2011 in Australian literature explained

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 2011.

Events

• Four authors are named in the Queen's Birthday Honours: Peter FitzSimons, Susanne Gervay, Roland Perry, and Chris Wallace-Crabbe^[1]
• Thomas Keneally donates his personal library to the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts^[2]
• Australian libraries and library associations join together to make 2012 the National Year of Reading^[3]
• Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) declares Saturday, 20 August 2011, the inaugural National Bookshop Day^[4]
• Final issue of the "Australian Literary Review" to be published in October 2011^[5]
• Hannie Rayson is the first Australian to be awarded a commission with New York’s Manhattan Theatre Club^[6]
• Friends and family of biographer Hazel Rowley establish funds to commemorate Rowley’s life and her writing legacy via the Hazel Rowley Literary Fund^[7]
• Alison Lester and Boori Monty Pryor are appointed to be Australia’s first Children’s Laureates^[8]
• The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) appoints Robert Adamson to hold the inaugural CAL Chair in Australian Poetry^[9]

Major publications

Literary fiction

• Tony Birch – Blood
• Geraldine Brooks – Caleb's Crossing^[10]
• Annah Faulkner – The Beloved^[11]
• Anna Funder – All That I Am
• Kate Grenville – Sarah Thornhill
• Gail Jones – Five Bells
• Jeanine Leane – Purple Threads
• Gillian Mears – Foal's Bread
• Alex Miller – Autumn Laing
• Frank Moorhouse – Cold Light
• Favel Parrett – Past The Shallows
• Elliot Perlman – The Street Sweeper^[12]
• Craig Sherborne – The Amateur Science of Love^[13]
• Rohan Wilson – The Roving Party
• Charlotte Wood – Animal People^[14]

Children's and Young Adult fiction

• Alexandra Adornetto – Hades
• Em Bailey – Shift
• J. C. Burke – Pig Boy
• Isobelle Carmody – The Sending
• Ursula Dubosarsky – The Golden Day
• Scott Gardner – The Dead I Know
• Steven Herrick – Black Painted Fingernails
• Andrew McGahan – The Coming of the Whirlpool
• Melina Marchetta – Froi of the Exiles
• Vikki Wakefield – All I Ever Wanted
• Scott Westerfeld – Goliath

Science fiction and fantasy

• Max Barry – Machine Man
• Trudi Canavan – The Rogue
• Greg Egan – The Clockwork Rocket
• Will Elliott – Shadow^[15]
• Kim Falconer – Road to the Soul^[16]
• Pamela Freeman – Ember and Ash^[17]
• Richard Harland – Liberator^[18]
• Glenda Larke – Stormlord's Exile^[19]
• Kim Westwood – The Courier's New Bicycle

Crime and mystery

• Alan Carter – Prime Cut^[20]
• Peter Corris – Follow the Money^[21]
• Garry Disher – Whispering Death^[22]
• Kerry Greenwood – Cooking the Books^[23]
• Stuart Littlemore – Harry Curry: Counsel of Choice^[24]
• Barry Maitland – Chelsea Mansions^[25]
• Kel Robertson – Rip Off^[26]
• Michael Robotham – The Wreckage^[27]

Poetry

• Ali Alizadeh – Ashes in the Air
• Joanne Burns – Amphora
• Barry Hill – Lines for Birds: Poems and Paintings
• John Kinsella – Armour
• Geoffrey Lehmann and Robert Gray – Australian Poetry Since 1788 (edited)
• Jaya Savige – Surface to Air

Biography

• Julian Assange – Julian Assange: The Unauthorised Autobiography
• A. J. Brown – Michael Kirby: Paradoxes and Principles
• Eileen Chanin – Book Life: The Life and Times of David Scott Mitchell 1836–1907
• Raimond Gaita – After Romulus
• Mark McKenna – An Eye for Eternity: The Life of Manning Clark
• Susan Mitchell – Tony Abbott: A Man's Man
• Christine Nixon – Fair Cop
• Sue Pieters-Hawke – Hazel: My Mother's Story
• Alice Pung – Her Father's Daughter
• David Robert Walker – Not Dark Yet: A Personal History
• Sarah Watt, William McInnes – Worse Things Happen at Sea

