2007 in Australian literature explained

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 2007.

Events

• Surrender by Sonya Hartnett, and The Book Thief by Markus Zusak are named as Honor Books in the 2007 American Library Association's Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature.^[1]
• "The Guardian" newspaper from the UK reports that Borders plans to sell its Australian stores.^[2]
• The small township of Clunes, about 20 kilometres north of Ballarat in Victoria, decides to try to set up Australia's first dedicated booktown. The first weekend event takes place on 20 May.^[3]
• AustLit (www.austlit.edu.au), the major Australian literature resource for research and teaching housed at the University of Queensland, announces the commencement of "Black Words", a literary website specialising in Australian Indigenous writers and storytellers and their works.^[4]
• Federal Education minister, Julie Bishop, announces that the Australian Government will allocate funds to A$1.5m to create a Chair of Australian Literature in an Australian university.^[5]
• Charlie Rimmer, Group Commercial Manager for Angus and Robertson bookshops, writes to a number of Australian independent publishers indicating that the bookshop chain will refuse to stock their books without compensation.^[6]
• Lonely Planet, the iconic Australian publisher of travel guides, is sold to the commercial division of the BBC in a deal reportedly worth A$200 million.^[7]
• Australia's new Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, announces a major new literary prize of $100,000 in both fiction and non-fiction categories.^[8]
• Australia-Asia Literary Award established.

Major publications

Literary fiction

• David Brooks – The Fern Tattoo
• Steven Carroll – The Time We Have Taken
• Belinda Castles – The River Baptists
• Jon Cleary – Four-Cornered Circle
• J. M. Coetzee – Diary of a Bad Year
• Matthew Condon – The Trout Opera
• Steven Conte – The Zookeeper's War
• Gregory Day – Ron McCoy's Sea of Diamonds
• Michelle de Kretser – The Lost Dog
• Nicholas Drayson – Love and the Platypus
• Karen Foxlee – The Anatomy of Wings
• Rodney Hall – Love Without Hope
• Janette Turner Hospital – Orpheus Lost
• Gail Jones – Sorry
• Mireille Juchau – Burning In
• Thomas Keneally – The Widow and Her Hero
• Malcolm Knox – Jamaica
• Christopher Koch – The Memory Room
• Colleen McCullough – Antony and Cleopatra
• Carol Lefevre – Nights in the Asylum
• Rhyll McMaster – Feather Man
• David Malouf – The Complete Stories
• Alex Miller – Landscape of Farewell
• Nicholas Shakespeare – Secrets of the Sea
• Charlotte Wood – The Children
• Jessica White – A Curious Intimacy
• Geraldine Wooller – The Seamstress

Children's and Young Adult fiction

• Alexandra Adornetto – The Shadow Thief
• Sherryl Clark – Sixth Grade Style Queen (Not!), illus by Elissa Christian
• Mem Fox – Where the Giant Sleeps
• Jackie French
  • Pharaoh: The Boy Who Conquered the Nile
  • The Shaggy Gully Times, illus by Bruce Whatley
• Scot Gardner – Gravity
• Sonya Hartnett – The Ghost's Child
• John Heffernan – Marty's Shadow
• Odo Hirsch – Amelia Dee and the Peacock Lamp
• Simmone Howell – Notes from the Teenage Underground
• Justine Larbalestier – Magic's Child
• Brigid Lowry – Tomorrow All Will Be Beautiful
• Meme McDonald – Love Like Water
• David Metzenthen
  • Black Water
  • Winning the World Cup, illus by Stephen Axelsen
• Garth Nix – Lady Friday
• Leonie Norrington – Leaving Barrumbi
• Emily Rodda – The Key to Rondo
• Scott Westerfeld – Extras
• Carole Wilkinson – Dragon Moon
• Sean Williams – The Changeling

