1959 in Australian literature explained

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1959.

Books

• Nancy Cato – Time, Flow Softly^[1]
• Jon Cleary
  • Back of Sunset
  • Strike Me Lucky with Joy Cleary
• Eleanor Dark – Lantana Lane^[2]
• David Forrest – The Last Blue Sea^[3]
• Xavier Herbert – Seven Emus
• Dorothy Hewett – Bobbin Up^[4]
• Barbara Jefferis – Half Angel^[5]
• Eric Lambert – Glory Thrown In^[6]
• Leonard Mann – Andrea Caslin^[7]
• D'Arcy Niland
  • The Big Smoke
  • Gold in the Streets^[8]
• Vance Palmer – The Big Fellow
• F. J. Thwaites – No Rainbow in the Sky
• George Turner – Young Man of Talent^[9]
• Arthur Upfield
  • Bony and the Black Virgin (aka The Tom Branch)^[10]
  • Journey to the Hangman^[11]
• Morris West – The Devil's Advocate

Short stories

• Ethel Anderson – The Little Ghosts^[12]
• David Campbell – Flame and Shadow : Selected Stories^[13]
• A. Bertram Chandler
  • "Chance Encounter"^[14]
  • "The Man Who Could Not Stop"^[15]
• David Forrest – "That Barambah Mob"^[16]
• Hal Porter
  • "Country Town"^[17]
  • "Fiend and Friend"^[18]
• Katharine Susannah Prichard – N'goola and Other Stories^[19]
• Judith Wright — "In the Park"^[20]

Children's and Young Adult fiction

• Eleanor Spence – The Summer in Between^[21]
• Kylie Tennant – All the Proud Tribesmen
• Norman Barnett Tindale and H. A. Lindsay – Rangatira^[22]

Poetry

See main article: 1959 in poetry.

• John Blight – "A Sailor's Grave"^[23]
• David Campbell – "We Took the Storms to Bed"^[24]
• Bruce Dawe – "The City : Midnight"^[25]
• Rosemary Dobson
  • "Captain Svenson"^[26]
  • "The Edge"^[27]
• R. D. Fitzgerald – "Quayside Meditation"^[28]
• William Hart-Smith – Poems of Discovery^[29]
• Gwen Harwood – "Prize-Giving"^[30]
• Charles Higham – The Earthbound and Other Poems^[31]
• A. D. Hope – "Agony Column"^[32]
• Lionel Lindsay – Discobolus and Other Verse^[33]
• Nan McDonald – The Lighthouse and Other Poems^[34]
• David Martin – "Gordon Childe"^[35]
• Ian Mudie – The Blue Crane^[36]
• Elizabeth Riddell
  • "After Lunik Two"^[37]
  • "Suburban Song"^[38]
• Douglas Stewart – "Leopard-Skin"^[39]
• Chris Wallace-Crabbe – The Music of Division^[40]

Biography

• Charmian Clift – Peel Me a Lotus^[41]
• Mary Durack – Kings in Grass Castles
• Errol Flynn – My Wicked, Wicked Ways
• Ion Idriess – The Tin Scratchers
• Peter Ryan – Fear Drive My Feet^[42]

Children's and Young Adult non-fiction

• Dale Collins – Anzac Adventure^[43]

Awards and honours

Literary

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
ALS Gold Medal^[44]	Randolph Stow	To the Islands	Penguin Books
Miles Franklin Award^[45]	Vance Palmer	The Big Fellow	Angus and Robertson

Children and Young Adult

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Children's Book of the Year Award^[46]	Older Readers	Nan Chauncy, illustrated by Geraldine Spence	Devil's Hill	Oxford University Press
		John Gunn, illustrated by Brian Keogh	Sea Menace	Constable
	Picture Book	No award

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 1959 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of death.

• 10 January – Gabrielle Carey, writer (died 2023)^[48]
• 28 January – Philip Hodgins, poet (died 1995)^[49]
• 18 May – Sophie Masson, novelist^[50]
• 27 June – Stephen Dedman, writer^[51]
• 13 September – Andy Kissane, poet^[52]
• 13 October – Doug MacLeod, children's writer, poet, screenwriter and playwright (died 2021)^[53]
• 25 November – Merlinda Bobis, writer and academic^[54]

Unknown date

• Jennifer Fallon, novelist^[55]
• Mike Ladd, poet^[56]

Deaths

A list, ordered by date of death (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of deaths in 1959 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of birth.

• 15 July – Vance Palmer, novelist (born 1885)^[57]
• 14 October – Errol Flynn, author and actor (born 1909)^[58]

See also

• 1959 in Australia
• 1959 in literature
• 1959 in poetry
• List of years in Australian literature
• List of years in literature

