1999 in Australian literature explained

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1999.

Events

• Murray Bail won the Miles Franklin Award for Eucalyptus
• Jan Fullerton was appointed Director General of the National Library of Australia, being the first woman and first internal appointee

Major publications

Novels

• Thea Astley — Drylands
• Lily Brett — Too Many Men
• Marshall Browne – The Burnt City^[1]
• Kate Grenville — The Idea of Perfection
• Dorothy Hewett — Neap Tide^[2]
• Julia Leigh — The Hunter
• Bruce Pascoe — Shark^[3]
• Dorothy Porter — What a Piece of Work
• Matthew Reilly — Ice Station
• Heather Rose — White Heart^[4]
• Kim Scott — Benang
• Amy Witting — Isobel on the Way to the Corner Shop

Science fiction and fantasy

• James Bradley — The Deep Field
• Sara Douglass — Crusader
• Kate Forsyth – The Cursed Towers^[5]
• Greg Egan
  • "Border Guards"
  • Teranesia
• Ian Irvine — Dark is the Moon^[6]
• Juliet Marillier – Daughter of the Forest
• Sean McMullen – Souls in the Great Machine^[7]
• George Turner – Down There in Darkness^[8]

Crime

• Marshall Browne — The Wooden Leg of Inspector Anders
• Garry Disher — The Dragon Man
• Kerry Greenwood – Death Before Wicket^[9]
• Gabrielle Lord – Feeding the Demons^[10]
• Barry Maitland – The Chalon Heads
• Tara Moss – Fetish^[11]
• Chris Nyst — Cop This!
• Peter Temple
  • Black Tide
  • Shooting Star

Children's and young adult fiction

• Helen Barnes — Killing Aurora
• Graeme Base — The Worst Band in the Universe
• Kim Caraher — Goanna Anna^[12]
• Nick Earls — 48 Shades of Brown
• Christine Harris — Foreign Devil
• Sonya Hartnett — Stripes of the Sidestep Wolf
• Victor Kelleher — The Ivory Trail
• Markus Zusak — The Underdog

Poetry

• Kevin Hart — Wicked Heat^[13]
• John Kinsella — Visitants^[14]
• Jennifer Maiden — Mines^[15]
• Les Murray — Conscious and Verbal^[16]

Drama

• Van Badham — The Wilderness of Mirrors^[17]

Non-fiction

• Ian McFarlane — Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop
• Drusilla Modjeska — Stravinsky's Lunch
• Les Murray — The Quality of Sprawl: Thoughts about Australia^[18]
• Anne Summers — Ducks on the Pond: An Autobiography 1945–1976^[19]
• David Walker— Anxious Nation: Australia and the Rise of Asia 1850–1939

Awards and honours

• Michael Fitzgerald Page "for service to the book publishing industry and to literature as a writer, and through the encouragement and support of upcoming Australian authors"^[20]
• Frank John Ford "for service to the development of the performing arts in South Australia as a director, playwright, administrator and educator"^[21]
• Kay Saunders "for service to Australian history as a scholar, author and commentator on social issues"^[22]
• John Antill Millett "for service to literature as editor of Poetry Australia"^[23]

Lifetime achievement

Award	Author
Christopher Brennan Award^[24]	Kevin Hart
Patrick White Award^[25]	Gerald Murnane

Literary

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
The Age Book of the Year Award^[26]	K. S. Inglis	Sacred Places: War Memorials in the Australian Landscape	Miegunyah Press
ALS Gold Medal^[27]	Murray Bail	Eucalyptus	Random House
Colin Roderick Award^[28]	Christopher Koch	Out of Ireland	Doubleday
Nita Kibble Literary Award^[29]	Geraldine Brooks	Foreign Correspondence: A Pen Pal's Journey From Down Under to All Over	Anchor Books

Fiction

International

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Commonwealth Writers' Prize^[30]	Best Novel, SE Asia and South Pacific region	Murray Bail	Eucalyptus	Harvill Press
	Best Overall Novel	Murray Bail	Eucalyptus	Harvill Press

National

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature^[31]	Not awarded
The Age Book of the Year Award	James Bradley	The Deep Field	Sceptre
The Australian/Vogel Literary Award^[32]	Hsu-Ming Teo	Love and Vertigo	Allen and Unwin
Miles Franklin Award^[33]	Murray Bail	Eucalyptus	Random House
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards^[34]	Roger McDonald	Mr Darwin's Shooter	Random House

Crime and Mystery

National

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Ned Kelly Award^[35]
	Novel	Peter Doyle	Amaze Your Friends	Random House
	First novel	Andrew Masterson	The Last Days	Picador
	Lifetime Achievement	Peter Corris

Poetry

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature	Not awarded
The Age Book of the Year	R. A. Simpson	The Impossible, and Other Poems	Five Islands Press
Anne Elder Award^[36]	Not awarded
Grace Leven Prize for Poetry^[37]	Not awarded
Mary Gilmore Award^[38]	Not awarded

Non-fiction

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature	Non-Fiction	Not awarded
The Age Book of the Year	Non-Fiction	K. S. Inglis	Sacred Places: War Memorials in the Australian Landscape	Anchor
National Biography Award^[39]	Biography	Not awarded

Deaths

A list, ordered by date of death (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of deaths in 1999 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of birth.