Crime and Mystery

• Mark Abernethy – Golden Serpent
• Robert G. Barrett – The Tesla Legacy
• John Clanchy and Mark Henshaw (J.M. Calder) – And Hope to Die
• Garry Disher – Chain of Evidence
• Kathryn Fox – Skin and Bone
• Robert Gott – Amongst the Dead
• Kerry Greenwood – Trick or Treat
• Jarad Henry – Blood Sunset
• Sarah Hopkins – The Crimes of Billy Fish
• Katherine Howell – Frantic
• Gabrielle Lord – Shattered
• Shane Maloney – Sucked In
• PD Martin – Fan Mail
• Dorothy Porter – El Dorado
• Leigh Redhead – Cherry Pie
• Michael Robotham – The Night Ferry
• Steve Toltz – A Fraction of the Whole
• Chris Womersley – The Low Road

Romance

• Anna Campbell – Claiming the Courtesan
• Emma Darcy – The Billionaire's Scandalous Marriage
• Lilian Darcy – Cafe du Jour
• Kimberley Freeman – Duet
• Anna Jacobs – Tomorrow's Princess
• Melanie La'Brooy – Serendipity
• Tamara McKinley – Lands Beyond the Sea

Science Fiction and Fantasy

• David Conyers & John Sunseri – The Spiraling Worm
• Marianne de Pierres – Dark Space
• Sara Douglass – The Serpent Bride^[9]
• Greg Egan
  • "Dark Integers"
  • "Glory"
  • "Induction"
• Lian Hearn – Heaven's Net is Wide
• Jack Heath – Remote Control^[10]
• David Kowalski – The Company of the Dead^[11]
• Karen Miller – The Riven Kingdom
• Jason Nahrung & Mil Clayton – The Darkness Within^[12]
• Garth Nix – "Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz Go to War Again"
• Ben Peek – Black Sheep: A Dystopian Novel^[13]
• Sean Williams – Saturn Returns^[14]

Drama

• Stephen Carleton – The Narcissist^[15]
• Michael Gow – Toy Symphony^[16]
• Tom Holloway – Beyond the Neck^[17]
• Katherine Thomson – King Tide^[18]
• Alana Valentine – Parramatta Girls

Poetry

• Judith Bishop – Event
• David Brooks – Urban Elegies, Sydney: Island Press (Australia)
• Lisa Gorton – Press Release
• Kathryn Lomer – Two Kinds of Silence, University of Queensland Press,
• David Malouf – Typewriter Music, winner of the 2008 Arts Queensland Judith Wright Calanthe Award
• Dorothy Porter – El Dorado
• Peter Rose – The Best Australian Poems 2007, Black Inc.,
• Peter Skrzynecki – Old/New World, University of Queensland Press,
• Petra White – The Incoming Tide

Non-fiction

• Janet Fife-Yeomans – Killing Jodie
• Tom Griffiths – Slicing the Silence: Voyaging to Antarctica
• Clive James – Cultural Amnesia: Notes in the Margin of My Time
• Philip Jones – Ochre and Rust: Artefacts and Encounters on Australian Frontiers
• Evan McHugh – Red Centre, Dark Heart
• Nicolas Rothwell – Another Country
• John Silvester and Andrew Rule – Underbelly: The Gangland War

Biographies

• Philip Dwyer – Napoleon: The Path To Power 1769–1799
• Kim Huynh – Where the Sea Takes Us
• Mark Kurzem – The Mascot
• Brenda Niall – Life Class: The Education of a Biographer
• Craig Sherborne – Muck
• Jeff Sparrow – Communism: A Love Story

Awards and honours

Lifetime achievement

Award	Author
Christopher Brennan Award^[19]	John Kinsella
Patrick White Award^[20]	David Rowbotham

Literary

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
The Age Book of the Year^[21]	Peter Cochrane	Colonial Ambition: Foundations of Australian Democracy	Melbourne University Press
ALS Gold Medal^[22]	Alexis Wright	Carpentaria	Giramondo
Colin Roderick Award^[23]	Deborah Robertson	Careless	Vintage
Nita Kibble Literary Award^[24]	Deborah Robertson	Careless	Vintage

