2012 in Australian literature

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 2012.

Events

  • Clive James is made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for "services to literature and the media" in the Queen Elizabeth II's New Year Honours List.[1]
  • Five literary figures are named in the Australia Day Honours: Paul Brunton, Stuart Macintyre, Roy Masters, Ros Pesman and Carol Woodrow.[2]
  • Peter Carey is the recipient of the Bodleian Libraries' 2012 Bodley Medal. The medal is awarded by the Bodleian Libraries of the University of Oxford "to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the worlds in which the Bodleian is active: literature, culture, science, and communication".[3]
  • Incoming Premier Campbell Newman cancels the Queensland Premier's Literary Awards.[4]
  • In response, a week later, the new Queensland Literary Awards are announced.[5] The awards use a crowd-funding campaign to raise the prize-money for their initial set of awards.[6]
  • Sophie Cunningham is appointed as the new head of the Australian Literature Board.[7]
  • In the Queen's Birthday Honours, Peter Carey, Barbara Blackman, Rolf Harris, and Liz Jones were appointed Officers of the Order of Australia (AO), Grahame Bond and Peter Steele were appointed Members of the Order of Australia (AM), and Peter Singer was appointed Companion of the Order of Australia (AC).[8]
  • Text Publishing launches its Text Classics line, reprinting Australian literary classics.[9]
  • Melbourne City Council unveils "Literature Lane", a small laneway off Little LaTrobe Street near the State Library of Victoria, in recognition of Melbourne's status as a UNESCO City of Literature.[10]

Major publications

Literary fiction

Children's and Young Adult fiction

Science Fiction and Fantasy

Crime and Mystery

Poetry

Biography

  • John Bailey – Into the Unknown: The Tormented Life and Expeditions of Ludwig Leichhardt
  • Daryl Dellora – Michael Kirby: Law, Love and Life
  • Gideon HaighOn Warne
  • Jenny HockingGough Whitlam: His Time: Volume 2
  • J. C. KannemeyerJ. M. Coetzee: A Life in Writing
  • Malcolm KnoxBradman's War: How the 1948 Invincibles Turned the Cricket Pitch into a Battlefield
  • Mungo MacCallumThe Good, the Bad and the Unlikely: Australia's Prime Ministers
  • David McKnight – Rupert Murdoch: An Investigation of Political Power
  • Brenda NiallTrue North: The Story of Mary and Elizabeth Durack

Drama

Awards and honours

Lifetime achievement

Award Author
Christopher Brennan Award Tim Thorne
Melbourne Prize for Literature Alex Miller
Patrick White Award Amanda Lohrey

Literary

Award Category Author Title Publisher
The Age Book of the Year Fiction Gillian Mears Foal's Bread Allen & Unwin
ALS Gold Medal Gillian Mears Foal's Bread Allen & Unwin

National

Award Category Author Title Publisher
Barbara Jefferis Award Anna Funder All That I Am Penguin Books
Colin Roderick Award Thomas Keneally The Daughters of Mars Random House
Miles Franklin Award Anna Funder All That I Am Penguin Books
Prime Minister's Literary Awards Fiction Gillian Mears Foal's Bread Allen & Unwin
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Fiction Kim Scott That Deadman Dance Picador
Queensland Literary Awards Fiction Frank Moorhouse Cold Light Vintage Australia
Victorian Premier's Literary Award Fiction Gillian Mears Foal's Bread Allen & Unwin
Western Australian Premier's Book Awards Fiction Michelle de Kretser Questions of Travel Allen & Unwin

National

Award Category Author Title Publisher
Children's Book of the Year Award Older Readers Scott Gardner The Dead I Know Allen & Unwin
Younger Readers Kate Constable Crow Country Allen & Unwin
Picture Book Bob Graham A Bus Called Heaven Walker Books
Early Childhood Nick Bland, illus. Freya Blackwood Maudie Bear Scholastic Press
Davitt Award Young Adult Novel Meg McKinley Surface Tension Walker Books
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Children's Kate Constable Crow Country Allen & Unwin
Young People's Penni Russon Only Ever Always Allen & Unwin
Queensland Literary Awards Children's Briony Stewart Kumiko and the Shadow Catchers University of Queensland Press
Young Adult Neil Grant The Ink Bridge Allen & Unwin
Victorian Premier's Literary Award Young Adult Fiction John Larkin The Shadow Girl Random House
Western Australian Premier's Book Awards Children's Stephen Herrick Pookie Aleera Is Not My Boyfriend University of Queensland Press
Peter Macinnis Australian Backyard Naturalist National Library of Australia
Writing for Young Adults Margo Lanagan Sea Hearts Allen and Unwin

