1997 in Australian literature

none December 2019 December 2019 This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1997. Events David Foster won the Miles Franklin Award for The Glade Within the Grove Major publications Novels John Birmingham — The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco James Bradley — Wrack Peter Carey — Jack Maggs J. M. Coetzee — Boyhood: Scenes from Provincial Life Marele Day — Lambs of God Lambs of God by Marele Day National Library of Australia https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/95123 15 April 2024 Luke Davies — Candy Delia Falconer — The Service of Clouds The Service of Clouds by Delia Falconer National Library of Australia https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1614877 15 April 2024 Richard Flanagan — The Sound of One Hand Clapping Elizabeth Jolley — Lovesong Lovesong by Elizabeth Jolley National Library of Australia https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2984869 15 April 2024 Rod Jones — Nightpictures Nightpictures by Rod Jones National Library of Australia https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1643605 15 April 2024 Melissa Lucashenko — Steam Pigs Colleen McCullough — Caesar Madeleine St John — The Essence of the Thing Tim Winton — Blueback Alexis Wright — Plains of Promise Plains of Promise by Alexis Wright National Library of Australia https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2956561 15 April 2024 Children's and young adult fiction Damien Broderick and Rory Barnes — Zones Kim Caraher — Up a Gum Tree Austlit — Up a Gum Tree by Kim Caraher Austlit https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/C589491 15 April 2024 Isobelle Carmody Darkfall Greylands Gary Crew and Michael O'Hara — The Blue Feather Sonya Hartnett — Princes Catherine Jinks — Eye to Eye Garth Nix — Shade's Children Sarah Walker — The Year of Freaking Out Tim Winton — Lockie Leonard, Legend Science fiction and fantasy Damien Broderick — The White Abacus Damien Broderick & David G. Hartwell (edited) — Centaurus: The Best of Australian Science Fiction Centaurus: The Best of Australian Science Fiction edited by Damien Broderick & David Hartwell ISFDB https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?35286 22 May 2024 Sara Douglass Sinner Threshold Greg Egan Diaspora "Reasons to Be Cheerful" Kim Wilkins — The Infernal Crime Jon Cleary — A Different Turf Peter Corris The Reward The Reward by Peter Corris National Library of Australia https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1650005 15 September 2024 The Washington Club The Washington Club by Peter Corris National Library of Australia https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1337006 15 September 2024 Garry Disher — Fallout Fallout by Garry Disher National Library of Australia https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1390267 15 September 2024 Kerry Greenwood — Raisins and Almonds Raisins and Almonds by Kerry Greenwood National Library of Australia https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/140290 15 September 2024 Poetry Peter Boyle — The Blue Cloud of Crying The Blue Cloud of Crying by Peter Boyle National Library of Australia https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1415436 15 September 2024 Alison Croggon — The Blue Gate The Blue Gate by Alison Croggon National Library of Australia https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/6761 15 September 2024 Philip Hodgins — Selected Poems Selected Poems by Philip Hodgins National Library of Australia https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1480327 15 September 2024 Coral Hull – Broken Land Jill Jones — The Book of Possibilities The Book of Possibilities by Jill Jones National Library of Australia https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2937899 15 September 2024 Emma Lew — The Wild Reply The Wild Reply by Emma Lew National Library of Australia https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1435635 15 September 2024 Rhyll McMaster — Chemical Bodies: A diary of probable events, 1994–1997 Chemical Bodies: A diary of probable events, 1994–1997 by Rhyll McMaster National Library of Australia https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/92976 15 September 2024 Peter Porter – Dragons in Their Pleasant Palaces Fay Zwicky — The Gatekeeper's Wife The Gatekeeper's Wife by Fay Zwicky National Library of Australia https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1616416 4 August 2026 Drama Hilary Bell — Wolf Lullaby Wolf Lullaby by Hilary bell National Library of Australia https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/3016919 10 May 2024 Leah Purcell and Scott Rankin — Box the Pony David Williamson — After the Ball Non-fiction Mark Raphael Baker — The Fiftieth Gate Barbara Blackman — Glass after Glass Glass after Glass by Barbara Blackman National Library of Australia https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2981417 