Fiction

National

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
ABC Fiction Award^[26]	Damian McDonald	Luck in the Greater West	ABC Books
Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature^[27]	Not awarded
The Age Book of the Year Award	David Malouf	Every Move You Make	Chatto & Windus
The Australian/Vogel Literary Award^[28]	Stefan Laszczuk	I Dream of Magda	Allen and Unwin
Miles Franklin Award^[29]	Alexis Wright	Carpentaria	Giramondo
Nita Kibble Literary Award	Deborah Robertson	Careless	Vintage Books
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards	Peter Carey		Alfred A. Knopf
Queensland Premier's Literary Awards	Alexis Wright	Carpentaria	Giramondo
Victorian Premier's Literary Awards	Alexis Wright	Carpentaria	Giramondo
Western Australian Premier's Book Awards	Simone Lazaroo	The Travel Writer	Macmillan

Children and Young Adult

National

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Children's Book of the Year Award	Older Readers	Margo Lanagan	Red Spikes	Allen & Unwin
	Younger Readers	Catherine Bateson	Being Bee	University of Queensland Press
	Picture Book	Shaun Tan	The Arrival	Lothian
	Early Childhood	Libby Gleeson, illus. Freya Blackwood	Amy and Louis	Scholastic Press
Davitt Award	Young Adult	Jaclyn Moriarty	The Betrayal of Bindy Mackenzie	Pan Books
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards	Children's	Narelle Oliver	Home	Omnibus Books
	Young People's	Ursula Dubosarsky	The Red Shoe	Allen & Unwin
Queensland Premier's Literary Awards	Children's	Glenda Millard	Layla Queen of Hearts	ABC Books
	Young Adult	Judith Clarke	One Whole and Perfect Day	Allen & Unwin
Victorian Premier's Literary Awards	Young Adult Fiction	Simmone Howell	Notes from the Teenage Underground	Macmillan
Western Australian Premier's Book Awards	Writing for Young Adults	Kate McCaffrey	Destroying Avalon	Fremantle Arts Centre Press
	Children's	Shaun Tan	The Arrival	Lothian

Crime and Mystery

National

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Davitt Award^[31]	Novel	Sydney Bauer	Undertow	Macmillan
	Young Adult Novel	Jaclyn Moriarty	The Betrayal of Bindy Mackenzie	Macmillan
	True Crime	Karen Kissane	Silent Death: The Killing of Julie Ramage	Hodder
	Readers' Choice	Kerry Greenwood	Devil's Food	Allen & Unwin
		Karen Kissane	Silent Death: The Killing of Julie Ramage	Hodder
Ned Kelly Awards^[32]	Novel	Garry Disher	Chain of Evidence	Soho Press
	First novel	Adrian Hyland	Diamond Dove	Text Publishing
	True crime	Liz Porter	Written on the Skin	Pan Macmillan
		Debi Marshall	Killing For Pleasure: The Definitive Story of the Snowtown Murders	Random House
	Lifetime Achievement	Sandra Harvey and Lindsay Simpson

Science fiction

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Aurealis Award	Novel	Will Elliott	The Pilo Family Circus	ABC Books
	Short Story	Shaun Tan	The Arrival	Lothian
Ditmar Award	Novel	Will Elliott	The Pilo Family Circus	ABC Books
	Novella/Novelette	Paul Haines	"The Devil in Mr Pussy (Or How I Found God Inside My Wife)"	Coeur de Lion Publishing
	Short Story	Rjurik Davidson	"The Fear of White"	Borderlands #7
	Collected Work	edited by Bill Congreve & Michelle Marquardt	The Year's Best Australian Science Fiction and Fantasy Vol. 2	Mirrordanse Books
Australian Shadows Award		Will Elliott	The Pilo Family Circus	ABC Books

Poetry

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature	Not awarded
The Age Book of the Year	Robert Adamson	The Goldfinches of Baghdad	Flood Editions
Anne Elder Award^[33]	Judith Bishop	Event	Salt Publishing
Grace Leven Prize for Poetry^[34]	Robert Adamson	The Goldfinches of Baghdad	Flood Editions
Mary Gilmore Prize^[35]	Not awarded
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards	John Tranter	Urban Myths: 210 Poems	University of Queensland Press
Queensland Premier's Literary Awards	Laurie Duggan	The Passenger	University of Queensland Press
Victorian Premier's Literary Awards	Judy Johnson	Jack	Pandanus Press
Western Australian Premier's Book Awards	Dennis Haskell	All the Time in the World	Salt Publishing

