This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 2013.

Events

* James Ley launches the ''

Sydney Review of Books The ''Sydney Review of Books'' (''SRB'') is an online literary magazine established in 2013. According to the journal's inaugural editor James Ley it was created to address shortcomings in Australian book reviews. Awards In 2019 ''SRB'' co ...

'' to provide "an opportunity for Australia's critics to rediscover the art of literary criticism". * The longlist for the inaugural

Stella Prize The Stella Prize is an Australian annual literary award established in 2013 for writing by Australian women in all genres, worth $50,000. It was originally proposed by Australian women writers and publishers in 2011, modelled on the UK's Bailey ...

is announced. * The shortlist of the

Miles Franklin Award The Miles Franklin Literary Award is an annual literary prize awarded to "a novel which is of the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases". The award was set up according to the Will (law), will of Miles Franklin ...

contains only female writers for the first time. * Nicole Bourke, writing under the pseudonym "N. A. Sulway", becomes the first Australian writer to win the

James Tiptree, Jr. Award The Otherwise Award, originally known as the James Tiptree Jr. Award, is an American annual literary prize for works of science fiction or fantasy that expand or explore one's understanding of gender. It was initiated in February 1991 by science ...

for her novel '' Rupetta''. * Aora Children's Literature Research Centre in Sydney closes after 12 years of operation. * The

Commonwealth Book Prize Commonwealth Foundation has presented a number of prizes since 1987. The main award was called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was composed of two prizes: the Best Book Prize (overall and regional) was awarded from 1987 to 2011; the Best First ...

was discontinuted after 2013.

Major publications

Literary fiction

Debra Adelaide Debra Adelaide (born 1958) is an Australian novelist, writer and academic. She teaches creative writing at the University of Technology Sydney. Biography Adelaide was born in Sydney and grew up in the Sutherland Shire. A contemporary of write ...

– ''Letter to George Clooney'' * Steven Carroll – '' A World of Other People'' *

J. M. Coetzee John Maxwell Coetzee Order of Australia, AC Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, FRSL Order of Mapungubwe, OMG (born 9 February 1940) is a South African and Australian novelist, essayist, linguist, and translator. The recipient of the 2003 ...

– ''

The Childhood of Jesus ''The Childhood of Jesus'' is a 2013 novel by South African-born Australian Nobel laureate J. M. Coetzee. Synopsis The book follows a man and a boy who immigrate to a new land. Once there, they receive new names and rough estimates of their a ...

'' *

Richard Flanagan Richard Miller Flanagan (born 1961) is an Australian writer, who won the 2014 Man Booker Prize for his novel ''The Narrow Road to the Deep North (novel), The Narrow Road to the Deep North'' and the 2024 Baillie Gifford Prize for ''Question 7'', ...

– ''

The Narrow Road to the Deep North (The) Narrow Road to the Deep North may refer to: *''Narrow Road to the Deep North'', a 1968 satirical play on the British Empire by the English playwright Edward Bond * ''The Narrow Road to the Deep North'' (novel), a 2013 novel by Australian writ ...

'' * Andrea Goldsmith – ''The Memory Trap'' *

Ashley Hay Ashley Hay (born 1971) is an Australian writer. She has won awards for both her nonfiction science writing and her novels. she is editor of the ''Griffith Review''. Career Hay is the author of three novels, including ''The Railwayman's Wife ...

– ''The Railwayman's Wife'' *

Tom Keneally Thomas Michael Keneally, AO (born 7 October 1935) is an Australian novelist, playwright, essayist, and actor. He is best known for his historical fiction novel '' Schindler's Ark'', the story of Oskar Schindler's rescue of Jews during the Hol ...

– ''Shame and the Captives'' *

Hannah Kent Hannah Kent (born 1985) is an Australian writer, known for two novels – ''Burial Rites'' (2013) and ''The Good People'' (2016). Her third novel, ''Devotion'', was published in 2021, and a first memoir, ''Always Home, Always Homesick'', in May ...

– ''

Burial Rites ''Burial Rites'' (2013) is a novel by Australian author Hannah Kent, based on a true story about the last woman to be executed in Iceland. Premise ''Burial Rites'' tells the story of Agnes Magnúsdóttir, a servant in northern Iceland who ...

