1997 in Australian literature
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This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1997.
Events
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[1]
- Luke Davies — Candy
- Delia Falconer — The Service of Clouds[2]
- Richard Flanagan — The Sound of One Hand Clapping
- Elizabeth Jolley — Lovesong[3]
- Rod Jones — Nightpictures[4]
- Melissa Lucashenko — Steam Pigs
- Colleen McCullough — Caesar
- Madeleine St John — The Essence of the Thing
- Tim Winton — Blueback
- Alexis Wright — Plains of Promise[5]
Children's and young adult fiction
Science fiction and fantasy
- Damien Broderick — The White Abacus
- Damien Broderick & David G. Hartwell (edited) — Centaurus: The Best of Australian Science Fiction[7]
- Sara Douglass
- Greg Egan
- Kim Wilkins — The Infernal
Crime
- Jon Cleary — A Different Turf
- Peter Corris
- Garry Disher — Fallout[10]
- Kerry Greenwood — Raisins and Almonds[11]
Poetry
- Peter Boyle — The Blue Cloud of Crying[12]
- Alison Croggon — The Blue Gate[13]
- Philip Hodgins — Selected Poems[14]
- Jill Jones — The Book of Possibilities[15]
- Emma Lew — The Wild Reply[16]
- Rhyll McMaster — Chemical Bodies: A diary of probable events, 1994–1997[17]
Drama
- Hilary Bell — Wolf Lullaby[18]
- 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[19]
- Lynne Hume — Witchcraft and Paganism in Australia
- Roberta Sykes — Snake Cradle[20]
Awards and honours
- Morris West AO "for service to literature"[21]
- Barbara Buick 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"[22]
- Ken Goodwin (academic) AM "for service to literature, art administration and education"[23]
- Manfred Jurgensen AM "for service to literature as a novelist, poet and critic, and as founder of the journal Outrider"[24]
- Edna Laing OAM "for service to the arts and literature through the Creativity Centre, Brisbane"[25]
- Rodney Lumer OAM "for service to the arts through the promotion and publication of works by Australian playwrights"[26]
- Sydney John Trigellis-Smith OAM "for service to military history as a researcher, author and publisher of several unit histories of campaigns of World War II"[27]
- Albert Ullin OAM "for service to the promotion of children's literature in Australia and overseas"[28]
Lifetime achievement
| Award | Author |
|---|---|
| Christopher Brennan Award[29] | Not awarded |
| Patrick White Award[30] | Vivian Smith |
Literary
| Award | Author | Title | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Age Book of the Year Award[31] | Peter Carey | Jack Maggs | University of Queensland Press |
| ALS Gold Medal[32] | Robert Dessaix | Night Letters | Macmillan Books |
| Colin Roderick Award[33] | Peter Edwards | A Nation at War | Allen & Unwin |
| Nita Kibble Literary Award[34] | Helen Garner | True Stories: Selected Non-Fiction | Text Publishing |
Fiction
International
| Award | Category | Author | Title | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commonwealth Writers' Prize[35] | Best Novel, SE Asia and South Pacific region | Sue Woolfe | Leaning Towards Infinity | Random House |
National
Crime and Mystery
National
| Award | Category | Author | Title | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ned Kelly Award[43] | ||||
| Novel | Shane Maloney | The Brush-Off | Text Publishing | |
| First 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 | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Children's Book of the Year Award[44] | 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[40] | Young People's Literature | Junko Morimoto | The Two Bullies | Random House Australia |
| Victorian Premier's Prize for Young Adult Fiction[41] | Catherine Jinks | Pagan's Scribe | Omnibus Books |
Science fiction and fantasy
| Award | Category | Author | Title | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aurealis Award[45] | Sf Novel | Sean Williams | Metal Fatigue | HarperCollins Publishers |
| Sf Short Story | Leanne Frahm | "Borderline" | Borderline | |
| Fantasy 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 1996 | |
| Young 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[46] | 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[36] | Not awarded | ||
| The Age Book of the Year Award[31] | Emma Lew | The Wild Reply | Black Pepper |
| Peter Porter | Dragons in their Pleasant Palaces | Oxford University Press | |
| Anne Elder Award[47] | Morgan Yasbincek | Night Reversing | Fremantle Arts Centre Press |
| Grace Leven Prize for Poetry[48] | Geoffrey Lehmann | Collected Poems | Heinemann |
| Mary Gilmore Award[49] | Morgan Yasbincek | Night Reversing | Fremantle Arts Centre Press |
| New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards[40] | Anthony Lawrence | The Viewfinder | University of Queensland Press |
| Victorian Premier's Literary Awards[41] | Les Murray | Subhuman Redneck Poems | Duffy and Snellgrove |
| Western Australian Premier's Book Awards[42] | Alec Choate | The Wheels of Hama: Collected War Poems | Victor Publishing |
Drama
| Award | Category | Author | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards[40] | FilmScript | Trevor Graham | Mabo: Life of an Island Man |
| Play | Michael Gurr | Jerusalem | |
| Victorian Premier's Literary Awards[41] | Drama | Michael Gurr | Jerusalem |
Non-fiction
| Award | Category | Author | Title | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature[36] | Not awarded | |||
| The Age Book of the Year Award[31] | Non-Fiction | Roberta Sykes | Snake Cradle | Allen and Unwin |
| National Biography Award[50] | Biography | Not awarded | ||
| New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards[40] | Non-Fiction | Alan Atkinson | The Europeans in Australia: A History, Volume One | Oxford University Press |
| Victorian Premier's Literary Awards[41] | 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)[51]
- 16 February — Gilbert Mant, journalist and writer (born 1902)[52]
- 8 March — Rupert Lockwood, journalist and author (born 1908)[53]
- 14 April — Kit Denton, writer and broadcaster (born 1928)[54]
- 8 June — George Turner, writer and critic, best known for science fiction novels (born 1916)[55]
- 11 June — Jill Neville, novelist, playwright and poet (born 1932)[56]
- 16 June — Dal Stivens, novelist and short story writer (born 1911)[57]
- 19 June — David Denholm, author and historian who published fiction under the pseudonym David Forrest and history under his own name (born 1924)[58]
- 1 July — David Martin, novelist, poet, playwright, journalist, editor, literary reviewer and lecturer (born 1915)[59]
- 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)[60]
Unknown date
- Roger Bennett, actor and playwright (born 1948)[61]