Drama

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
Patrick White Playwrights' Award (joint winners)	Angus Cerini	Wretch
	Timothy Daly	The Man in the Attic

Non-Fiction

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature	Non-Fiction	Not awarded
The Age Book of the Year	Non-fiction	Peter Cochrane	Colonial Ambition: Foundations of Australian Democracy	Melbourne University Press
Davitt Award	True crime	Karen Kissane	Silent Death: The Killing of Julie Ramage	Hachette Australia
National Biography Award^[36]	Biography	Jacob Rosenberg	East of Time	Brandl & Schlesinger
Prime Minister's Prize for Australian History		Les Carlyon	The Great War	Macmillan
		Peter Cochrane	Colonial Ambition: Foundations of Australian Democracy	Melbourne University Press
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards	Non-fiction	Robert Hughes	Things I Didn't Know: A Memoir	Alfred A. Knopf
New South Wales Premier's History Awards	Australian History	Libby Robin	How a Continent Created a Nation	University of NSW Press
	Community and Regional History	Regina Ganter	Mixed Relations: Asian Aboriginal Contact in North Australia	University of Western Australia Press
	General History	Christopher Clark	Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600–1947	Harvard University Press
	Young People's	John Nicholson	Songlines and Stone Axes	Allen & Unwin
Queensland Premier's Literary Awards	Non-fiction	Tom Griffith	Slicing the Silence: Voyaging to Antarctica	University of NSW Press
	History	Christopher Clark	Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600–1947	Harvard University Press
Victorian Premier's Literary Awards	Non-fiction	Danielle Clode	Voyages to the South Seas: In Search of Terres Australes	Melbourne University Press

Deaths

• 13 February – Elizabeth Jolley, author (born 1923)^[37]
• 22 February – Joyce Lee, poet (born 1913)^[38]
• 2 March – David A. Myers, poet and publisher (born 1942)^[39]
• 23 May – John Croyston, poet (born 1933)^[40]
• 11 July – Glenda Adams, author (born 1939)^[41]
• 11 July – Noel Rowe, poet (born 1951)^[42]
• 1 August – Mona Brand, playwright (born 1915)^[43]
• 24 August – Philip Grundy, translator (born 1932)^[44]
• 16 October – Steve J. Spears, author and playwright (born 1951)^[45]
• 31 October – Eric Rolls, author (born 1923)^[46]
• 24 December – Jan McKemmish, author (born 1950)^[47]

See also

• 2007 in Australia
• 2007 in literature
• 2007 in poetry
• List of years in literature
• List of years in Australian literature
• List of Australian literary awards

References

Note: all references relating to awards can, or should be, found on the relevant award's page.