15 September 2024 Lynne Hume — Witchcraft and Paganism in Australia Roberta Sykes — Snake Cradle Snake Cradle by Roberta Sykes National Library of Australia https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/406610 15 September 2024 Awards and honours Morris West AUS AO "for service to literature"https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/870188 Morris Langlo West, AM honours.pmc.gov.au live https://web.archive.org/web/20191227055859/https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/870188 27 December 2019 2019-12-27 Barbara Buick AUS AM "for service to women, particularly through Equal Employment Opportunity Tribunal in Western Australia and to librarianship and publishing, particularly through the promotion of children's literature"https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/872728 Barbara Buick honours.pmc.gov.au live https://web.archive.org/web/20191227055900/https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/872728 27 December 2019 2019-12-27 Ken Goodwin (academic) AUS AM "for service to literature, art administration and education"https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/881003 Professor Kenneth Leslie Goodwin honours.pmc.gov.au live https://web.archive.org/web/20191227055901/https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/881003 27 December 2019 2019-12-27 Manfred Jurgensen AUS AM "for service to literature as a novelist, poet and critic, and as founder of the journal Outrider"https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/870311 Professor Manfred Jurgensen honours.pmc.gov.au live https://web.archive.org/web/20191227055431/https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/870311 27 December 2019 2019-12-27 Edna Laing AUS OAM "for service to the arts and literature through the Creativity Centre, Brisbane"https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/870609 Edna Laing honours.pmc.gov.au live https://web.archive.org/web/20191227055858/https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/870609 27 December 2019 2019-12-27 Rodney Lumer AUS OAM "for service to the arts through the promotion and publication of works by Australian playwrights"https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/870539 Dr Rodney Hugh Lumer honours.pmc.gov.au live https://web.archive.org/web/20191227055900/https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/870539 27 December 2019 2019-12-27 Sydney John Trigellis-Smith AUS OAM "for service to military history as a researcher, author and publisher of several unit histories of campaigns of World War II"https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/875380 Sydney John Trigellis-Smith honours.pmc.gov.au live https://web.archive.org/web/20191227055856/https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/875380 27 December 2019 2019-12-27 Albert Ullin AUS OAM "for service to the promotion of children's literature in Australia and overseas"https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/871283 Albert Henry Ullin honours.pmc.gov.au live https://web.archive.org/web/20191227055856/https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/871283 27 December 2019 2019-12-27 Lifetime achievement Award Author Christopher Brennan Award Austlit — FAW Christopher Brennan Award Austlit https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/v539?mainTabTemplate=awardWorksAndAgents&from=9&count=3 12 September 2023 Not awarded Patrick White Award Austlit — Patrick White Award - Past Winners Austlit https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/v617?mainTabTemplate=awardWorksAndAgents 8 September 2023 22 August 2023 https://web.archive.org/web/20230822040912/https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/v617?mainTabTemplate=awardWorksAndAgents dead Vivian Smith Literary Award Author Title Publisher The Age Book of the Year Award"Aboriginal author has the write stuff to win Age literary award" The Age, 17 December 1997, p3 https://www.proquest.com/docview/2521808636 16 June 2024 2521808636 Peter Carey Jack Maggs University of Queensland Press ALS Gold Medal ALS Gold Medal — Previous Winners Association for the Study of Australian Literature https://www.asal.org.au/awards/als-gold-medal/ 10 January 2024 Robert Dessaix Night Letters Macmillan Books Colin Roderick Award Colin Roderick Award - Other Winners James Cook University https://www.jcu.edu.au/foundation-for-australian-literary-studies/roderick-award/previous-winners2 16 January 2024 Peter Edwards A Nation at War Allen & Unwin Nita Kibble Literary Award 2009-06-09 Kibble Literary Award https://history.cass.anu.edu.au/centres/ncb/kibble-literary-award 4 February 2024 Australian National University en-AU Helen Garner True Stories: Selected Non-Fiction Text Publishing Fiction International Award Category Author Title Publisher Commonwealth Writers' Prize Commonwealth Writers' Prize Regional Winners 