• 15 February — Gordon Neil Stewart, writer (born 1912)^[40]
• 1 March — Richard Beynon, playwright, actor and television producer (born 1925)^[41]
• 20 April — Ric Throssell, diplomat and author whose writings included novels, plays, film and television scripts and memoirs (born 1922)^[42]
• 8 July — Mavis Thorpe Clark, novelist and writer for children (born 1909)^[43]
• 12 July — Mungo Ballardie MacCallum, journalist, broadcaster and poet (born 1913)^[44]
• 9 October — Morris West, novelist and playwright (born 1916)^[45]
• 16 November — Mal Morgan, poet (born 1936, London, England)^[46]

See also

• 1999 in Australia
• 1999 in literature
• 1999 in poetry
• List of years in literature
• List of years in Australian literature

Notes and References

1. Web site: The Burnt City by Marshall Browne. National Library of Australia. 15 July 2024.
2. Web site: Austlit — Neap Tide by Dorothy Hewett . Austlit. 19 February 2024.
3. Web site: Austlit — Shark by Bruce Pascoe . Austlit. 19 February 2024.
4. Web site: Austlit — White Heart by Heather Rose . Austlit. 19 February 2024.
5. Web site: The Cursed Towers by Kate Forsyth . ISFDB. 3 May 2024.
6. Web site: Dark is the Moon by Ian Irvine . ISFDB. 3 May 2024.
7. Web site: Souls in the Great Machine by Sean McMullen . ISFDB. 3 May 2024.
8. Web site: Down There in Darkness by George Turner . ISFDB. 3 May 2024.
9. Web site: Death Before Wicket by Kerry Greenwood. National Library of Australia. 3 May 2024.
10. Web site: Feeding the Demons by Gabrielle Lord. National Library of Australia. 3 May 2024.
11. Web site: Fetish by Tara Moss. National Library of Australia. 3 May 2024.
12. Web site: Goanna Anna by Kim Caraher . National Library of Australia. 19 February 2024.
13. Web site: Wicked Heat by Kevin Hart. National Library of Australia. 3 May 2024.
14. Web site: Visitants by John Kinsella. National Library of Australia. 3 May 2024.
15. Web site: Mines by Jennifer Maiden. National Library of Australia. 3 May 2024.
16. Web site: Conscious and Verbal by Les Murray. National Library of Australia. 3 May 2024.
17. Web site: Austlit — The Wilderness of Mirrors by Van Badham . Austlit. 19 February 2024.
18. Web site: Austlit — The Quality of Sprawl: Thoughts about Australia by Les Murray . Austlit. 19 February 2024.
19. Web site: Austlit — Ducks on the Pond: An Autobiography 1945–1976 by Anne Summers . Austlit. 19 February 2024.
20. Web site: Michael Fitzgerald Page. honours.pmc.gov.au. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20191227204422/https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/870012 . 27 December 2019 . 2019-12-27.
21. Web site: Frank John Ford. honours.pmc.gov.au. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20191003044848/https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/869721 . 3 October 2019 . 2019-12-27.
22. Web site: Dr Kay Elizabeth Bass Saunders. honours.pmc.gov.au. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20191014125658/https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/872268 . 14 October 2019 . 2019-12-27.
23. Web site: John Antill Millett. honours.pmc.gov.au. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20190526075437/https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/870407 . 26 May 2019 . 2019-12-27.
24. Web site: Austlit — FAW Christopher Brennan Award. Austlit. 12 September 2023.
25. Web site: Austlit — Patrick White Award - Past Winners . Austlit. 8 September 2023.
26. Web site: "Age Book of the Year" . The Age, 27 August 1999, p99. 16 June 2024. .
27. Web site: ALS Gold Medal — Previous Winners . Association for the Study of Australian Literature. 10 January 2024.
28. Web site: Colin Roderick Award - Other Winners . James Cook University. 16 January 2024.
29. Web site: Kibble Literary Award . Australian National University . 26 February 2024.
30. Web site: Commonwealth Writers' Prize Regional Winners 1987-2007 . Commonwealth Foundation. 17 January 2024.
31. Web site: State Library of South Australia. Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature – Past Literary Award Winners. 18 April 2024.
32. Web site: Austlit — The Australian/Vogel National Literary Award 1999. Austlit. 16 February 2023.
33. Web site: Austlit — Miles Franklin Literary Award : 1997-1999 . Austlit. 15 September 2023.
34. Web site: "30-year Endeavour sails off with prize" . Sydney Morning Herald, 18 May 1999. 10 May 2024. .
35. Web site: 1999 Ned Kelly Award Winners . https://web.archive.org/web/20160327181222/http://www.austcrimewriters.com/ned-kelly-award-winners/5 . 2016-03-27 . 17 January 2024 . Australian Crime Writers.
36. Web site: Austlit — Anne Elder Award 1998-2000 . Austlit. 12 February 2024.
37. Web site: Austlit — Grace Leven Poetry Prize 1994-2001 . Austlit. 12 February 2024.
38. Web site: Mary Gilmore Award . . 10 February 2024.
39. Web site: "National Biography Award – Past Winners" . State Library of NSW. 22 March 2024.
40. Web site: Austlit — Gordon Neil Stewart (1912-1999) . Austlit. 18 January 2024.
41. Web site: Austlit — Richard Beynon (1925-1999) . Austlit. 18 January 2024.
42. Web site: Ric Prichard Throssell (1922–1999) by Nathan Hobby . Australian Dictionary of Biography. 18 January 2024.
43. Web site: Austlit — Mavis Thorpe Clark (1909-1999). Austlit. 16 November 2023.
44. Web site: Austlit — Mungo Ballardie MacCallum (1913-1999) . Austlit. 1 December 2023.
45. Web site: Austlit — Morris West (1916-1999). 2023-09-16 . AustLit: Discover Australian Stories . The University of Queensland.
46. Web site: Austlit — Mal Morgan (1936-1999) . Austlit. 18 January 2024.