Notes and References

1. http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=bookmediaawards&template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=128605 The Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature
2. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2007/mar/22/books.booksnews "The Guardian" 22.03.2007
3. http://www.theage.com.au/news/books/clunes-to-do-it-by-the-book/2007/05/10/1178390472924.html Clunes to do it by the book
4. http://www.uq.edu.au/news/?article=12223 New website brings Black Words into focus
5. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/08/07/1998138.htm?site=idx-act Bishop creates Aust literature position
6. http://www.smh.com.au/news/books/bookshop-chain-puts-bite-on-small-publishers/2007/08/07/1186252708854.html Bookshop chain puts bite on small publishers
7. http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/payday-for-travellers-who-forged-an-empire/2007/10/01/1191091031248.html Payday for travellers who forged an empire
8. Web site: Rudd to reward Aussie writers . 22 December 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20071208003109/http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22872279-5001986,00.html . 8 December 2007 . dead .
9. Web site: The Serpent Bride by Sara Douglass . ISFDB. 22 May 2024.
10. Web site: Remote Control by Jack Heath . ISFDB. 22 May 2024.
11. Web site: The Company of the Dead by David Kowalski. ISFDB. 22 May 2024.
12. Web site: The Darkness Within by Jason Nahrung & Mil Clayton. ISFDB. 22 May 2024.
13. Web site: Black Sheep: A Dystopian Novel by Ben Peek. ISFDB. 22 May 2024.
14. Web site: Saturn Returns by Sean Williams. ISFDB. 22 May 2024.
15. Web site: The Narcissist by Stephen Carleton. Austlit. 17 July 2024.
16. Web site: Toy Symphony by Michael Gow. Austlit. 17 July 2024.
17. Web site: Beyond the Neck by Tom Holloway. Austlit. 17 July 2024.
18. Web site: King Tide by Katherine Thomson. Austlit. 17 July 2024.
19. Web site: "PM's Literary Awards-Winners and shortlists-Armour" . Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts. 11 September 2023.
20. Web site: Austlit — Patrick White Award - Past Winners . Austlit. 10 September 2023.
21. Web site: 2007-08-25 . Entitled to tell a story . 26 February 2024 . The Age . en . 26 January 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210126135531/http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/books/entitled-to-tell-a-story-20070825-ge5ntt.html . live .
22. Web site: ALS Gold Medal — Previous Winners . Association for the Study of Australian Literature. 13 January 2024.
23. Web site: Colin Roderick Award — Other Winners . James Cook University. 2 February 2024.
24. Web site: 2009-06-09 . Kibble Literary Award . 9 March 2024 . . en-AU.
25. Web site: Commonwealth Writers' Prize Regional Winners 1987-2007 . Commonwealth Foundation. 18 January 2024.
26. Web site: "Debut novel wins ABC award" . ABC News, 7 March 2007. 2 February 2024.
27. Web site: State Library of South Australia. Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature – Past Literary Award Winners. 18 April 2024.
28. Web site: "Austlit – Australian/Vogel Award 2006-2008" . Austlit. 19 February 2024.
29. Web site: Austlit — Miles Franklin Literary Award (1957-) . Austlit. 21 September 2023.
30. Web site: "CWA Gold Dagger – Past Winners" . The Crime Writers' Association. 22 January 2024.
31. Web site: "LibraryThing: Davitt Awards 2007" . LibraryThing. 22 January 2024.
32. Web site: 2007 Ned Kelly Award Winners . https://web.archive.org/web/20160327181222/http://www.austcrimewriters.com/ned-kelly-award-winners/13 . 2016-03-27 . 12 June 2023 . Australian Crime Writers.
33. http://www.writers.asn.au/uploads/file/pdf/FAWResults2007.PDF 2007 National Literary Awards
34. Web site: Austlit — Grace Leven Poetry Prize 2005-2007 . Austlit. 28 February 2024.
35. Web site: Mary Gilmore Award . . 29 February 2024.
36. Web site: "National Biography Award – Past Winners" . State Library of NSW. 1 August 2024.
37. Web site: Elizabeth Jolley (1923-2007). 2023-09-23 . AustLit: Discover Australian Stories . The University of Queensland.
38. Web site: Austlit — Joyce Lee (1913-2007) . Austlit. 22 May 2024.
39. Web site: Austlit — David A. Myers (1942-2007). Austlit. 22 May 2024.
40. Web site: Austlit — John Croyston (1933-2007). Austlit. 22 May 2024.
41. Web site: Glenda Adams (1939-2007). 2024-02-16 . AustLit: Discover Australian Stories . The University of Queensland.
42. Web site: Austlit — Noel Rowe (1951-2007). Austlit. 22 May 2024.
43. Web site: Mona Brand (1915-2007). 2023-09-14 . AustLit: Discover Australian Stories . The University of Queensland.
44. Web site: Austlit — Philip Grundy (1932-2007). Austlit. 22 May 2024.
45. Web site: Steve J. Spears (1951-2007). 2023-09-23 . AustLit: Discover Australian Stories . The University of Queensland.
46. Web site: Eric Rolls (1923-2007). 2023-09-23 . AustLit: Discover Australian Stories . The University of Queensland.
47. Web site: Austlit — Jan McKemmish (1950-2007). Austlit. 22 May 2024.