'' *

Melissa Lucashenko Melissa Lucashenko is an Indigenous Australians, Indigenous Australian writer of adult literary fiction and literary non-fiction, who has also written young adult fiction, novels for teenagers. In 2013 at the Walkley Awards, she won the "Featu ...

– ''

Mullumbimby file:BigThingsMullumbimby.jpg, Welcome sign in Mullumbimby Mullumbimby, locally nicknamed Mullum, is a town in the Byron Shire in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia. It promotes itself as "The Biggest Little Town in Austra ...

'' *

Colleen McCullough Colleen Margaretta McCullough (; married name Robinson, previously Ion-Robinson; 1 June 193729 January 2015) was an Australian author known for her novels, her most well-known being '' The Thorn Birds'' and '' The Ladies of Missalonghi''. Lif ...

– ''Bittersweet'' *

Fiona McFarlane Fiona McFarlane (born 1978) is an Australian author, best known for her novel '' The Night Guest'' (2013) and her collections of short stories ''The High Places'' (2016) and '' Highway 13'' (2024). She is a recipient of the Voss Literary Prize, ...

– ''

The Night Guest The Night Guest may refer to: * The Night Guest (film) ''The Night Guest'' () is a 1961 Czechoslovak drama film directed by Otakar Vávra. The film starred Rudolf Hrušínský. Cast * Jiří Vala as Innkeeper Emil Kalous * Martin Růžek as Al ...

'' *

Alex Miller Alex Miller (born 4 July 1949) is a Scottish football manager and former player. As a player, he had a 15-year career with Rangers, winning several trophies. As a manager, he won the 1991–92 Scottish League Cup with Hibernian. He subsequen ...

– '' Coal Creek'' * Di Morrissey – ''The Winter Sea'' * Cory Taylor – ''My Beautiful Enemy'' *

Christos Tsiolkas Christos Tsiolkas is an Australian author, playwright, and screenwriter. He is especially known for '' The Slap'', which was both well-received critically and highly successful commercially. Several of his books have been adapted for film and t ...

– ''

Barracuda A barracuda is a large, predatory, ray-finned, saltwater fish of the genus ''Sphyraena'', the only genus in the family Sphyraenidae, which was named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque in 1815. It is found in tropical and subtropical oceans worldw ...

'' * Felicity Volk – ''Lightning'' *

Tim Winton Timothy John Winton (born 4 August 1960) is an Australian writer. He has written novels, children's books, non-fiction books, and short stories. In 1997, he was named a Living Treasure by the National Trust of Australia, and has won the ...

– '' Eyrie'' *

Alexis Wright Alexis Wright (born 25 November 1950) is an Aboriginal Australian writer. She is best known for winning the Miles Franklin Award for her 2006 novel '' Carpentaria''. She was the first writer to win the Stella Prize twice, in 2018 for her "colle ...

– ''

The Swan Book ''The Swan Book'' is the third novel by the Indigenous Australian author Alexis Wright. It met with critical acclaim when it was published in 2013, and was shortlisted for Australia's premier literary prize, the Miles Franklin Award. Premise ''Th ...

'' *

Evie Wyld Evelyn Rose Strange "Evie" Wyld (born 1980) is an English author. Several of her novels are set in Australia, where she spent holidays with her grandparents as a child, and she has won several Australian literary awards. Her first novel, '' Aft ...

– ''

All The Birds, Singing ''All the Birds, Singing'' is a 2013 novel set in Australia by English author Evie Wyld. In 2014, it won the Miles Franklin Award The Miles Franklin Literary Award is an annual literary prize awarded to "a novel which is of the highest lite ...

Children's and young adult fiction

Alyssa Brugman Alyssa Brugman (born May 1974) is an Australian author of fiction for young adults. She was born in Rathmines, a suburb of Lake Macquarie, Australia and attended five public schools before completing a Marketing Degree at the University of Ne ...

– ''Alex as Well'' * J. C. Burke – ''Pretty Girl'' * Felicity Castagna – ''The Incredible Here and Now'' *

Mem Fox Merrion Frances "Mem" Fox AM (; born 5 March 1946) is an Australian writer of children's books and an educationalist specialising in literacy. Fox has been semi-retired since 1996, but she still writes and gives seminars. She lives in Adelaide ...