National

Award Category Author Title Publisher
Davitt Award Novel Sulari Gentill A Decline in Prophets Pantera Press
Ned Kelly Award Novel J. C. Burke Pig Boy Random House Australia
First novel Peter Twohig The Cartographer Fourth Estate

Science Fiction

Award Category Author Title Publisher
Aurealis Award SF Novel Daniel O'Malley The Rook HarperCollins
SF Short Story Margo Lanagan "Significant Dust" Twelfth Planet Press (Cracklescape)
Fantasy Novel Margo Lanagan Sea Hearts Allen & Unwin
Fantasy Short Story Margo Lanagan "Bajazzle" Twelfth Planet Press (Cracklescape)
Horror Novel Kirstyn McDermott Perfections Xuom
Horror Short Story Kaaron Warren "Sky" Twelfth Planet Press (Through Splintered Walls)
Anthology Jonathan Strahan The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year Volume 6 Night Shade Books
Collection K. J. Bishop That Book Your Mad Ancestor Wrote K. J. Bishop
Australian Shadows Awards Novel Kirstyn McDermott Perfections Xoum
Long Fiction Kaaron Warren "Sky" Through Splintered Walls: A Twelve Planets Collection edited by Alisa Krasnostein
Short Fiction Martin J. Livings "Birthday Suit" Living with the Dead by Martin J. Livings
Edited Publication Craig Bezant, editor Surviving The End Dark Prints Press
Collected Works Kaaron Warren Through Splintered Walls: A Twelve Planets Collection Twelfth Planet Press
Ditmar Award Novel Kim Westwood The Courier's New Bicycle HarperVoyager
Novella/Novelette Paul Haines "The Past is a Bridge Best Left Burnt" The Last Days of Kali Yuga
Short Story Tansy Rayner Roberts "The Patrician" Love and Romanpunk
Collected Work Paul Haines The Last Days of Kali Yuga Brimstone

Non-Fiction

Award Category Author Title Publisher
The Age Book of the Year Non-fiction James Boyce 1835: The Founding of Melbourne & The Conquest of Australia Black Inc.
Children's Book of the Year Award Eve Pownall Award for Information Books Alison Lester and Coral Tulloch One Small Island: The Story of Macquarie Island Penguin Group
Davitt Award True crime Liz Porter Cold Case Files: Past crimes solved by new forensic science Pan Macmillan
National Biography Award Martin Thomas The Many Worlds of R. H. Mathews: In Search of an Australian Anthropologist Allen & Unwin
Prime Minister's Literary Awards Non-fiction Mark McKenna An Eye for Eternity: The Live of Manning Clark Melbourne University Publishing
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Non-fiction Mark McKenna An Eye for Eternity: The Live of Manning Clark Melbourne University Publishing
New South Wales Premier's History Awards Australian History Russell McGregor Indifferent Inclusion: Aboriginal People and the Australian Nation Aboriginal Studies Press
Community and Regional History Deborah Beck Set in Stone: A History of the Cell Block Theatre UNSW Press
General History Tim Bonyhady Good Living Street: The Fortunes of My Viennese Family Allen & Unwin
Young People's Stephanie Owen Reeder Amazing Grace: An Adventure at Sea National Library of Australia
Queensland Literary Awards Non-fiction Robin De Crespigny The People Smuggler Penguin Group
History Bill Gammage The Biggest Estate on Earth: How Aborigines Made Australia Allen & Unwin
Victorian Premier's Literary Award Non-fiction Bill Gammage The Biggest Estate on Earth: How Aborigines Made Australia Allen & Unwin
Western Australian Premier's Book Awards Non-fiction Roger Averill (author) Exile: The Lives and Hopes of Werner Pelz Transit Lounge
Western Australian history edited by Anne Scrimgeour; transcribed and translated by Barbara Hale, Mark Clendon Kurlumarniny: We come from the Desert Aboriginal Studies Press

Poetry

Award Author Title Publisher
The Age Book of the Year Mal McKimmie The Brokenness Sonnets I-III And Other Poems Five Islands Press
Mary Gilmore Prize Fiona Wright Knuckled Giramondo Publishing
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Gig Ryan New and Selected Poems Giramondo Publishing
Queensland Literary Awards Peter Rose Crimson Crop UWA Publishing
Victorian Premier's Literary Award John Kinsella Armour Picador
Western Australian Premier's Book Awards Robert Gray Cumulus John Leonard Press

Drama

Award Category Author Title Publisher
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Play Joanna Murray-Smith The Gift Melbourne Theatre Company
Vanessa Bates Porn.Cake Beckett Theatre, Melbourne
Script Peter Duncan Rake (Episode 1): "R v Murray" ABC Television
Patrick White Playwrights' Award Award Anna Barnes Minus One Sister Griffin Theatre Company
Fellowship Hilary Bell

Deaths

See also

References

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