Awards and honours

Lifetime achievement

Award	Author
Christopher Brennan Award^[28]	Jennifer Harrison
Patrick White Award^[29]	Robert Adamson

Literary

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
The Age Book of the Year^[30]	Fiona McGregor	Indelible Ink	Scribe Publishing
ALS Gold Medal^[31]	Kim Scott	That Deadman Dance	Picador
Colin Roderick Award^[32]	Karen Kissane	Worst of Days: Inside the Black Saturday Firestorm	Hachette Australia
Indie Book Awards Book of the Year^[33]	Anh Do	The Happiest Refugee	Allen & Unwin
Nita Kibble Literary Award^[34]	Brenda Walker	Reading by Moonlight	Hamish Hamilton
Victorian Prize for Literature^[35]	Kim Scott	That Deadman Dance	Picador

Fiction

National

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature^[37]	Not awarded
The Age Book of the Year Award^[38]	Fiona McGregor	Indelible Ink	Scribe Publications
The Australian/Vogel Literary Award^[39]	Rohan Wilson	The Roving Party	Allen & Unwin
Barbara Jefferis Award^[40]	G.L. Osborne	Come Inside	Clouds of Magellan
Colin Roderick Award	Gillian Mears	Foal's Bread	Allen and Unwin
Indie Book Awards Book of the Year – Fiction	Chris Womersley	Bereft	Scribe
Indie Book Awards Book of the Year – Debut Fiction	Jon Bauer	Rocks in the Belly	Scribe
Miles Franklin Award^[41]	Kim Scott	That Deadman Dance	Picador
Prime Minister's Literary Awards^[42]	Stephen Daisley	Traitor	Text Publishing
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards^[43]	Alex Miller	Lovesong	Allen & Unwin
Queensland Premier's Literary Awards	Amanda Lohrey	Reading Madame Bovary	Black Inc.
Victorian Premier's Literary Award	Kim Scott	That Deadman Dance	Picador
Western Australian Premier's Book Awards	Anna Funder	All That I Am	Penguin Books

Children and Young Adult

National

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Children's Book of the Year Award	Older Readers	Sonya Hartnett	The Midnight Zoo	Viking Books
	Younger Readers	Isobelle Carmody	The Red Wind	Viking Books
	Picture Book	Jeanie Baker	Mirror	Walker Books
		Nicki Greenberg	Hamlet	Allen & Unwin
	Early Childhood	Jan Ormerod, illus. Freya Blackwood	Maudie Bear	Little Hare Books
Davitt Award	Young Adult Novel	Penny Matthews	A Girl Like Me	Penguin Group
Indie Book Awards Book of the Year	Children's & YA	Jeannie Baker	Mirror	Walker Books
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards	Children's	Sophie Masson	My Australian Story: The Hunt for Ned Kelly	Scholastic Australia
	Young People's	Cath Crowley	Graffiti Moon	Pan Macmillan Australia
Queensland Premier's Literary Awards	Children's	Michael Gerard Bauer	Just a Dog	Omnibus Books
	Young Adult	Barry Jonsberg	Being Here	Allen & Unwin
Victorian Premier's Literary Award	Young Adult Fiction	Cassandra Golds	The Three Loves of Persimmon	Penguin Group
Western Australian Premier's Book Awards	Children's	Michelle Gillespie & Sonia Martinez	Sam, Grace and the Shipwreck	Fremantle Press
	Writing for Young Adults	Penni Russon	Only Ever Always	Allen and Unwin

Crime and Mystery

National

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Davitt Award^[44]	Novel	Katherine Howell	Cold Justice	Pan Macmillan
	Young Adult novel	Penny Matthews	A Girl Like Me	Penguin
	True crime	Colleen Egan	Murderer No More	Allen & Unwin
	Readers' choice	P. M. Newton	The Old School	Viking
Ned Kelly Award^[45]	Novel	Geoffrey McGeachin	The Diggers Rest Hotel	Penguin Books
	First novel	Alan Carter	Prime Cut	Fremantle Press
	True crime	Geesche Jacobsen	Abandoned - The Sad Death of Dianne Brimble	Allen & Unwin
	Lifetime achievement	Not awarded

