1991 in Australian literature

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1991.

Events

David Malouf won the Miles Franklin Award for The Great World

Major publications

Novels

Short story anthologies

Suzanne Edgar — Counting Backwards and Other Stories
Jackie French — Rain Stones (for children)

Children's and young adult fiction

Anna Fienberg — The Magnificent Nose and Other Marvels
Robin Klein — Came Back to Show You I Could Fly
John Marsden — Letters from the Inside
Margaret Barbalet — The Wolf

Poetry

Alison Croggon — This is the stone
A. D. Hope — Orpheus
Jean Kent — Practising Breathing
John Tranter — The Floor of Heaven

Drama

Michael Gow — Furious

Non-fiction

Bruce Bennett — Spirit in exile, Peter Porter and his poetry
Barry Hill — Sitting In
Julie Lewis — Olga Masters, a lot of living
David Marr — Patrick White: A Life

Awards and honours

Robert Hughes , for "service to art and to the promotion of Australian culture"[1]
Bruce Beaver , for "service to literature, particularly in the field of poetry"[2]
David Rowbotham , for "service to literature"[3]
Patricia Scott , for "service to children's literature"[4]

Lifetime achievement

Award	Author
Christopher Brennan Award^[5]	Elizabeth Riddell
Patrick White Award^[6]	David Martin

Literary

Award	Author	Titel	Publisher
ALS Gold Medal^[7]	Elizabeth Jolley	Cabin Fever	Viking

Fiction

Award	Author	Titel	Publisher
Miles Franklin Award^[8]	David Malouf	The Great World	Chatto & Windus

Deaths

A list, ordered by date of death (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of deaths in 1991 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of birth.

21 February — Dorothy Auchterlonie Green, academic, literary critic and poet (born 1915)^[9]
30 March — Joan Colebrook, journalist and writer (born 1910)^[10]
3 April — Coral Lansbury, writer and academic (born 1929)
7 April — Bob Brissenden, poet, novelist, critic and academic (born 1928)^[11]
2 May — Ronald McKie, novelist (born 1909)^[12]
23 May — Manning Clark, historian (born 1915)^[13]
24 June — Sumner Locke Elliott, novelist and playwright (born 1917)^[14]
17 November — Pixie O'Harris, children's book author and illustrator (born 1903)^[15]
1 December — Barbara Hanrahan, novelist and artist (born 1939)

References

^ "Robert Studley Forrest Hughes". honours.pmc.gov.au. Archived from the original on 22 February 2019. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
^ "Victor Bruce Beaver". honours.pmc.gov.au. Archived from the original on 11 December 2019. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
^ "David Harold Rowbotham". honours.pmc.gov.au. Archived from the original on 11 December 2019. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
^ "Patricia Scott". honours.pmc.gov.au. Archived from the original on 25 December 2019. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
^ "Austlit — FAW Christopher Brennan Award". Austlit. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
^ "Austlit — Patrick White Award - Past Winners". Austlit. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
^ "ALS Gold Medal — Previous Winners". Association for the Study of Australian Literature. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
^ "Malouf's sixth novel wins Miles Franklin award". The Canberra Times, 26 June 1991, p5. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
^ "Dorothy Green". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
^ "Austlit — Joan Colebrook". Austlit. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
^ Brooks, David (2014). "'Brissenden, Robert Francis (Bob) (1928–1991)". Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
^ "Ronald Cecil McKie (1909–1991) by Cheryl Taylor". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
^ McKenna, Mark, "Clark, Charles Manning (1915–1991)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 14 September 2023
^ Roe, Jill, "Elliott, Sumner Locke (1917–1991)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 16 September 2023
^ "O'Harris, Pixie (1903–1991) by Robert Holden". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 30 June 2023.

[1] "Robert Studley Forrest Hughes". honours.pmc.gov.au. Archived from the original on 22 February 2019. Retrieved 25 December 2019.

[2] "Victor Bruce Beaver". honours.pmc.gov.au. Archived from the original on 11 December 2019. Retrieved 25 December 2019.

[3] "David Harold Rowbotham". honours.pmc.gov.au. Archived from the original on 11 December 2019. Retrieved 25 December 2019.

[4] "Patricia Scott". honours.pmc.gov.au. Archived from the original on 25 December 2019. Retrieved 25 December 2019.

[CB1991-5] "Austlit — FAW Christopher Brennan Award". Austlit. Retrieved 13 September 2023.

[AustlitPWA-6] "Austlit — Patrick White Award - Past Winners". Austlit. Retrieved 8 September 2023.

[ALS-7] "ALS Gold Medal — Previous Winners". Association for the Study of Australian Literature. Retrieved 10 January 2024.

[MFA1991-8] "Malouf's sixth novel wins Miles Franklin award". The Canberra Times, 26 June 1991, p5. Retrieved 14 September 2023.

[9] "Dorothy Green". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 14 September 2023.

[10] "Austlit — Joan Colebrook". Austlit. Retrieved 20 November 2023.

[:0-11] Brooks, David (2014). "'Brissenden, Robert Francis (Bob) (1928–1991)". Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 4 April 2019.

[12] "Ronald Cecil McKie (1909–1991) by Cheryl Taylor". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 16 November 2023.

[13] McKenna, Mark, "Clark, Charles Manning (1915–1991)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 14 September 2023

[14] Roe, Jill, "Elliott, Sumner Locke (1917–1991)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 16 September 2023

[15] "O'Harris, Pixie (1903–1991) by Robert Holden". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 30 June 2023.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

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