– '' Baby Bedtime'' *

– '' Yoo-hoo, Ladybird!'' *

Kerry Greenwood Kerry Isabelle Greenwood (17 June 1954 – 26 March 2025) was an Australian author and lawyer. She wrote many plays and books, most notably a string of historical detective novels centred on the character of Phryne Fisher, which was adapted a ...

– ''Evan's Gallipoli: A Gripping Story of Unlikely Friendship and an Incredible Journey behind Enemy Lines'' * Richard Harland – ''Song of the Slums'' * Karen Healey – ''When We Wake'' * Melissa Keil – ''Life in Outer Space'' * Tania McCartney – ''An Aussie Year: Twelve Months in the Life of Australian Kids'' * James Phelan – ''13'' *

Fiona Wood Fiona Melanie Wood (born 2 February 1958) is an Australian plastic surgeon and burns specialist working in Perth, Western Australia. She is the director of the Royal Perth Hospital burns unit and the Western Australia Burns Service, and dev ...

– ''Wildlife''

Science fiction and fantasy

Max Barry Max Barry (born 18 March 1973) is an Australian author. He also maintains a blog on various topics, including politics. When he published his first novel, ''Syrup'', he spelled his name "Maxx", but subsequently has used "Max". Barry is also the ...

– ''

Lexicon A lexicon (plural: lexicons, rarely lexica) is the vocabulary of a language or branch of knowledge (such as nautical or medical). In linguistics, a lexicon is a language's inventory of lexemes. The word ''lexicon'' derives from Greek word () ...

'' *

Greg Egan Greg Egan (born 20 August 1961) is an Australian science fiction writer and mathematician, best known for his works of hard science fiction. Egan has won multiple awards including the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, the Hugo Award, and the Lo ...

– ''

The Arrows of Time ''The Arrows of Time'' is a hard science-fiction novel by Australian author Greg Egan and the third part of the ''Orthogonal'' trilogy. The novel was published by Gollancz on 21 November 2013 with a cover art by Greg Egan and by Night Shade B ...

'' *

Jennifer Fallon Jennifer Fallon (born 1959) is an Australian author of fantasy and science fiction. She is also a businesswoman, trainer and business consultant. Jennifer has a master's degree from the Creative Arts faculty of QUT. A computer trainer and appli ...

– ''Reunion'' * Traci Harding – ''Dreaming of Zhou Gong'' *

Simon Haynes Simon Haynes is an Australian writer of speculative fiction novels and short stories, particularly the ''Hal Spacejock'' series. Haynes also uses his experience with computers to write software which he designs for himself and then shares for f ...

– ''Hal Spacejock: Safe Art'' *

Fiona McIntosh Fiona McIntosh (born 1960) is an English-born Australian author of adult and children's books. She has also written under the pen name Lauren Crow. Early life and education Fiona McIntosh was born in Brighton, England, in 1960. As a child sh ...

– ''The Scrivener's Tale'' *

Juliet Marillier Juliet Marillier (born 7 August 1948) is a New Zealand-born writer of fantasy, focusing predominantly on historical fantasy. Biography Juliet Marillier was educated at the University of Otago, where she graduated with a BA in languages and a ...

– ''The Caller'' * N. A. Sulway – '' Rupetta''

Crime and mystery

* Honey Brown – ''

Dark Horse A dark horse is a previously lesser-known person, team or thing that emerges to prominence in a situation, especially in a competition involving multiple rivals, that is unlikely to succeed but has a fighting chance, unlike the underdog who is exp ...

'' *

Peter Corris Peter Robert Corris (8 May 1942 – 30 August 2018) was an Australian academic, historian, journalist and a novelist of historical and crime fiction. As crime fiction writer, he was described as "the Godfather of contemporary Australian crime-w ...

– ''

The Dunbar Case ''The Dunbar Case'' is 2013 Australian novel by Peter Corris featuring private detective Cliff Hardy. Premise Cliff Hardy is hired by an academic to find the ancesator of a man connected with the Dunbar wreck. Reception The ''Sydney Morning H ...

'' *

Garry Disher Garry Disher (born 15 August 1949, in Corporate Town of Burra, South Australia) is an Australian author of crime fiction and children's literature. He is a three-time winner of the Ned Kelly Award for Best Novel. Disher has written three main ...