1987-2007 Commonwealth Foundation http://www.commonwealthfoundation.com/uploads/documents/Regional%20Winners%201987-20071.pdf 17 January 2024 23 October 2007 https://web.archive.org/web/20071023223729/http://www.commonwealthfoundation.com/uploads/documents/Regional%20Winners%201987-20071.pdf dead Best Novel, SE Asia and South Pacific region Sue Woolfe Leaning Towards Infinity Random House National Award Author Title Publisher Adelaide Festival Awards for LiteratureState Library of South Australia https://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/past-literary-award-winners Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature – Past Literary Award Winners 18 April 2024 9 March 2026 https://web.archive.org/web/20260309180911/https://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/past-literary-award-winners dead Not awarded The Age Book of the Year Award Peter Carey Jack Maggs University of Queensland Press The Australian/Vogel Literary Award Austlit — The Australian/Vogel National Literary Award 1997 Austlit https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/v385?mainTabTemplate=awardWorksAndAgents&from=21&count=3 16 February 2023 Eva Sallis Hiam Allen and Unwin Kathleen Mitchell Award Austlit — Kathleen Mitchell Literary Award Austlit https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/v225 7 August 2025 Not awarded Miles Franklin Award Austlit — Miles Franklin Literary Award : 1997-1999 Austlit https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/v254?mainTabTemplate=awardWorksAndAgents&from=24&count=3 15 September 2023 David Foster The Glade Within the Grove Vintage New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards"Novelist Drewe carries off a big prize at last" Sydney Morning Herald, 18 September 1997 https://www.proquest.com/docview/363360979 10 May 2024 363360979 Robert Drewe The Drowner Pan Macmillan Australia Victorian Premier's Literary Awards"'Drowner' awarded top prize " The Age 18 October 1997, p14 https://www.proquest.com/docview/2521622477 16 October 2024 2521622477 Robert Drewe The Drowner Pan Macmillan AustraliaWestern Australian Premier's Book Awards"Australian Literary Awards: Western Australian Premier's" University Libraries, University of Washington https://guides.lib.uw.edu/c.php?g=341672&p=2299464 19 March 2025 Robert Drewe The Drowner Pan Macmillan Australia Gail Jones Fetish Lives Fremantle Arts Centre Press Crime and Mystery National Award Category Author Title PublisherNed Kelly Award1997 Ned Kelly Award Winners http://www.austcrimewriters.com/ned-kelly-award-winners/1 https://web.archive.org/web/20160327181222/http://www.austcrimewriters.com/ned-kelly-award-winners/3 2016-03-27 12 June 2023 Australian Crime Writers Novel Shane Maloney The Brush-Off Text PublishingFirst novel Peter Temple Bad Debts HarperCollins Peter Doyle Get Rich Quick Mandarin Publishing Lifetime Achievement Alan Yates Children and Young Adult Award Category Author Title PublisherChildren's Book of the Year Award"CBCA - Previous Winners - 1946 Onwards" CBCA https://cbca.blob.core.windows.net/documents/National/CBCA%20Awards%201946%20on.pdf 25 August 2025 Older Readers James Moloney A Bridge to Wiseman's Cove University of Queensland Press Picture Book Elizabeth Honey Not a Nibble! Little Ark New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Young People's Literature Junko Morimoto The Two Bullies Random House Australia Victorian Premier's Prize for Young Adult Fiction Catherine Jinks Pagan's Scribe Omnibus Books Science fiction and fantasy Award Category Author Title PublisherAurealis Award "Aurealis Awards 1997" SFADB https://www.sfadb.com/Aurealis_Awards_1997 5 February 2026 Sf Novel Sean Williams Metal Fatigue HarperCollins Publishers Sf Short Story Leanne Frahm "Borderline" BorderlineFantasy Novel Sara Douglass Enchanter and StarMan (The Axis Trilogy) HarperCollins Publishers Jack Dann The Memory Cathedral Bantam Books Fantasy Short Story Russell Blackford "The Sword of God" Dream Weavers Horror Novel Not awarded Horror Short Story Sean Williams "Passing the Bone" Eidolon #20, Summer 1996Young Adult Novel Kerry Greenwood The Broken Wheel HarperCollins Publishers Hilary Bell Mirror, Mirror Hodder Headline Young Adult Short Story Isobelle Carmody "Green Monkey Dreams" Green Monkey Dreams Australian SF Achievement Award "Ditmar Awards 1997" SFADB https://www.sfadb.com/Ditmar_Awards_1997 5 February 2026 Best Australian Long Fiction Lucy Sussex The Scarlet Rider Tor/Forge Best Australian Short Fiction Russell Blackford "The Sword of God" Dream Weavers Poetry Award Author Title Publisher Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature Not awarded The Age Book of the Year Award Emma Lew The Wild Reply Black Pepper Peter Porter Dragons in Their Pleasant Palaces Oxford University Press Anne Elder Award Austlit — Anne Elder Award 1995-97 Austlit https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/v148?mainTabTemplate=awardWorksAndAgents&from=24&count=3 