Science fiction

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Aurealis Award	SF Novel	Kim Westwood	The Courier's New Bicycle	HarperVoyager
	SF Short Story	Robert N. Stephenson	"Rains of la Strange"	Coeur de Lion Publishing (Anywhere but Earth)
	Fantasy Novel	Pamela Freeman	Ember and Ash	Hachette
	Fantasy Short Story	Thoraiya Dyer	"Fruit of the Pipal Tree"	FableCroft Publishing (After the Rain)
	Horror Short Story	Paul Haines	"The Past is a Bridge Best Left Burnt"	Brimstone Press (The Last Days of Kali Yuga)
		Lisa L. Hannett	"The Short Go: a Future in Eight Seconds"	Ticonderoga Publications (Bluegrass Symphony)
Australian Shadows Awards	Novel	No Award
	Long Fiction	Paul Haines	"The Past is a Bridge Best Left Burnt"	Brimstone Press (The Last Days of Kali Yuga)
	Short Fiction	Amanda J. Spedding	"Shovel Man Joe"	Shades of Sentience, May 2011
	Edited Publication	Russell B. Farr, editor	Dead Red Heart	Ticonderoga Publications
	Collected Works	Brett McBean	Tales of Sin and Madness	LegumeMan Books
Ditmar Award	Novel	Tansy Rayner Roberts	Power and Majesty	HarperVoyager
	Novella/Novelette	Thoraiya Dyer	"The Company Articles of Edward Teach"	Twelfth Planet Press
	Short Story	Cat Sparks	"All the Love in the World"	Twelfth Planet Press (Sprawl)
		Kirstyn McDermott	"She Said"	Morrigan Books (Scenes From the Second Storey)
	Collected Work	Alisa Krasnostein ed.	Sprawl	Twelfth Planet Press

Poetry

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature	Not awarded
The Age Book of the Year	John Tranter	Starlight: 150 Poems	University of Queensland Press
Anne Elder Award^[46]	Rosanna Licari	The Weather of Tongues	Sunline
Grace Leven Prize for Poetry^[47]	Not awarded
Mary Gilmore Prize^[48]	Not awarded
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards	Jennifer Maiden	Pirate Rain	Giramondo Publishing
Queensland Premier's Literary Awards	John Tranter	Starlight: 150 Poems	University of Queensland Press
Victorian Premier's Literary Award	Cate Kennedy	The Taste of River Water	Scribe
Western Australian Premier's Book Awards	Tracy Ryan	The Argument	Fremantle Press

Drama

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards	Play	Patricia Cornelius	Do Not Go Gentle	Currency Press
	Script	Debra Oswald	Offspring	Southern Star Entertainment
Patrick White Playwrights' Award	Award	Phillip Kavanagh	Little Borders
	Fellowship	Patricia Cornelius

