2023 in Australian literature

This is a list of historical events and publications of Australian literature during 2023.

Events

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  • July: Publisher Hachette Australia withdraws from publication the book titled Special Operations Group by Christophe Glasl after Victoria Police expressed concerns about the accuracy of the book[1]
  • December: Yumna Kassab is announced as inaugural Parramatta Laureate of Literature for 2024[2]

Major publications

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Literary fiction

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Children's and Young Adult fiction

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Short story collections

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Crime and mystery

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Science fiction and fantasy

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Poetry

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Non-Fiction

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Drama

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Awards and honours

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Note: these awards were presented in the year in question.

Lifetime achievement

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Award Author
Patrick White Award[65] Alex Skovron

Literary

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Award Author Title Publisher
ALS Gold Medal[66] Debra Dank We Come With This Place Echo Publishing
Colin Roderick Award[67] Sarah Holland-Batt The Jaguar University of Queensland Press
Indie Book Awards Book of the Year[68] Craig Silvey Runt Allen & Unwin
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards[69] Debra Dank We Come With This Place Echo Publishing
Stella Prize[70] Sarah Holland-Batt The Jaguar University of Queensland Press
Victorian Premier's Literary Awards[71] Jessica Au Cold Enough for Snow Giramondo Publishing

Fiction

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Award Author Title Publisher
Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature[72] Not awarded
The Age Book of the Year[73] Robbie Arnott Limberlost Text Publishing
ARA Historical Novel Prize[74] Gail Jones Salonika Burning Text Publishing
The Australian/Vogel Literary Award[75] Anna McGahan Immaculate Allen & Unwin
Barbara Jefferis Award[76] Not awarded
Indie Book Awards Book of the Year – Fiction[68] Geraldine Brooks Horse Viking Books
Indie Book Awards Book of the Year – Debut Fiction[68] Tracey Lien All That's Left Unsaid HQ Fiction
Miles Franklin Award[77] Shankari Chandran Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens Ultimo Press
Prime Minister's Literary Awards[78] Jessica Au Cold Enough for Snow Giramondo
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards[79] Katerina GIbson Women I Know Scribner
Queensland Literary Awards[80] Alexis Wright Praiseworthy Giramondo
Victorian Premier's Literary Awards[71] Jessica Au Cold Enough for Snow Giramondo

Children and Young Adult

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Award Category Author Title Publisher
ARA Historical Novel Prize[74] Children and Young Adult Amelia Mellor The Bookseller’s Apprentice Affirm Press
Children's Book of the Year Award[81] Older Readers Tom Taylor Neverlanders Penguin Random House
Younger Readers Craig Silvey Runt Allen & Unwin
Picture Book Zeno Sworder My Strange Shrinking Parents Thames & Hudson
Early Childhood Vikki Conley, illus. Max Hamilton Where the Lyrebird Lives Windy Hollow
Eve Pownall Award for Information Books Jess McGeachin DEEP: Delve into hidden words Welbeck Publishing
Indie Book Awards Book of the Year[68] Children's Craig Silvey Runt Allen & Unwin
Young Adult Holden Shepherd The Brink Text Publishing
Prime Minister's Literary Awards[78] Children's Jasmine Seymour Open Your Heart to Country Magabala Books
Young Adult Sarah Winifred Searle The Greatest Thing Allen & Unwin
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards[79] Children's Corey Tutt and Blak Douglas The First Scientists Hardie Grant
Young People's Lystra Rose The Upwelling Hachette
Queensland Literary Awards[80] Children's Katrina Nannestad Waiting for the Storks ABC Books
Young Adult Biffy James Completely Normal (and Other Lies) Hardie Grant
Victorian Premier's Literary Awards[71] Young Adult Fiction Kate Murray We Who Hunt the Hollow Hardie Grant

Crime and Mystery

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National

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Award Category Author Title Publisher
Davitt Award[82] Novel Tracey Lien All That’s Left Unsaid HQ Fiction
Young adult novel Fleur Ferris Seven Days Puffin
Children's novel Charlie Archbold The Sugarcane Kids and the Red-Bottomed Boat Text Publishing
Non-fiction Megan Norris Out of the Ashes Simon and Schuster Australia
Debut Hayley Scrivenor Dirt Town Pan Macmillan
Readers' choice Vikki Petraitis The Unbelieved Allen & Unwin
Ned Kelly Award[83] Novel Jane Harper Exiles Pan Macmillan
First novel Shelley Burr Wake Hachette Australia
True crime Sandi Logan Betrayed Hachette Australia

