1969 in Australian literature

Literature-related events in Australia during the year of 1969

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1969.

Major publications

Books

Mena Calthorpe – The Defectors^[1]
Jon Cleary – Remember Jack Hoxie
Dymphna Cusack – The Half-Burnt Tree
Sumner Locke Elliott – Edens Lost
George Johnston – Clean Straw for Nothing
Thomas Keneally – The Survivor
D'Arcy Niland – Dead Men Running

Short stories

Manning Clark – Disquiet and Other Stories
Lyndall Hadow – Full Cycle and Other Stories
T. A. G. Hungerford – "Wong Chu and the Queen's Letterbox"^[2]
Frank Moorhouse – Futility and Other Animals
Dal Stivens – Selected Stories 1936-1968

Children's and young adult fiction

Hesba Brinsmead – Isle of the Sea Horse
Joan Phipson – Peter and Butch
Ivan Southall – Finn's Folly
Eleanor Spence – Jamberoo Road
Colin Thiele – Blue Fin

Poetry

Bruce Beaver – Letters to Live Poets
Gwen Harwood
- "Barn Owl"^[3]
- "Father and Child"^[4]
A. D. Hope – New Poems, 1956-1969^[5]
James McAuley – Surprises of the Sun^[6]
David Malouf – "The Year of the Foxes"^[7]
Les Murray – The Weatherboard Cathedral
Thomas Shapcott – Inwards to the Sun : Poems^[8]
Randolph Stow – A Counterfeit Silence: Selected Poems

Plays

Dorothy Hewett - Mrs Porter and the Angel

Awards and honours

Literary

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
ALS Gold Medal^[9]	No award
Colin Roderick Award^[10]	Francis Webb	Collected Poems	Angus and Robertson
Miles Franklin Award^[11]	George Johnston	Clean Straw for Nothing	Collins

Children and young adult

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Children's Book of the Year Award	Older Readers^[12]	Margaret Balderson	When Jays Fly to Barbmo	Oxford University Press
Children's Book of the Year Award	Picture Book^[12]	Ivan Southall, illustrated by Ted Greenwood	Sly Old Wardrobe	Cheshire

Poetry

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
Grace Leven Prize for Poetry^[13]	Randolph Stow	A Counterfeit Silence: Selected Poems	Angus and Robertson

Births

A list, ordered by date of birth (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of births in 1969 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of death.

1 April – Larissa Behrendt, novelist and academic^[14]
23 October – Trudi Canavan, novelist^[15]

Unknown date

Tegan Bennett Daylight, novelist^[16]

Deaths

A list, ordered by date of death (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of deaths in 1969 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of birth.

2 February — William Hatfield, novelist (born 1892)^[17]
8 July – Charmian Clift, novelist (born 1923)^[18]
12 July — Henry George Lamond, novelist (born 1885)^[19]
4 September – Emily Bulcock, poet and journalist (born 1877)^[20]
2 October – Katharine Susannah Prichard, novelist (born 1883)^[21]
11 October – Marie Bjelke Petersen, novelist (born 1874)^[22]
21 November – Norman Lindsay, novelist and artist (born 1879)^[23]
27 November – May Gibbs, writer for children (born 1877)^[24]

Unknown date

Kathleen Dalziel, poet (born 1881)^[25]

References

^ "The Defectors by Mena Calthorpe". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
^ "Austlit — "Wong Chu and the Queen's Letterbox" by T. A. G. Hungerford". Austlit. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
^ "Austlit — "Barn Owl" by Gwen Harwood". Austlit. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
^ "Austlit — "Father and Child" by Gwen Harwood". Austlit. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
^ "New Poems, 1956-1969 by A. D. Hope". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
^ "Surprises of the Sun by James McAuley". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
^ "Austlit — "The Year of the Foxes" by David Malouf". Austlit. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
^ "Inwards to the Sun : Poems by Thomas Shapcott". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
^ "ALS Gold Medal — Previous Winners". Association for the Study of Australian Literature. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
^ "Colin Roderick Award — Other Winners". James Cook University. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
^ ""Author Wins $1,000 Award"". The Canberra Times, 15 April 1970, p3. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
^ ^a ^b ""Book Council Award Winners"". The Canberra Times, 12 July 1969, p16. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
^ Austlit - A Counterfeit Silence: Selected Poems by Randolph Stow
^ "Larissa Behrendt". Austlit. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
^ "Trudi Canavan". Austlit. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
^ "Tegan Bennett Daylight". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
^ "Hatfield, William (1892–1969) by Geoffrey Serle". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
^ "Clift, Charmian (1923–1969) by Nadia Wheatley". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
^ "Lamond, Henry George (1885–1969) by Nancy Bonnin". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
^ "Bulcock, Emily Hemans (1877–1969) by Marjorie Puregger". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
^ "Prichard, Katharine Susannah (1883–1969) by John Hay". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
^ "Bjelke-Petersen, Marie Caroline (1874–1969) by Margaret Weidenhofer". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
^ "Lindsay, Norman Alfred (1879–1969) by Bernard Smith". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
^ "Gibbs, Cecilia May (1877–1969) by Maureen Walsh". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
^ "Kathleen Dalziel (1881-1969)". Austlit. Retrieved 5 July 2023.