Notes and References

1. Web site: Time, Flow Softly by Nancy Cato. National Library of Australia. 15 October 2024.
2. Web site: Lantana Lane by Eleanor Dark. National Library of Australia. 15 October 2024.
3. Web site: The Last Blue Sea by David Forrest. National Library of Australia. 15 October 2024.
4. Web site: Bobbin Up by Dorothy Hewett. National Library of Australia. 13 October 2024.
5. Web site: Half Angel by Barbara Jefferis. National Library of Australia. 15 October 2024.
6. Web site: Glory Thrown In by Eric Lambert. National Library of Australia. 15 October 2024.
7. Web site: Andrea Caslin by Leonard Mann. National Library of Australia. 15 October 2024.
8. Web site: Gold in the Streets by D'Arcy Niland. National Library of Australia. 15 October 2024.
9. Web site: Young Man of Talent by George Turner. National Library of Australia. 15 October 2024.
10. Web site: Bony and the Black Virgin by Arthur Upfield. National Library of Australia. 15 October 2024.
11. Web site: Journey to the Hangman by Arthur Upfield. National Library of Australia. 15 October 2024.
12. Web site: The Little Ghosts by Ethel Anderson. National Library of Australia. 19 April 2024.
13. Web site: Flame and Shadow : Selected Stories by David Campbell. National Library of Australia. 19 April 2024.
14. Web site: "Chance Encounter" by A. Bertram Chandler. ISFDB. 19 April 2024.
15. Web site: "The Man Who Could Not Stop" by A. Bertram Chandler. ISFDB. 19 April 2024.
16. Web site: Austlit — "That Barambah Mob" by David Forrest. Austlit. 19 April 2024.
17. Web site: Austlit —"Country Town" by Hal Porter . Austlit. 19 April 2024.
18. Web site: Austlit — "Fiend and Friend" by Hal Porter . Austlit. 19 April 2024.
19. Web site: N'goola and Other Stories by Katharine Susannah Prichard . National Library of Australia. 19 April 2024.
20. Web site: Austlit — "In the Park" by Judith Wright . Austlit. 19 April 2024.
21. Web site: The Summer in Between by Eleanor Spence. National Library of Australia. 14 October 2024.
22. Web site: Rangatira by Norman Barnett Tindale and H. A. Lindsay. National Library of Australia. 14 October 2024.
23. Web site: "A Sailor's Grave" by John Blight. Austlit. 14 October 2024.
24. Web site: "We Took the Storms to Bed" by David Campbell . Austlit. 14 October 2024.
25. Web site: "The City : Midnight" by Bruce Dawe. Austlit. 14 October 2024.
26. Web site: "Captain Svenson" by Rosemary Dobson. Austlit. 14 October 2024.
27. Web site: "The Edge" by Rosemary Dobson. Austlit. 14 October 2024.
28. Web site: "Quayside Meditation" by R. D. Fitzgerald. Austlit. 14 October 2024.
29. Web site: Poems of Discovery by William Hart-Smith. National Library of Australia. 14 October 2024.
30. Web site: "Prize-Giving" by Gwen Harwood. Austlit. 14 October 2024.
31. Web site: The Earthbound and Other Poems by Charles Higham. National Library of Australia. 14 October 2024.
32. Web site: "Agony Column" by A. D. Hope. Austlit. 14 October 2024.
33. Web site: Discobolus and Other Verse by [Lionel Lindsay|publisher= National Library of Australia|url= https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2065273 |access-date= 14 October 2024].
34. Web site: The Lighthouse and Other Poems by Nan McDonald. National Library of Australia. 14 October 2024.
35. Web site: "Gordon Childe" by David Martin. Austlit. 14 October 2024.
36. Web site: The Blue Crane by Ian Mudie. National Library of Australia. 14 October 2024.
37. Web site: "After Lunik Two" by Elizabeth Riddell. Austlit. 14 October 2024.
38. Web site: "Suburban Song" by Elizabeth Riddell. Austlit. 14 October 2024.
39. Web site: "Leopard-Skin" by Douglas Stewart . Austlit. 14 October 2024.
40. Web site: The Music of Division by Chris Wallace-Crabbe. National Library of Australia. 14 October 2024.
41. Web site: Peel Me a Lotus by Charmian Clift. National Library of Australia. 14 October 2024.
42. Web site: Fear Drive My Feet by Peter Ryan. National Library of Australia. 14 October 2024.
43. Web site: Anzac Adventure by Dale Collins. National Library of Australia. 14 October 2024.
44. Web site: ALS Gold Medal — Previous Winners . Association for the Study of Australian Literature. 27 May 2024.
45. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article105906220 "Vance Palmer Novel Wins Franklin Award", The Canberra Times, 19 March 1960, p1
46. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article114847166 "Children's Book of the Year Award Shared" The Canberra Times, 11 July 1959, p11
47. http://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/C116315 Austlit - The Wind at Your Door by R. D. Fitzgerald
48. Web site: Gabrielle Carey (1959-2023). Austlit. 11 July 2023.
49. Web site: Hodgins, Ian Philip (1959–1995) by Chris Wallace-Crabbe . Australian Dictionary of Biography. 11 July 2023.
50. Web site: Sophie Masson . Austlit. 11 July 2023.
51. Web site: Stephen Dedman . Austlit. 11 July 2023.
52. Web site: Andy Kissane . 11 July 2023 . Austlit.
53. Web site: Doug MacLeod . Austlit. 11 July 2023.
54. Web site: Merlinda Bobis . Austlit. 11 July 2023.
55. Web site: Jennifer Fallon . Austlit. 11 July 2023.
56. Web site: Mike Ladd . Austlit. 11 July 2023.
57. Web site: Palmer, Edward Vivian (Vance) (1885–1959) by Geoffrey Serle . Australian Dictionary of Biography. 11 July 2023.
58. Web site: Flynn, Errol Leslie (1909–1959) by William Bryden . Australian Dictionary of Biography. 11 July 2023.