Poetry

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Award Author Title Publisher
Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature[72] Not awarded
Anne Elder Award[84](joint winners) Harry Reid Leave Me Alone Cordite
Theodore Ell Beginning In Sight RWP
Mary Gilmore Award[85] Harry Reid Leave Me Alone Cordite
Prime Minister's Literary Awards[78] Gavin Yuan Gao At the Altar of Touch UQP
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards[79] Kim Cheng Boey The Singer and Other Poems Cordite
Judith Wright Calanthe Award for a Poetry Collection[80] Lionel Fogarty Harvest Lingo Giramondo
Victorian Premier's Literary Awards Gavin Yuan Gao At the Altar of Touch UQP

Drama

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Award Category Author Title Publisher
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards[79] Script Del Kathryn Barton and Huna Amweero Blaze Causeway Films
Play Dylan Van Den Berg Whitefella Yella Tree Griffin Theatre Company & Currency Press
Victorian Premier's Literary Awards[71] John Harvey The Return Malthouse Theatre

Non-Fiction

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Award Category Author Title Publisher
Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature[72] Non-Fiction Not awarded
The Age Book of the Year[73] Non-Fiction Kim Mahood Wandering With Intent Scribe
Indie Book Awards Book of the Year[68] Non-Fiction Richard Fidler The Book of Roads And Kingdoms ABC Books
Illustrated Non-Fiction Damien Coulthard and Rebecca Sullivan First Nations Food Companion Murdoch Books
National Biography Award[86] Biography Ann-Marie Priest My Tongue Is My Own: A Life of Gwen Harwood La Trobe University Press / Black Inc.
Prime Minister's Literary Awards[78] Non-Fiction Sam Vincent My Father and Other Animals Black Inc.
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards[79] Non-Fiction Debra Dank We Come With This Place Echo Publishing
New South Wales Premier's History Awards[87] Australian History Alan Atkinson Elizabeth and John: The Macarthurs of Elizabeth Farm NewSouth
Community and Regional History Ian Hodges He Belonged to Wagga: The Great War, the AIF and returned soldiers in an Australian country town ASP
General History Michael Laffan Under Empire: Muslim lives and loyalties across the Indian Ocean world, 1775–1945 Columbia University
Queensland Literary Awards[80] Non-Fiction Debra Dank We Come with This Place Echo Publishing
Victorian Premier's Literary Awards[71] Non-Fiction Eda Gunaydin Root & Branch: Essays on inheritance NewSouth

