1950 in Australian literature explained

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1950.

Books

• James Aldridge – The Hunter^[1]
• Jon Cleary – Just Let Me Be
• Miles Franklin – Prelude to Waking
• Catherine Gaskin
  • All Else is Folly^[2]
  • Dust in the Sunlight^[3]
• Frank Hardy – Power Without Glory
• Ion Idriess – The Wild White Man of Badu : A Story of the Coral Sea^[4]
• Norman Lindsay – Dust or Polish?
• Philip Lindsay – There is No Escape^[5]
• Katharine Susannah Prichard – Winged Seeds
• Nevil Shute – A Town Like Alice
• F. J. Thwaites – Oasis of Shalimar
• E. V. Timms – The Beckoning Shore
• Arthur Upfield
  • The Bachelors of Broken Hill^[6]
  • The Widows of Broome^[7]

Short stories

• Nancy Cato – "The Trap"^[8]
• Alan Marshall – "Street Scene at Midday"^[9]
• John Morrison – "The Children"^[10]
• Dal Stivens – "The Batting Wizard from the City"^[11]
• Judah Waten
  • "Mother"^[12]
  • "Uncle Isaac"^[13]

Children's and Young Adult fiction

• Ivan Southall – Meet Simon Black^[14]
• Ruth C. Williams – Verity of Sydney Town

Poetry

See main article: 1950 in poetry.

• David Campbell
  • "Ariel"^[15]
  • "Night Sowing"^[16]
  • "Who Points the Swallow"^[17]
• Nancy Cato
  • The Darkened Window : Poems^[18]
  • "Mallee Farmer"^[19]
• C.J. Dennis & Alec H. Chisholm – Selected Verse of C. J. Dennis^[20]
• Rosemary Dobson
  • "The Bystander"^[21]
  • "The Raising of the Dead"^[22]
• Dorothy Hewett
  • "Go Down Red Roses"^[23]
  • "In Midland Where the Trains Go By"^[24]
  • "Once I Rode With Clancy..."^[25]
• Jack Lindsay – Peace is Our Answer^[26]
• Vance Palmer & Margaret Sutherland – Old Australian Bush Ballads^[27]
• Roland Robinson
  • "The Coal"^[28]
  • "Deserted Homestead"^[29]
• Douglas Stewart – "Helmet Orchid"^[30]
• Francis Webb – "Morgan's Country"^[31]
• Judith Wright
  • "The Cedars"^[32]
  • "The Cicadas"^[33]
  • "To a Child"^[34]

Drama

• Kylie Tennant – Tether a Dragon^[35]
• Musette Morell – Ten Puppet Plays^[36]

Biography

• Don Bradman – Farewell to Cricket^[37]
• Nettie Palmer – Henry Handel Richardson : A Study^[38]

Non-fiction

• Arthur Groom – I Saw A Strange Land: Journeys in Central Australia^[39]

Awards and honours

Poetry

Births

A list, ordered by date of birth (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of births in 1950 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of death.

• 15 January – Peter Pierce, academic, editor and critic (died 2018)^[43]
• 16 January – Brian Castro, novelist^[44]
• 24 March – Andrea Goldsmith, novelist^[45]
• 26 July – Terry Denton, writer and illustrator^[46]
• 8 August – Philip Salom, poet and novelist^[47]
• 1 September – John Forbes, poet (died 1998)^[48]
• 6 September – Robyn Davidson, travel writer^[49]
• 27 September – John Marsden, writer and teacher^[50]
• 14 October – Kate Grenville, novelist^[51]
• 25 November – Alexis Wright, novelist^[52]
• 12 December – Louis Nowra, playwright^[53]
• 22 December – Nick Enright, playwright (died 2003)^[54]

Unknown date

• Ian Irvine, novelist^[55]
• Andrew Sant, poet^[56]
• Carole Wilkinson, writer for children^[57]

Deaths

A list, ordered by date of death (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of deaths in 1950 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of birth.

• 10 August – Peter Airey, poet and politician (born 1865)^[58]
• 20 November – Erle Cox, novelist (born 1873)^[59]

See also

• 1950 in Australia
• 1950 in literature
• 1950 in poetry
• List of years in Australian literature
• List of years in literature