– ''Bitter Wash Road'' * Karen Foxlee – ''The Midnight Dress'' * Poppy Gee – ''Bay of Fires'' * Katherine Howell – ''Web of Deceit'' *

Stuart Littlemore Stuart Littlemore KC is an Australian barrister and former journalist and television presenter. He created ABC Television's long-running '' Media Watch'' program, which he hosted from its inception in 1989 to 1997. Early career Littlemore wa ...

—''Harry Curry: Rats and Mice'' *

Adrian McKinty Adrian McKinty is a Northern Irish writer of crime and mystery novels and young adult fiction, best known for his 2020 award-winning thriller, ''The Chain'', and the Sean Duffy novels set in Northern Ireland during The Troubles. He is a winner o ...

– ''I Hear the Sirens in the Street'' * Barry Maitland – ''The Raven's Eye'' *

Matthew Reilly Matthew John Reilly (born 2 July 1974) is an internationally bestselling Australian action thriller writer.
". Retrieved 10 ...

– ''The Tournament'' *

Michael Robotham Michael Robotham (born 9 November 1960) is an Australian crime fiction writer who has twice won the CWA Gold Dagger award for best novel and twice been shortlisted for the Edgar Award for best novel. His eldest child is Alexandra Hope Robotham, ...

– ''Watching You'' * Angela Savage – ''The Dying Beach'' *

David Whish-Wilson David Whish-Wilson (born 1966) is an Australian author of nine novels and three non-fiction books. He was born in Newcastle, New South Wales but raised in Singapore, Victoria and Western Australia. He left Australia in 1984 to live in Europe, A ...

– ''Zero at the Bone'' *

Chris Womersley Chris Womersley (born 1968 in Melbourne, Victoria) is an Australian author of crime fiction, short stories and poetry. He trained as a radio journalist and has travelled extensively to such places as India, South-East Asia, South America, Nort ...

– ''

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

Poetry

* Pamela Brown – ''Home by Dark'' * Lisa Gorton **''The Best Australian Poems 2013'' ** ''Hotel Hyperion'' * John Kinsella – ''The Vision of Error: A Sextet of Activist Poems'' * Kate Middleton – ''Ephemeral Waters'' *

Geoff Page Geoffrey Donald Page (born 7 July 1940) is an Australian poet, novelist, translator, teacher and jazz enthusiast. He has published 22 collections of poetry, as well as prose and verse novels. Poetry and jazz are his driving interests, and he ...

** ''1953'' ** ''New Selected Poems'' *

Dorothy Porter Dorothy Featherstone Porter (26 March 1954 – 10 December 2008) was an Australian poet. She was a recipient of the Christopher Brennan Award for lifetime achievement in poetry. Early life Porter was born in Sydney. Her father was barrister ...

– ''The Best 100 Poems of Dorothy Porter'' *

Chris Wallace-Crabbe Christopher Keith Wallace-Crabbe (born 6 May 1934) is an Australian poet and emeritus professor in the Australian Centre, University of Melbourne. Life and career Wallace-Crabbe was born in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond. His father was Ke ...

– ''New and Selected Poems''

Biography

* Alison Alexander – ''The Ambitions of Jane Franklin: Victorian Lady Adventurer'' * Andrew Burell – ''Twiggy: The High-Stakes Life of Andrew Forest'' *

Gabrielle Carey Gabrielle Carey (10 January 1959 – 2 May 2023) was an Australian writer who co-wrote the teen novel, '' Puberty Blues'' with Kathy Lette. This novel was the first teenage novel published in Australia that was written by teenagers. Carey bec ...

– ''Moving Among Strangers: Randolph Stow and My Family'' *

Matthew Condon Matthew Condon (born 1962) is a prize-winning Australian writer and journalist. Biography Educated at the University of Queensland and the Goethe Institute, Bremen, Germany, he is the author of ten novels and short story collections, includin ...

– ''Three Crooked Kings'' * David Day – ''Flaws in the Ice: In Search of Douglas Mawson'' * Stephen Dando-Collins – ''Sir Henry Parkes: The Australian Colossus'' *

Jesse Fink Jesse Fink (born 1973) is a British-Australian author of six books including twin biographies of the hard-rock band AC/DC (''The Youngs: The Brothers Who Built AC/DC'' and ''Bon: The Last Highway''), the cocaine-trafficking story ''Pure Narco'' ...

