# 1972 in Australian literature

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1972.

## Events

* Thomas Keneally becomes the first Australian to be shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction for The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith.

## Major publications
### Books

* Thea Astley – The Acolyte
* Russell Braddon – End Play
* Jon Cleary – Man's Estate
* Sumner Locke Elliott – The Man Who Got Away
* Catherine Gaskin – A Falcon for a Queen
* David Ireland – The Flesheaters
* Thomas Keneally – The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith
* Peter Mathers – The Wort Papers

### Short stories

* Peter Carey
** "Crabs"
** "Peeling"
* Frank Hardy – It's Moments Like These
* Elizabeth Jolley – "Dingle the Fool"
* Frank Moorhouse – The Americans, Baby

### Children's and Young Adult fiction

* Hesba Brinsmead – Echo in the Wilderness
* Alan Marshall – Fight for Life
* Mary Elwyn Patchett – Rebel Brumby
* Ivan Southall – Head in the Clouds
* Eleanor Spence – The Nothing Place
* Patricia Wrightson – An Older Kind of Magic

### Science fiction and fantasy

* A. Bertram Chandler – The Hard Way Up

### Poetry

* Michael Dransfield
** Drug Poems
** The Inspector of Tides
* Harry Payne Heseltine – The Penguin Book of Australian Verse (edited)
* Les Murray – Poems Against Economics
* Peter Porter
** After Martial
** Preaching to the Converted
* Thomas Shapcott – Begin With Walking
* Peter Skrzynecki – Head-Waters

### Drama

* David Williamson – Jugglers Three

## Awards and honours
### Literary

| Award | Author | Title | Publisher |
| ALS Gold Medal | Alex Buzo | Macquarie : A Play | Currency Press |
| ALS Gold Medal | Alex Buzo | Tom | Angus and Robertson |
| Colin Roderick Award | Keith Hancock | Discovering Monaro | Cambridge University Press |
| Miles Franklin Award | Thea Astley | The Acolyte | Angus and Robertson |

### Children and Young Adult

| Award | Category | Author | Title | Publisher |
| Children's Book of the Year Award | Older Readers | H. F. Brinsmead | Longtime Passing | Angus and Robertson |
| Children's Book of the Year Award | Picture Book | No award | | |

### Science fiction and fantasy

| Award | Category | Author | Title | Publisher |
| Australian SF Achievement Award | Best Australian Science Fiction | Lee Harding | "Fallen Spaceman" | If : Worlds of Science Fiction |

### Poetry

| Award | Author | Title | Publisher |
| Grace Leven Prize for Poetry | Peter Skrzynecki | Head-Waters | Lyre Bird Writers |

## Births

A list, ordered by date of birth (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of births in 1972 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of death.
Unknown date
* Louis Armand, poet and critic
* Steve Toltz, novelist
* Samuel Wagan Watson, poet

## Deaths

A list, ordered by date of death (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of deaths in 1972 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of birth.
* 3 June – Martin Boyd, novelist (born 1893)
* 16 August – Dulcie Deamer, poet (born 1890)
* 16 October – Eunice Hanger, playwright and educator (born 1911)