1995 in Australian literature explained

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1995.

Events

• Helen Demidenko won the Miles Franklin Award for The Hand That Signed the Paper

Major publications

Novels

• Carmel Bird – The White Garden^[1]
• Marshall Browne – The Gilded Cage^[2]
• Bryce Courtenay — The Potato Factory
• Beverley Farmer — The House in the Light^[3]
• Judith Fox – Bracelet Honeymyrtle^[4]
• Paul Horsfall – The Touchstone^[5]
• Rod Jones — Billy Sunday
• Christopher Koch — Highways to a War
• Amanda Lohrey – Camille's Bread
• Alex Miller — The Sitters^[6]
• Mandy Sayer — The Cross^[7]
• Kathleen Stewart — Spilt Milk^[8]

Crime and mystery

• Jon Cleary – Winter Chill
• John Dale — Dark Angel
• Garry Disher – Port Vila Blues^[9]
• Kerry Greenwood – Ruddy Gore^[10]
• Gabrielle Lord – Bones^[11]
• Barry Maitland — The Malcontenta

Science fiction and fantasy

• David Brooks (author) — The House of Balthus
• Jack Dann — The Memory Cathedral: A Secret History of Leonardo da Vinci
• Sara Douglass — Battleaxe
• Greg Egan
  • Distress
  • "Luminous"
  • "Mitochondrial Eve"
  • "TAP"
  • "Wang's Carpets"
• Paul Kidd — Mus of Kerbridge
• Garth Nix — Sabriel
• Gillian Rubinstein — Galax-Arena
• Tony Shillitoe — The Last Wizard

Children's and young adult fiction

• Isobelle Carmody — Ashling
• Brian Caswell — Deucalion
• Mem Fox — Wombat Divine
• Sonya Hartnett — Sleeping Dogs^[12]
• Catherine Jinks — Witch Bank
• John Marsden — The Third Day, The Frost
• Garth Nix — Sabriel

Poetry

• Jordie Albiston — Nervous Arcs^[13]
• Peter Bakowski — In The Human Night^[14]
• Dorothy Hewett — Collected Poems 1940–1995^[15]
• Philip Hodgins — Things Happen^[16]

Drama

• Manny Aston — Fossils
• Joanna Murray-Smith — Honour
• Louis Nowra
  • The Incorruptible^[17]
  • Miss Bosnia^[18]
• David Williamson — Dead White Males

Non-fiction

• Timothy Conigrave — Holding the Man
• Garfield Barwick —
• Helen Garner — The First Stone

Awards and honours

• Christopher Koch "for service to Australian literature as a novelist"^[19]
• Alexander Stewart Cockburn "for service to journalism and literature"^[20]
• Bryce Courtenay "for service to advertising and marketing to the community and as an author"^[21]
• Mollie Gillen "for service to genealogy and to Australian historical research"^[22]
• Paul Jennings "for service to children's literature"^[23]
• Frances Margaret McGuire "for service to the community and to literature, particularly through the State Library of South Australia"^[24]
• Walter Richard McVitty "for service to the arts, particularly as educator and publisher of children's literature"^[25]
• Maurice Saxby "for service to children's literature"^[26]
• Gavin Souter "for service to Australian historical literature"^[27]
• Donald Wall "for service to the recorded history of World war II, particularly the history of the 8th Division and the fate of prisoners of war at Sandakan, Northern Borneo"^[28]
• Madeleine Ruby Irene Brunato-Arthur "for service to Australian writers, particularly through the Fellowship of Australian Writers in South Australia"^[29]

Lifetime achievement

Award	Author
Christopher Brennan Award^[30]	Thomas Shapcott Robert Adamson
Patrick White Award^[31]	Elizabeth Riddell

Literary

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
The Age Book of the Year Award^[32]	Chris Wallace-Crabbe	Selected Poems 1956–1994	Oxford University Press
ALS Gold Medal^[33]	Helen Demidenko	The Hand That Signed the Paper	Allen & Unwin
Colin Roderick Award^[34]	Judy Cassab	Diaries	Random House
Nita Kibble Literary Award^[35]	Drusilla Modjeska	The Orchard	Pan Macmillan