Non-Fiction

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature	Non-Fiction	Not awarded
The Age Book of the Year	Non-fiction	Jim Davidson	A Three-Cornered Life	UNSW Press
Children's Book of the Year Award	Eve Pownall Award for Information Books		The Return of the Word Spy	Viking Books
Davitt Award	True crime	Colleen Egan	Murderer No More	Allen & Unwin
National Biography Award^[49]	Biography	Alasdair McGregor	Grand Obsessions: The Life and Work of Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin	Lantern
Indie Book Awards Book of the Year	Non-Fiction	Anh Do	The Happiest Refugee	Allen & Unwin
Prime Minister's Literary Awards	Non-fiction	Rod Moss	The Hard Light of Day	University of Queensland Press
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards	Non-fiction	Malcolm Fraser and Margaret Simons	Malcolm Fraser: The Political Memoirs	Melbourne University Publishing
New South Wales Premier's History Awards	Australian History	Penny Russell	Savage or Civilised?: Manners in Colonial Australia	UNSW Press
	Community and Regional History	Stephen Gapps	Cabrogal to Fairfield City: A History of a Multicultural Community	Fairfield City Council
	General History	Shane White, Stephen Garton, Stephen Robertson and Graham White	Playing the Numbers: Gambling in Harlem Between the Wars	Harvard University Press
	Young People's	Kirsty Murray	India Dark	Allen & Unwin
Queensland Premier's Literary Awards	Non-fiction	Mark McKenna	An Eye for Eternity: The Life of Manning Clark	Melbourne University Publishing
	History	Alan Powell	Northern Voyagers: Australia's monsoon coast in maritime history	Australian Scholarly Publishing
Victorian Premier's Literary Award	Non-fiction	Mark McKenna	An Eye for Eternity: The Life of Manning Clark	Melbourne University Publishing
Western Australian Premier's Book Awards	Non-fiction	Alice Pung	Her Father's Daughter	Black Inc.
	Western Australian history	Fiona Skyring	Justice: A History of the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia	University of Western Australia Press

Deaths

• 1 March – Hazel Rowley, author (born 1951)^[50]
• 15 June – Anne Godfrey-Smith, poet and theatre producer/director (born 1921)^[51]
• 20 June – T. A. G. Hungerford, author (born 1915)^[52]
• 2 September – Bernard Smith, art historian (born 1916)
• 27 September – Sara Douglass, author (born 1957)^[53]
• 4 October – Di Gribble, editor and publisher (born 1942)
• 8 December – Zelman Cowen, jurist (born 1919)

Unknown date

• May – Robert J. Merritt, playwright (born 1945)

See also

• 2011 in Australia
• 2011 in literature
• 2011 in poetry
• List of years in Australian literature
• List of years in literature
• List of Australian literary awards

