1977 in Australian literature

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1977.

Events[edit]

Ruth Park won the 1977 Miles Franklin Award for Swords and Crowns and Rings

Major publications[edit]

Books[edit]

Jon Cleary – High Road to China
Helen Garner – Monkey Grip
Thomas Keneally – A Victim of the Aurora
Colleen McCullough – The Thorn Birds
Ruth Park – Swords and Crowns and Rings

Short stories[edit]

Frank Moorhouse – Tales of Mystery and Romance

Science fiction and fantasy[edit]

A. Bertram Chandler
- The Far Traveller^[1]
- Star Courier^[2]
Lee Harding — The Weeping Sky^[3]
David Lake
- The Right Hand of Dextra^[4]
- The Wildings of Westron^[5]
Cherry Wilder — The Luck of Brin's Five^[6]

Children's and young adult fiction[edit]

Joan Phipson – Fly into Danger
Eleanor Spence – A Candle for St. Antony
Patricia Wrightson – The Ice Is Coming

Poetry[edit]

Robert Adamson – Cross The Border
Nancy Keesing – Hails and Farewells
Jennifer Maiden – Mortal Details
Les Murray – Ethnic Radio
John Tranter – Crying in Early Infancy: 100 Sonnets

Drama[edit]

Dorothy Hewett – The Golden Oldies
Peter Kenna
- Mates
- Trespassers Will Be Prosecuted
Louis Nowra – Inner Voices
Patrick White – Big Toys
David Williamson – The Club

Non-fiction[edit]

Blanche d'Alpuget – Mediator: A biography of Sir Richard Kirby
Zelda D'Aprano – Zelda: The becoming of a woman
Fred Daly – From Curtin to Kerr
John Edwards – Life Wasn't Meant to Be Easy: A political profile of Malcolm Fraser
Paul Hasluck – Mucking About: An Autobiography

Awards and honours[edit]

Order of Australia[edit]

Eleanor Dark appointed Officer of the Order of Australia (AO)^[7]
Colin Thiele appointed Companion of the Order of Australia (AC)^[8]

Lifetime achievement[edit]

Award	Author
Christopher Brennan Award^[9]	Gwen Harwood
Patrick White Award^[10]	Sumner Locke Elliott

Literary[edit]

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
The Age Book of the Year Award^[11]	No award
ALS Gold Medal^[12]	No award
Colin Roderick Award^[13]	Alan Marshall	The Complete Stories of Alan Marshall	Thomas Nelson

Fiction[edit]

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
The Age Book of the Year Award^[11]	No award
Miles Franklin Award^[14]	Ruth Park	Swords and Crowns and Rings	Nelson Books

Children and Young Adult[edit]

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Children's Book of the Year Award	Older Readers^[15]	Eleanor Spence	The October Child	Oxford University Press
Children's Book of the Year Award	Picture Book	No award

Poetry[edit]

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
Anne Elder Award^[16]	Laurie Duggan	East: Poems 1970-74	R. Kenny
Anne Elder Award^[16]	Graeme Curtis	At Last No Reply	Makar Press
Grace Leven Prize for Poetry^[17]	Robert Adamson	Selected Poems	Angus & Robertson

Non-fiction[edit]

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
The Age Book of the Year Award^[11]	No award

Births[edit]

A list, ordered by date of birth (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of births in 1977 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of death.

7 August — Patrick Holland, novelist and short story writer^[18]

Unknown date

Jennifer Mills — novelist, short story writer and poet^[19]

Deaths[edit]

A list, ordered by date of death (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of deaths in 1977 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of birth.

10 July – Alec Chisholm, journalist, ornithologist and encyclopaedist (born 1890)^[20]
22 August – Leon Gellert, poet (born 1892)^[21]
2 September – Pat Flower, playwright, television scriptwriter and crime novelist (born 1914)^[22]
12 September – Les Haylen, politician, playwright, novelist and journalist (born 1898)^[23]

References[edit]