Fiction

International

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Commonwealth Writers' Prize^[36]	Best Novel, SE Asia and South Pacific region	Tim Winton	The Riders	Pan Macmillan
	Best First Novel, SE Asia and South Pacific region	Adib Khan	Seasonal Adjustments	Allen & Unwin
	Best Overall First Novel	Adib Khan	Seasonal Adjustments	Allen & Unwin

National

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature^[37]	Not awarded
The Age Book of the Year Award	Rod Jones	Billy Sunday	Picador
The Australian/Vogel Literary Award^[38]	Richard King	Kindling Does for Firewood	Allen and Unwin
Miles Franklin Award^[39]	Helen Demidenko	The Hand That Signed the Paper	Allen and Unwin
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards^[40]	Lily Brett	Just Like That	Pan Macmillan

Poetry

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature	Not awarded
The Age Book of the Year Award	Chris Wallace-Crabbe	Selected Poems 1956–1994	Oxford University Press
Anne Elder Award^[41]	Jennifer Harrison	Michelangelo's Prisoners	Black Pepper Press
Grace Leven Prize for Poetry^[42]	Kevin Hart	New and Selected Poems	Angus and Robertson
	Rhyll McMaster	Flying the Coop : New and Selected Poems 1972–1994	Heinemann
	Jemal Sharah	Path of Ghosts: Poems 1986–93	Heinemann
Mary Gilmore Award^[43]	Aileen Kelly	Coming Up for Light	Pariah Press

Non-fiction

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature	Not awarded
The Age Book of the Year Award	Tim Flannery	The Future Eaters	New Holland Publishers

Deaths

A list, ordered by date of death (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of deaths in 1995 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of birth.

• 13 January — Max Harris (poet), poet, critic, columnist, commentator, publisher and bookseller (born 1921)
• 25 January — Margaret Senior, wildlife and children's illustrator and writer (born 1917 in London)^[44]
• 20 March — Russell Braddon, writer of novels, biographies and TV scripts (born 1921)
• 12 May — John Blight, poet (born 1913)^[45]
• 26 June — John Jefferson Bray, lawyer, judge, academic, university administrator, Crown officer and published poet, (born 1912)^[46]
• 17 July — Robert Close, novelist (died in Majorca, Spain)(born 1903)^[47]
• 7 August — Harold Stewart, poet and oriental scholar (died in Kyoto, Japan)(born 1916)
• 14 August — Frances Margaret McGuire, writer, biochemist and philanthropist (born 1900)^[48]
• 18 August — Philip Hodgins, poet (born 1959)^[49]
• 5 December — Gwen Harwood, poet and librettist (born 1920)

See also

• 1995 in Australia
• 1995 in literature
• 1995 in poetry
• List of years in literature
• List of years in Australian literature