Notes and References

1. http://www.austlit.edu.au/news/2011/06/16/australian_writers_named_in_queens_birthday_honours.html Australian Writers Named in Queen's Birthday Honours
2. http://www.austlit.edu.au/news/2011/07/26/keneallys_library_finds_new_home.html Keneally's Library Finds New Home
3. http://www.austlit.edu.au/news/2011/08/04/national_year_of_reading_in_2012.html National Year of Reading in 2012
4. http://www.austlit.edu.au/news/2011/08/18/national_bookshop_day.html National Bookshop Day
5. http://www.austlit.edu.au/news/2011/09/16/australian_literary_review_to_cease_publication.html Australian Literary Review to Cease Publication
6. http://www.austlit.edu.au/news/2011/09/22/hannie_rayson_wins_new_york_commission.html Hannie Rayson Wins New York Commission
7. http://www.austlit.edu.au/news/2011/09/26/hazel_rowleys_literary_legacy.html Hazel Rowley's Literary Legacy
8. http://www.austlit.edu.au/news/2011/12/12/australias_first_childrens_laureates_announced.html Australia's First Children's Laureates Announced
9. http://www.austlit.edu.au/news/2011/12/13/uts_appoints_inaugural_cal_chair_in_australian_poetry.html UTS Appoints Inaugural CAL Chair in Australian Poetry
10. Web site: Austlit — Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks . Austlit. 29 January 2024.
11. Web site: Austlit — The Beloved by Annah Faulkner . Austlit. 29 January 2024.
12. Web site: Austlit — The Street Sweeper by Elliot Perlman . Austlit. 29 January 2024.
13. Web site: Austlit — The Amateur Science of Love by Craig Sherborne . Austlit. 29 January 2024.
14. Web site: Austlit — Animal People by Charlotte Wood . Austlit. 29 January 2024.
15. Web site: Shadow by Will Elliott . ISFDB. 15 May 2024.
16. Web site: Road to the Soul by Kim Falconer . ISFDB. 15 May 2024.
17. Web site: Ember and Ash by Pamela Freeman . ISFDB. 15 May 2024.
18. Web site: Liberator by Richard Harland . ISFDB. 15 May 2024.
19. Web site: Stormlord's Exile by Glenda Larke . ISFDB. 15 May 2024.
20. Web site: Prime Cut by Alan Carter. National Library of Australia. 15 May 2024.
21. Web site: Follow the Money by Peter Corris. National Library of Australia. 15 May 2024.
22. Web site: Whispering Death by Garry Disher. National Library of Australia. 15 May 2024.
23. Web site: Cooking the Books by Kerry Greenwood. National Library of Australia. 15 May 2024.
24. Web site: Harry Curry: Counsel of Choice by Stuart Littlemore . National Library of Australia. 15 May 2024.
25. Web site: Chelsea Mansions by Barry Maitland. National Library of Australia. 15 May 2024.
26. Web site: Rip Off by Kel Robertson. National Library of Australia. 15 May 2024.
27. Web site: The Wreckage by Michael Robotham. National Library of Australia. 15 May 2024.
28. Web site: Austlit — FAW Christopher Brennan Award . Austlit. 10 September 2023.
29. Web site: Former inmate wins $18,000 poetry prize . canberratimes.com.au . 7 November 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111107071348/http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/former-inmate-wins-18000-poetry-prize/2347900.aspx . 7 November 2011 . dead . 10 September 2023.
30. Web site: Steger . Jason . 2011-08-26 . Winning words . 26 February 2024 . The Age . en . 16 December 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181216073722/https://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/books/winning-words-20110826-1jdzd.html . live .
31. Web site: ALS Gold Medal — Previous Winners . Association for the Study of Australian Literature. 13 January 2024.
32. Web site: Colin Roderick Award — Other Winners . James Cook University. 2 February 2024.
33. Web site: "Indie Book Awards - Winners 2012 & prior" . Australian Independent Booksellers. 24 May 2024.
34. Web site: 2009-06-09 . Kibble Literary Award . 9 March 2024 . . en-AU.
35. Web site: Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2011 . 3 February 2024. The Wheeler Centre.
36. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20110903204728/http://www.commonwealthfoundation.com/Howwedeliver/Prizes/CommonwealthWritersPrize/2011prize . September 3, 2011 . 2011 prize: final programme . Commonwealth Foundation . 21 May 2011.
37. Web site: State Library of South Australia. Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature – Past Literary Award Winners. 18 April 2024.
38. Web site: "The Age Book of the Year - Fiction Prize (2008-2012)" . Austlit. 15 February 2024.
39. Web site: "Austlit – Australian/Vogel Award 2009-2012" . Austlit. 19 February 2024.
40. Web site: "Barbara Jefferis Award" . Australian Society of Authors. 20 January 2024.
41. News: 2011-06-22 . Kim Scott wins prestigious Miles Franklin . en-AU . ABC News . 2022-08-09.
42. Web site: "Prime Minister's Literary Awards - Shortlist and winners: 2021-2008" . Creative Australia. 11 January 2024.
43. Web site: "Fraser the Cold War warrior joins the literati" . The Age, 17 May 2011. 30 December 2023.
44. Web site: "LibraryThing: Davitt Awards 2011" . LibraryThing. 14 January 2024.
45. Web site: "Ned Kelly Awards 2011" . Mystery Readers Inc. 24 January 2024.
46. Web site: Austlit — Anne Elder Award (2011-2013) . Austlit. 28 February 2024.
47. Web site: Austlit — Grace Leven Poetry prize (2008-2012) . Austlit. 28 February 2024.
48. Web site: Mary Gilmore Award . . 29 February 2024.
49. Web site: "National Biography Award – Past Winners" . State Library of NSW. 1 August 2024.
50. Web site: Hazel Rowley . 2023-09-23 . AustLit: Discover Australian Stories . The University of Queensland.
51. Web site: Anne Godfrey-Smith . 2023-09-23 . AustLit: Discover Australian Stories . The University of Queensland.
52. Web site: T. A. G. Hungerford . 2023-09-14 . AustLit: Discover Australian Stories . The University of Queensland.
53. Web site: Sara Douglass . 2024-02-21 . AustLit: Discover Australian Stories . The University of Queensland.