12 February 2024 Morgan Yasbincek Night Reversing Fremantle Arts Centre Press Grace Leven Prize for Poetry Austlit — Grace Leven Poetry Prize 1994-2001 Austlit https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/v186?mainTabTemplate=awardWorksAndAgents&from=9&count=3 12 February 2024 Geoffrey Lehmann Collected Poems Heinemann Mary Gilmore AwardMary Gilmore Award Association for the Study of Australian Literature https://www.asal.org.au/awards/mary-gilmore-award/ 10 February 2024 Morgan Yasbincek Night Reversing Fremantle Arts Centre Press New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Anthony Lawrence The Viewfinder University of Queensland Press Victorian Premier's Literary Awards Les Murray Subhuman Redneck Poems Duffy and Snellgrove Western Australian Premier's Book Awards Alec Choate The Wheels of Hama: Collected War Poems Victor Publishing Drama Award Category Author TitleNew South Wales Premier's Literary Awards FilmScript Trevor Graham Mabo: Life of an Island Man Play Michael Gurr Jerusalem Victorian Premier's Literary Awards Drama Michael Gurr Jerusalem Non-fiction Award Category Author Title Publisher Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature Not awarded The Age Book of the Year Award Non-Fiction Roberta Sykes Snake Cradle Allen and UnwinNational Biography Award"National Biography Award – Past Winners" State Library of NSW https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/awards/national-biography-award?page=2 22 March 2024 Biography Not awarded New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Non-Fiction Alan Atkinson The Europeans in Australia: A History, Volume One Oxford University Press Victorian Premier's Literary Awards Non-Fiction Peter Robb Midnight in Sicily Duffy and Snellgrove Deaths A list, ordered by date of death (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of deaths in 1997 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of birth. 14 February — Marian Eldridge, short story writer, poet and book reviewer (born 1936)Marian Favel Clair Eldridge (1936-1997) https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A28519 2024-02-13 AustLit: Discover Australian Stories The University of Queensland 16 February — Gilbert Mant, journalist and writer (born 1902) Mant, Gilbert Palmer (1902–1997) by Malcolm Brown Australian Dictionary of Biography https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/mant-gilbert-palmer-31983 29 June 2023 8 March — Rupert Lockwood, journalist and author (born 1908) Rupert Ernest Lockwood (1908–1997) by Rowan Cahill Australian Dictionary of Biography https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/lockwood-rupert-ernest-27609 13 November 2023 14 April — Kit Denton, writer and broadcaster (born 1928)1997-04-15 Death notice Sydney Morning Herald Ryerson Index 8 June — George Turner, writer and critic, best known for science fiction novels (born 1916)George Reginald Turner (1916–1997) by Judith Buckrich https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/turner-george-reginald-31464 6 January 2024 Australian Dictionary of Biography 11 June — Jill Neville, novelist, playwright and poet (born 1932)Leitch David 1997-06-12 Obituary: Jill Neville (1932-1997) https://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/obituary-jill-neville-5563498.html 2024-02-13 The Independent 16 June — Dal Stivens, novelist and short story writer (born 1911) Austlit — Dal Stivens (1911-1997) Austlit https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A22934 23 November 2023 19 June — David Denholm, author and historian who published fiction under the pseudonym David Forrest and history under his own name (born 1924)David Forrest (1924-1997) https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A7406 2024-02-13 AustLit: Discover Australian Stories The University of Queensland 1 July — David Martin, novelist, poet, playwright, journalist, editor, literary reviewer and lecturer (born 1915)David Martin (1915-1997) https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A28275 2023-09-14 AustLit: Discover Australian Stories The University of Queensland 2 August — Joyce Dingwell, writer of more than 80 romance novels for Mills & Boon from 1931 to 1986, who also wrote under the pseudonym of Kate Starr (born 1909) Joyce Dingwell (1909-1997) Austlit https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A46424 16 November 2023 Unknown date Roger Bennett, actor and playwright (born 1948)Roger Bennett (1948-1997) https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A32220 2024-02-13 AustLit: Discover Australian Stories The University of Queensland See also 1997 in Australia 1997 in literature 1997 in poetry List of years in literature List of years in Australian literature References Category:1997 in Australia Category:Australian literature by year Category:20th-century Australian literature Category:1997 in literature