Notes and References

1. Web site: The White Garden by Carnel Bird. National Library of Australia. 29 April 2024.
2. Web site: The Gilded Cage by Marshall Browne. National Library of Australia. 15 July 2024.
3. Web site: The House in the Light by Beverley Farmer. National Library of Australia. 29 April 2024.
4. Web site: Bracelet Honeymyrtle by Judith Fox. National Library of Australia. 29 April 2024.
5. Web site: The Touchstone by Paul Horsfall. National Library of Australia. 29 April 2024.
6. Web site: The Sitters by Alex Miller. National Library of Australia. 29 April 2024.
7. Web site: The Cross by Mandy Sayer. National Library of Australia. 29 April 2024.
8. Web site: Spilt Milk by Kathleen Stewart. National Library of Australia. 29 April 2024.
9. Web site: Port Vila Blues by Garry Disher. National Library of Australia. 29 April 2024.
10. Web site: Ruddy Gore by Kerry Greenwood. National Library of Australia. 29 April 2024.
11. Web site: Bones by Gabrielle Lord. National Library of Australia. 29 April 2024.
12. Web site: Sleeping Dogs by Sonya Hartnett. National Library of Australia. 29 April 2024.
13. Web site: Nervous Arcs by Jordie Albiston. National Library of Australia. 29 April 2024.
14. Web site: In The Human Night by Peter Bakowski. National Library of Australia. 29 April 2024.
15. Web site: Collected Poems 1940–1995 by Dorothy Hewett. National Library of Australia. 10 May 2024.
16. Web site: Things Happen by Philip Hodgins. National Library of Australia. 29 April 2024.
17. Web site: The Incorruptible by Louis Nowra. National Library of Australia. 29 April 2024.
18. Web site: Austlit — Miss Bosnia by Louis Nowra . Austlit. 29 April 2024.
19. Web site: Christopher John Koch. honours.pmc.gov.au. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20191226071909/https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/869958 . 26 December 2019 . 2019-12-26.
20. Web site: Alexander Stewart Cockburn. honours.pmc.gov.au. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20191226071912/https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/883112 . 26 December 2019 . 2019-12-26.
21. Web site: Arthur Bryce Courtenay. honours.pmc.gov.au. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20191226071910/https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/871132 . 26 December 2019 . 2019-12-26.
22. Web site: Mollie Gillen. honours.pmc.gov.au. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20190808010818/https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/874124 . 8 August 2019 . 2019-12-26.
23. Web site: Paul Arthur Jennings. honours.pmc.gov.au. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20191226071911/https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/869821 . 26 December 2019 . 2019-12-26.
24. Web site: Frances Margaret McGuire. honours.pmc.gov.au. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20191211231327/https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/872386 . 11 December 2019 . 2019-12-26.
25. Web site: Walter Richard McVitty. honours.pmc.gov.au. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20191226071912/https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/869755 . 26 December 2019 . 2019-12-26.
26. Web site: Henry (Maurice) Saxby. honours.pmc.gov.au. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20191226071914/https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/870367 . 26 December 2019 . 2019-12-26.
27. Web site: Gavin Geoffrey Souter, AM. honours.pmc.gov.au. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20191226071910/https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/870112 . 26 December 2019 . 2019-12-26.
28. Web site: Donald Wall. honours.pmc.gov.au. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20191226071912/https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/873584 . 26 December 2019 . 2019-12-26.
29. Web site: Madeleine Ruby Irene Brunato-Arthur. honours.pmc.gov.au. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20191226071913/https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/870537 . 26 December 2019 . 2019-12-26.
30. Web site: Austlit — FAW Christopher Brennan Award. Austlit. 12 September 2023.
31. Web site: Austlit — Patrick White Award - Past Winners . Austlit. 8 September 2023.
32. Web site: "Word conjuror wins Age award" . The Age, 14 December 1995, p3. 28 May 2024. .
33. Web site: ALS Gold Medal — Previous Winners . Association for the Study of Australian Literature. 10 January 2024.
34. Web site: Colin Roderick Award - Other Winners . James Cook University. 31 December 2023.
35. Web site: 2009-06-09 . Kibble Literary Award . 4 February 2024 . . en-AU.
36. Web site: Commonwealth Writers' Prize Regional Winners 1987-2007 . Commonwealth Foundation. 17 January 2024.
37. Web site: State Library of South Australia. Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature – Past Literary Award Winners. 18 April 2024.
38. Web site: Austlit — The Australian/Vogel National Literary Award 1995. Austlit. 16 February 2023.
39. Web site: Austlit — The Hand That Signed the Paper - Awards . Austlit. 14 September 2023.
40. Web site: Winners of the Premier's 1995 literary awards . The Sydney Morning Herald, 16 September 1995, p11. 8 May 2024. .
41. Web site: Austlit — Anne Elder Award 1995-97 . Austlit. 12 February 2024.
42. Web site: Austlit — Grace Leven Poetry Prize 1994-2001 . Austlit. 12 February 2024.
43. Web site: Mary Gilmore Award . . 10 February 2024.
44. Web site: Margaret Senior (1917-1995). 2024-02-13 . AustLit: Discover Australian Stories . The University of Queensland.
45. Web site: Frederick John Blight (1913–1995) by Stephany Evans Steggall . Australian Dictionary of Biography. 1 December 2023.
46. Web site: John Jefferson Bray (1912–1995) by John Emerson . Australian Dictionary of Biography. 25 November 2023.
47. Web site: Robert S. Close (1903-1995). 2024-02-13 . AustLit: Discover Australian Stories . The University of Queensland.
48. Web site: Frances Margaret McGuire (1900-1995). 2024-02-13 . AustLit: Discover Australian Stories . The University of Queensland.
49. Web site: Hodgins, Ian Philip (1959–1995) by Chris Wallace-Crabbe . Australian Dictionary of Biography. 11 July 2023.