– ''The Youngs: The Brothers Who Built AC/DC'' *

Peter FitzSimons Peter John FitzSimons (born 29 June 1961) is an Australian author, journalist, and radio and television presenter. He is a former national representative rugby union player and was the chair of the Australian Republic Movement from 2015 to 20 ...

– ''Ned Kelly: The Story of Australia's Most Notorious Legend'' * David Marr – ''The Prince: Faith, Abuse and George Pell'' * Kristina Olsson – ''Boy, Lost: A Family Memoir'' * Michael Pembroke – ''Arthur Phillip: Sailor, Mercenary, Governor, Spy'' *

Margaret Simons Margaret Simons (born 1960) is an Australian academic, freelance journalist and author. She has written numerous articles and essays as well as many books, including a biography of Senate leader of the Australian Labor Party, Penny Wong and Aust ...

– ''Kerry Stokes: Self-Made Man'' * Helen Trinca – ''Madeleine: A Life of Madeleine St. John'' *

Clare Wright Clare Alice Wright (born 14 May 1969) is an American Australian historian, author, broadcaster and podcaster. She is Professor of History and Professor of Public Engagement at La Trobe University, and was the winner of the 2014 Stella Prize ...

– '' The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka''

Non-fiction

Paul Barry Paul James Barry (born 24 February 1952) is an English-born, Australia-based journalist, newsreader and television presenter, known to Australian and British audiences for his television reports and his semi-serious comments on current news, w ...

– ''Breaking News : Sex, Lies & the Murdoch Succession'' * Susanna de Vries – ''Australian Heroines of World War One: Gallipoli, Lemnos and the Western Front'' *

John Safran John Michael Safran (; born 13 August 1972) is an Australian radio personality, satirist, documentary maker and author, known for combining humour with religious, political and ethnic issues. First gaining fame appearing in '' Race Around the W ...

– '' Murder in Mississippi: The True Story of How I Met a White Supremacist, Befriended His Black Killer and Wrote this Book''

Awards and honours

Lifetime achievement

Literary

Fiction

International

National

Children and young adult

National

Crime and mystery

National

Science fiction

Poetry

Drama

Non-fiction

Deaths

* 23 May –

Hazel Hawke Hazel Susan Hawke (née Masterson, 20 July 192923 May 2013) was the first wife of Bob Hawke, the 23rd Prime Minister of Australia. She married him in 1956, and supported him throughout his prime ministership (1983–1991); they divorced in 19 ...

, memoirist (born

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

) * 16 July –

Christopher Koch Christopher John Koch AO (16 July 1932 – 23 September 2013) was an Australian novelist, known for his 1978 novel '' The Year of Living Dangerously'', which was adapted into an Academy Award-winning film by the same name for which he co-wro ...

, novelist (born

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

) * 5 September – Elisabeth Wynhausen, Dutch-born journalist and author (born

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

) * 11 September –

Keith Dunstan John Keith Dunstan (3 February 1925 – 11 September 2013), known as Keith Dunstan, was an Australian journalist and author. He was a prolific writer and the author of more than 35 books. Early life Dunstan was born in East Malvern, Victoria ...

, journalist and author (born

1925 Events January * January 1 – The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria (1925–1930), State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini m ...

) * 9 October –

Mark "Chopper" Read Mark Brandon "Chopper" Read (17 November 1954 – 9 October 2013) was an Australian convicted criminal, gang member and author. Read wrote a series of semi-autobiographical fictional crime novels and children's books. The 2000 film '' Chop ...

, writer (born

1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...

) * 16 November – Graham Stone, bibliographer (born

1926 In Turkey, the year technically contained only 352 days. As Friday, December 18, 1926 ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Saturday, January 1, 1927 '' (Gregorian Calendar)''. 13 days were dropped to make the switch. Turkey thus became the ...

)

References

{{Years in Australian literature

Literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

Australian literature Australian literature is the literature, written or literary work produced in the area or by the people of the Australia, Commonwealth of Australia and its preceding colonies. During its early Western culture, Western history, Australia was a ...

Australian literature by year 21st-century Australian literature

Events

Major publications

Literary fiction

Children's and young adult fiction

Science fiction and fantasy

Crime and mystery

Poetry

Biography

Non-fiction

Awards and honours

Lifetime achievement

Literary

Fiction

International

National

Children and young adult

National

Crime and mystery

National

Science fiction

Poetry

Drama

Non-fiction

Deaths

See also

References