1969 in Australian literature explained

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
• F. J. Thwaites – No Love to Give

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

See main article: article and 1969 in 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 –

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
	Picture Book	Ivan Southall, illustrated by Ted Greenwood	Sly Old Wardrobe	Cheshire

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 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]

See also

• 1969 in Australia
• 1969 in literature
• 1969 in poetry
• List of years in Australian literature
• List of years in literature

Notes and References

1. Web site: The Defectors by Mena Calthorpe. National Library of Australia. 22 May 2024.
2. Web site: Austlit — "Wong Chu and the Queen's Letterbox" by T. A. G. Hungerford . Austlit. 22 May 2024.
3. Web site: Austlit — "Barn Owl" by Gwen Harwood. Austlit. 22 May 2024.
4. Web site: Austlit — "Father and Child" by Gwen Harwood. Austlit. 22 May 2024.
5. Web site: New Poems, 1956-1969 by A. D. Hope. National Library of Australia. 4 July 2024.
6. Web site: Surprises of the Sun by James McAuley. National Library of Australia. 4 July 2024.
7. Web site: Austlit — "The Year of the Foxes" by David Malouf. Austlit. 22 May 2024.
8. Web site: Inwards to the Sun : Poems by Thomas Shapcott. National Library of Australia. 4 July 2024.
9. Web site: ALS Gold Medal — Previous Winners . Association for the Study of Australian Literature. 9 August 2023.
10. Web site: Colin Roderick Award — Other Winners . James Cook University. 22 May 2024.
11. Web site: "Author Wins $1,000 Award" . The Canberra Times, 15 April 1970, p3. 22 May 2024.
12. Web site: "Book Council Award Winners" . The Canberra Times, 12 July 1969, p16. 5 July 2023.
13. http://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/C150184 Austlit - A Counterfeit Silence: Selected Poems by Randolph Stow
14. Web site: Larissa Behrendt . Austlit. 22 May 2024.
15. Web site: Trudi Canavan . Austlit. 22 May 2024.
16. Web site: Tegan Bennett Daylight . 25 February 2024 . AustLit: Discover Australian Stories . The University of Queensland.
17. Web site: Hatfield, William (1892–1969) by Geoffrey Serle . Australian Dictionary of Biography. 31 August 2023.
18. Web site: Clift, Charmian (1923–1969) by Nadia Wheatley . Australian Dictionary of Biography. 31 August 2023.
19. Web site: Lamond, Henry George (1885–1969) by Nancy Bonnin . Australian Dictionary of Biography. 15 August 2023.
20. Web site: Bulcock, Emily Hemans (1877–1969) by Marjorie Puregger . Australian Dictionary of Biography. 5 August 2023.
21. Web site: Prichard, Katharine Susannah (1883–1969) by John Hay . Australian Dictionary of Biography. 31 August 2023.
22. Web site: Bjelke-Petersen, Marie Caroline (1874–1969) by Margaret Weidenhofer . Australian Dictionary of Biography. 30 July 2023.
23. Web site: Lindsay, Norman Alfred (1879–1969) by Bernard Smith . Australian Dictionary of Biography. 8 August 2023.
24. Web site: Gibbs, Cecilia May (1877–1969) by Maureen Walsh . Australian Dictionary of Biography. 5 August 2023.
25. Web site: Kathleen Dalziel (1881-1969). Austlit. 5 July 2023.