Deaths

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Steger, Jason (10 July 2023). "Publisher pulls former cop's memoir after police raise doubts over accuracy". The Age. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  2. ^ Badger, Rosemary (9 December 2023). "Football, ice-cream and the best cafes for writing in to feature in author Yumna Kassab's 'dictionary of Parramatta'". ABC News. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
  3. ^ "Only Sound Remains by Hossein Asgari". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  4. ^ "Women & Children by Tony Birch". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  5. ^ "Wall by Jen Craig". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  6. ^ Curtis, Lauren Aimee (2023), Strangers at the port, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, ISBN 978-1-399-60817-6
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  8. ^ "Anam by André Dao". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
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  10. ^ Eckermann, Ali Cobby. "She is the earth : a verse novel". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
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  13. ^ "Homecoming by Kate Morton". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  14. ^ "The Sitter by Angela O'Keeffe". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
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  23. ^ Wolfer, Dianne. "Scout and the rescue dogs". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
  24. ^ "Gunflower by Laura Jean McKay". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  25. ^ "Creative Differences: And Other Stories by Graeme Simsion". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  26. ^ "Killer Traitor Spy by Tim Ayliffe". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  27. ^ "Dark Mode by Ashley Kalagian Blunt". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  28. ^ "Ripper by Shelley Burr". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  29. ^ "Fire With Fire by Candice Fox". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  30. ^ "Dark Corners by Megan Goldin". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  31. ^ "Austlit — The Seven by Chris Hammer". Austlit. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  32. ^ "The Tea Ladies by Amanda Hampson". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  33. ^ "Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  34. ^ "Dead Tide by Fiona McIntosh". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  35. ^ "Everyone on This Train is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  36. ^ "Ordinary Gods and Monsters by Chris Womersley". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  37. ^ "Scale by Greg Egan". ISFDB. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  38. ^ "Like to the Lark by Stuart Barnes". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  39. ^ "Secret Third Thing by Dan Hogan". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  40. ^ "Harsh Hakea by John Kinsella". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  41. ^ "The Book of Falling by David McCooey". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
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  43. ^ "The Tour by Pi O". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  44. ^ "Riverbed Sky Songs by Tais Rose Wae". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  45. ^ "Chinese Fish by Grace Yee". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  46. ^ "Consent Laid Bare by Chanel Contos". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  47. ^ "Austlit — Unfinished Woman by Robyn Davidson". Austlit. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  48. ^ "Reckless by Marele Day". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  49. ^ "The Empty Honour Board by Martin Flanagan". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  50. ^ "I Don't by Clementine Ford". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  51. ^ "Wifedom: Mrs Orwell's Invisible Life by Anna Funder". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  52. ^ "My Life as a Jew by Michael Gawenda". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  53. ^ "The Queen is Dead by Stan Grant". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  54. ^ "Aphrodite's Breath by Susan Johnson". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  55. ^ Kenneally, Christine. "Ghosts of the orphanage : a story of murder, a conspiracy of silence and a search for justice". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
  56. ^ "On Peter Carey by Sarah Krasnostein". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  57. ^ "Killing for Country by David Marr". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  58. ^ "Life So Full of Promise by Ross McMullin". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
  59. ^ "Big Mouth by Matt Preston". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  60. ^ "Courting by Alecia Simmonds". Good Reading. November 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  61. ^ "Tanya Plibersek: On Her Own Terms by Margaret Simons". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  62. ^ "Political Lives by Christine Wallace". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  63. ^ Brown, Nicholas (2023), Sex magick, Currency Press, ISBN 978-1-76062-815-4
  64. ^ "Julia". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 19 October 2024.
  65. ^ "Skovron wins 2023 Patrick White Award". Books+Publishing. 23 October 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  66. ^ "ALS Gold Medal — Previous Winners". Association for the Study of Australian Literature. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  67. ^ "Colin Roderick Award 2023 Long and Short Lists". www.jcu.edu.au. 6 October 2023. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
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  69. ^ Dow, Steve (22 May 2023). "'Significantly shocking': debut author Debra Dank breaks records at NSW premier's literary awards". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
  70. ^ "Holland-Batt wins 2023 Stella Prize for 'The Jaguar'". Books+Publishing. 28 April 2023. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
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  76. ^ ""Barbara Jefferis Award"". Australian Society of Authors. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
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  82. ^ "Davitt Awards 2023 winners announced". Books+Publishing. 4 September 2023. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  83. ^ "Ned Kelly Awards 2022 winners announced". Books+Publishing. 29 August 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  84. ^ "Reid, Ell win 2022 Anne Elder Award". Books+Publishing. 11 May 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
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  88. ^ "Vale Gabrielle Williams". Books+Publishing. 25 January 2023. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  89. ^ "Portia ROBINSON AM PhD Death Notice - Sydney, New South Wales | Sydney Morning Herald". tributes.smh.com.au.
  90. ^ "Lee Harding". Austlit. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  91. ^ "John Tranter Death Notice - Sydney, New South Wales". tributes.smh.com.au. Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
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  93. ^ "Probate Notice: Gabrielle Carey". NSW Probate Index. 4 May 2023 – via Ryerson Index.
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  95. ^ Roberts, Mark (4 July 2023). "Vale Ron Pretty". Rochford Street Review. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  96. ^ "Elizabeth Webby". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  97. ^ Adelaide former talkback host and poet Nan Witcomb dies aged 95 (subscription required)
  98. ^ "SPENDER, Dale – Death Notices". My Tributes – The Courier-Mail. 25 November 2023. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
  99. ^ "Director Michael Blakemore Dies at 95". Playbill. 13 December 2023.
  100. ^ "Vale Shirley Barber". Books+Publishing. 13 December 2023. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
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