Notes and References

1. Web site: The Hunter by James Aldridge. National Library of Australia. 23 May 2024.
2. Web site: All Else is Folly by Catherine Gaskin. National Library of Australia. 23 May 2024.
3. Web site: Dust in the Sunlight by Catherine Gaskin. National Library of Australia. 23 May 2024.
4. Web site: The Wild White Man of Badu by Ion Idriess. National Library of Australia. 23 May 2024.
5. Web site: There is No Escape by Philip Lindsay. National Library of Australia. 23 May 2024.
6. Web site: The Bachelors of Broken Hill by Arthur Upfield. National Library of Australia. 23 May 2024.
7. Web site: The Widows of Broome by Arthur Upfield. National Library of Australia. 23 May 2024.
8. Web site: Austlit — "The Trap" by Nancy Cato . Austlit. 23 May 2024.
9. Web site: Austlit — "Street Scene at Midday" by Alan Marshall. Austlit. 23 May 2024.
10. Web site: Austlit — "The Children" by John Morrison. Austlit. 23 May 2024.
11. Web site: Austlit — "The Batting Wizard from the City" by Dal Stivens . Austlit. 23 May 2024.
12. Web site: Austlit — "Mother" by Judah Waten. Austlit. 23 May 2024.
13. Web site: Austlit — "Uncle Isaac" by Judah Waten. Austlit. 23 May 2024.
14. Web site: Meet Simon Black by Ivan Southall. National Library of Australia. 23 May 2024.
15. Web site: Austlit — "Ariel" by David Campbell . Austlit. 23 May 2024.
16. Web site: Austlit — "Night Sowing" by David Campbell . Austlit. 23 May 2024.
17. Web site: Austlit — "Who Points the Swallow" by David Campbell . Austlit. 23 May 2024.
18. Web site: The Darkened Window by Nancy Cato. National Library of Australia. 23 May 2024.
19. Web site: Austlit — "Mallee Farmer" by Nancy Cato . Austlit. 23 May 2024.
20. Web site: Selected Verse of C. J. Dennis by C. J. Dennis & Alec H. Chisholm. National Library of Australia. 23 May 2024.
21. Web site: Austlit — "The Bystander" by Rosemary Dobson. Austlit. 23 May 2024.
22. Web site: Austlit — "The Raising of the Dead" by Rosemary Dobson. Austlit. 23 May 2024.
23. Web site: Austlit — "Go Down Red Roses" by Dorothy Hewett. Austlit. 23 May 2024.
24. Web site: Austlit — "In Midland Where the Trains Go By" by Dorothy Hewett. Austlit. 23 May 2024.
25. Web site: Austlit — "Once I Rode With Clancy..." by Dorothy Hewett. Austlit. 23 May 2024.
26. Web site: Peace is Our Answer by Jack Lindsay . National Library of Australia. 23 May 2024.
27. Web site: Old Australian Bush Ballads by Vance Palmer & Margaret Sutherland. National Library of Australia. 23 May 2024.
28. Web site: Austlit — "The Coal" by Roland Robinson. Austlit. 23 May 2024.
29. Web site: Austlit — "Deserted Homestead" by Roland Robinson. Austlit. 23 May 2024.
30. Web site: Austlit — "Helmet Orchid" by Douglas Stewart. Austlit. 23 May 2024.
31. Web site: Austlit — "Morgan's Country" by Francis Webb. Austlit. 23 May 2024.
32. Web site: Austlit — "The Cedars" by Judith Wright. Austlit. 23 May 2024.
33. Web site: Austlit — "The Cicadas" by Judith Wright. Austlit. 23 May 2024.
34. Web site: Austlit — "To a Child" by Judith Wright. Austlit. 23 May 2024.
35. Web site: Tether a Dragon by Kylie Tennant. National Library of Australia. 23 May 2024.
36. Web site: Austlit — Ten Puppet Plays by Musette Morell. Austlit. 23 May 2024.
37. Web site: Farewell to Cricket by Don Bradman. National Library of Australia. 23 May 2024.
38. Web site: Henry Handel Richardson : A Study by Nettie Palmer. National Library of Australia. 23 May 2024.
39. Web site: I Saw A Strange Land: Journeys in Central Australia by Arthur Groom. National Library of Australia. 23 May 2024.
40. https://books.google.com/books?id=u7rawzFVLskC&dq=%22australian+literature+society%22+%2B%221950%22&pg=PA129 The Cambridge Companion to Australian Literature p129
41. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article167980570 "New Book Wins Council Award", Truth, 30 June 1950, p44
42. Web site: Austlit — Grave Leven Poetry Prize . Austlit. 1 September 2023.
43. Web site: Peter Pierce (1950-2018). 2023-07-06 . AustLit: Discover Australian Stories . The University of Queensland.
44. Web site: Brian Castro . Austlit. 23 May 2024.
45. Web site: Andrea Goldsmith . Austlit. 23 May 2024.
46. Web site: Terry Denton . Austlit. 23 May 2024.
47. Web site: Philip Salom . Austlit. 23 May 2024.
48. Web site: John Forbes (1950-1998). 2024-02-13 . AustLit: Discover Australian Stories . The University of Queensland.
49. Web site: Robyn Davidson . Austlit. 23 May 2024.
50. Web site: John Marsden . Austlit. 23 May 2024.
51. Web site: Kate Grenville . Austlit. 23 May 2024.
52. Web site: Alexis Wright . Austlit. 23 May 2024.
53. Web site: Louis Nowra . Austlit. 23 May 2024.
54. Web site: Nick Enright (1950-2003). 2024-02-19 . AustLit: Discover Australian Stories . The University of Queensland.
55. Web site: Ian Irvine . Austlit. 23 May 2024.
56. Web site: Andrew Sant . Austlit. 23 May 2024.
57. Web site: Carole Wilkinson . Austlit. 23 May 2024.
58. Web site: Airey, Peter (1865–1950) by Martin Sullivan . Australian Dictionary of Biography. 19 July 2023.
59. Web site: Cox, Erle (1873–1950) by Sally O'Neill . Australian Dictionary of Biography. 29 July 2023.