑ "Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy". Austlit. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  25. ↑ "The Family Doctor by Debra Oswald". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  26. ↑ "The Deep by Kyle Perry". Austlit. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  27. ↑ "When You Are Mine by Michael Robotham". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  28. ↑ "Dropbear by Evelyn Araluen". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  29. ↑ "Stasis Shuffle by Pam Brown". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  30. ↑ "How Decent Folk Behave by Maxine Beneba Clarke". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  31. ↑ "Human Looking by Andy Jackson". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  32. ↑ "Homecoming by Elfie Shiosaki". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
  33. ↑ "Trigger Warning by Maria Takolander". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  34. ↑ "Coming of Age in the War on Terror by Randa Abdel-Fattah". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  35. ↑ "Power Play: Breaking Through Bias, Barriers and Boys' Clubs by Julia Banks". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  36. ↑ "Monsters: A reckoning by Alison Croggon". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  37. ↑ "Too Migrant, Too Muslim, Too Loud by Mehreen Faruqi". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  38. ↑ "Reset: Restoring Australia after the Pandemic Recession by Ross Garnaut". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  39. ↑ "With the Falling of the Dusk by Stan Grant". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  40. ↑ "The Most I Could Be by Dale Kent". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  41. ↑ "Full Circle: A search for the world that comes next by Scott Ludlam". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  42. ↑ "Return to Uluru by Mark McKenna". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  43. ↑ "Truth-Telling: History, sovereignty and the Uluru Statement by Henry Reynolds". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  44. ↑ "Crimes Against Nature: Capitalism and Global Heating by Jeff Sparrow". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  45. ↑ "The First Scientists: Deadly Inventions and Innovations from Australia's First Peoples by Corey Tutt and Blak Douglas". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  46. ↑ "Austlit — Melbourne Prize". Austlit. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  47. ↑ "Aitken wins 2021 Patrick White Award". Books+Publishing. 7 December 2021. Archived from the original on 7 December 2021. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  48. ↑ "ALS Gold Medal — Previous Winners". Association for the Study of Australian Literature. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  49. ↑ "Colin Roderick Award — Other Winners". James Cook University. 13 July 2020. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
  50. 1 2 3 4 5 ""Indie Book Awards - Winners 2021"". Australian Independent Booksellers. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
  51. ↑ "'Eight jobs at once and no sick days': $60,000 prizes a welcome relief for young writer". www.abc.net.au. 26 April 2021. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  52. ↑ "Evie Wyld wins the 2021 Stella Prize". ArtsHub. 22 April 2021. Archived from the original on 22 April 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  53. 1 2 "Pandemic novel wins Australia's richest literary prize". Books+Publishing. 17 March 2021. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  54. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "McKay wins $100k Victorian Prize for Literature". Books+Publishing. 2 February 2021. Archived from the original on 1 February 2021. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  55. 1 2 3 "Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature – Past Literary Award Winners". State Library of South Australia. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
  56. ↑ ""Robbie Arnott's Rain Heron swoops on the Age Book of the Year"". The Age, 3 September 2021. 3 September 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  57. 1 2 ""The 2021 ARA Historical Novel Prize"". Historical Novel Society Australasia. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
  58. ↑ Steger, Jason (30 April 2021). "How truth and fiction won Emma Batchelor this year's Vogel Award". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  59. ↑ ""Barbara Jefferis Award"". Australian Society of Authors. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  60. ↑ "$60,000 Miles Franklin awarded to a novel 'soaked in sadness' that is ultimately about hope". ABC News. 15 July 2021. Archived from the original on 15 July 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  61. 1 2 "PMLA 2021 winners announced". Books+Publishing. 15 December 2021. Archived from the original on 14 December 2021. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
  62. 1 2 3 4 5 "NSW Premier's Literary Awards 2021 winners announced". Books+Publishing. 27 April 2021. Archived from the original on 27 April 2021. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  63. 1 2 3 4 5 "'Eight jobs at once and no sick days': $60,000 prizes a welcome relief for young writer". www.abc.net.au. 26 April 2021. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  64. 1 2 3 4 "Winners announced for 2021 Queensland Literary Awards". Queensland Government: Ministerial Media Statements. 9 September 2021. Archived from the original on 9 September 2021. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  65. ↑ "CBCA Book of the Year 2021 winners announced". Books+Publishing. 21 August 2021. Archived from the original on 20 August 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  66. ↑ "Nicholls wins 2021 CBCA Nan Chauncy Award". Books+Publishing. 25 June 2021. Archived from the original on 25 June 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  67. ↑ "Davitt Awards winners announced". Books+Publishing. 30 August 2021. Archived from the original on 30 August 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  68. ↑ "Ned Kelly Awards 2021 winners announced". Books+Publishing. 26 August 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  69. ↑ "Jeffrey wins 2020 Anne Elder Award for 'Dead Bolt'". Books+Publishing. 15 April 2021. Archived from the original on 15 April 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  70. ↑ "Mary Gilmore Award". Association for the Study of Australian Literature . Retrieved 5 February 2024.
  71. ↑ "National Biography Award winner's announced on ABC Sydney". ABC Radio. 5 August 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  72. ↑ "NSW Premier's History Awards 2021 winners announced". Books+Publishing. 6 September 2021. Archived from the original on 6 September 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  73. ↑ Haigh, Gideon (2 May 2021). "Expat writer Kate Jennings had a voice both fierce and fun" . The Australian . Archived from the original on 3 May 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  74. ↑ "Valerie Parv". Austlit. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  75. ↑ "Newcastle loses a legend: Vera Deacon passes away, aged 94". Newcastle Herald. 18 May 2021. Archived from the original on 18 May 2021. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  76. ↑ "Timothy Colin Thorne – Death Notice". The Advocate. 17 September 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  77. 1 2 Celebrated historians Babette Smith, Stuart Macintyre have died (subscription required)
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  79. ↑ Phillilps, John (28 November 2021). "Obituary: Desmond O'Grady, Australian foreign correspondent who reported on Italy for over half a century". www.italianinsider.it. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  80. ↑ White, Daniella (27 December 2021). "Veteran Australian radio broadcaster Paul B. Kidd dies, aged 76". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
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