^ "The Far Traveller by A. Bertram Chandler". ISFDB. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
^ "Star Courier by A. Bertram Chandler". ISFDB. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
^ "The Weeping Sky by Lee Harding". ISFDB. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
^ "The Right Hand of Dextra by David Lake". ISFDB. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
^ "The Wildings of Westron by David Lake". ISFDB. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
^ "The Luck of Brin's Five by Cherry Wilder". ISFDB. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
^ "Full list for Order of Australia". Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995). 26 January 1977. p. 12. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
^ "Colin Milton Thiele". honours.pmc.gov.au. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
^ "Harwood, Gwendoline Nessie (Gwen) (1920–1995) by Alison Hoddinott". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
^ "Austlit — Patrick White Award - Past Winners". Austlit. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Austlit — The Age Book of the Year Award". Austlit. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
^ "ALS Gold Medal — Previous Winners". Association for the Study of Australian Literature. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
^ "Other Winners". www.jcu.edu.au. 15 November 2017. Archived from the original on 20 April 2019. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
^ Eccleshare, Julia (7 January 2011). "Ruth Park obituary". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
^ Spence, Eleanor; Green, Malcolm (1977). The October child. Melbourne: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195505474.
^ "Austlit — Anne Elder Award 1977-78". Austlit. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
^ "Adamson, Robert - Poet - Australian Poetry Library". www.poetrylibrary.edu.au. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
^ "Patrick Holland". Austlit. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
^ "Jennifer Mills". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
^ "Chisholm, Alexander Hugh (Alec) (1890-1977)". Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
^ "Gellert, Leon Maxwell (1892–1977) by Gavin Souter". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
^ "Flower, Patricia Mary (Pat) (1914–1977) by Susan Lever". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
^ "Haylen, Leslie Clement (Les) (1898–1977) by R. E. Northey". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 3 July 2023.

[1] "The Far Traveller by A. Bertram Chandler". ISFDB. Retrieved 19 March 2024.

[2] "Star Courier by A. Bertram Chandler". ISFDB. Retrieved 19 March 2024.

[3] "The Weeping Sky by Lee Harding". ISFDB. Retrieved 19 March 2024.

[4] "The Right Hand of Dextra by David Lake". ISFDB. Retrieved 19 March 2024.

[5] "The Wildings of Westron by David Lake". ISFDB. Retrieved 19 March 2024.

[6] "The Luck of Brin's Five by Cherry Wilder". ISFDB. Retrieved 19 March 2024.

[7] "Full list for Order of Australia". Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995). 26 January 1977. p. 12. Retrieved 24 July 2018.

[8] "Colin Milton Thiele". honours.pmc.gov.au. Retrieved 20 April 2019.

[CB1977-9] "Harwood, Gwendoline Nessie (Gwen) (1920–1995) by Alison Hoddinott". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 13 September 2023.

[AustlitPWA-10] "Austlit — Patrick White Award - Past Winners". Austlit. Retrieved 22 August 2023.

[Age77-11] "Austlit — The Age Book of the Year Award". Austlit. Retrieved 4 September 2023.

[ALS-12] "ALS Gold Medal — Previous Winners". Association for the Study of Australian Literature. Retrieved 22 August 2023.

[13] "Other Winners". www.jcu.edu.au. 15 November 2017. Archived from the original on 20 April 2019. Retrieved 20 April 2019.

[14] Eccleshare, Julia (7 January 2011). "Ruth Park obituary". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 20 April 2019.

[15] Spence, Eleanor; Green, Malcolm (1977). The October child. Melbourne: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195505474.

[16] "Austlit — Anne Elder Award 1977-78". Austlit. Retrieved 8 February 2024.

[17] "Adamson, Robert - Poet - Australian Poetry Library". www.poetrylibrary.edu.au. Retrieved 20 April 2019.

[Austlit-18] "Patrick Holland". Austlit. Retrieved 3 July 2023.

[19] "Jennifer Mills". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 29 June 2023.

[20] "Chisholm, Alexander Hugh (Alec) (1890-1977)". Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation. Retrieved 29 June 2023.

[21] "Gellert, Leon Maxwell (1892–1977) by Gavin Souter". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 3 July 2023.

[22] "Flower, Patricia Mary (Pat) (1914–1977) by Susan Lever". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 3 July 2023.

[23] "Haylen, Leslie Clement (Les) (1898–1977) by R. E. Northey". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 3 July 2023.

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v t e Years in Australian literature (1855–present)
19th century	1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900
20th century	1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
21st century	2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

Events[edit]

Major publications[edit]

Books[edit]

Short stories[edit]

Science fiction and fantasy[edit]

Children's and young adult fiction[edit]

Poetry[edit]

Drama[edit]

Non-fiction[edit]

Awards and honours[edit]

Order of Australia[edit]

Lifetime achievement[edit]

Literary[edit]

Fiction[edit]

Children and Young Adult[edit]

Poetry[edit]

Non-fiction[edit]

Births[edit]

Deaths[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]