# 2000 in Australian literature

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 2000.

## Events

* Drylands by Thea Astley and Benang by Kim Scott were joint winners of the Miles Franklin Award

## Major publications
### Literary fiction

* Peter Carey — True History of the Kelly Gang
* Arabella Edge — The Company: The Story of a Murderer
* Rodney Hall — The Day We Had Hitler Home
* Rosalie Ham — The Dressmaker
* Thomas Keneally
** An Angel in Australia
** Bettany's Book
* Colleen McCullough — Morgan's Run
* Alex Miller — Conditions of Faith
* Frank Moorhouse — Dark Palace
* Morris West — The Last Confession

### Crime and mystery

* Jon Cleary — Bear Pit
* Catherine Jinks — The Notary
* Dorothy Johnston — The Trojan Dog
* Andrew McGahan — Last Drinks
* Barry Maitland — Silvermeadow
* Shane Maloney — The Big Ask
* Andrew Masterson — The Second Coming
* Peter Temple — Dead Point
* Meredith Webber — Trust Me

### Science fiction and fantasy

* Sara Douglass — The Nameless Day
* Michel Faber — Under the Skin
* Jennifer Fallon — Medalon
* Kate Forsyth — The Forbidden Land
* Ian Irvine — The Last Albatross
* Juliet Marillier — Son of the Shadows
* Sean McMullen — The Miocene Arrow
* Garth Nix
** Castle
** The Fall
* Emily Rodda — The Forests of Silence
* Kim Wilkins — The Resurrectionists
* Sean Williams and Shane Dix — The Dying Light

### Children's and young adult fiction

* Jaclyn Moriarty — Feeling Sorry for Celia
* Sonya Hartnett — Thursday's Child
* James Moloney — Touch Me
* John Marsden — Winter
* Shaun Tan — The Lost Thing
* Markus Zusak — Fighting Ruben Wolfe

### Short story anthologies

* Carmel Bird (editor) — The Penguin Century of Australian Stories

### Poetry

* Dorothy Hewett and John Kinsela — Wheatlands

### Plays

* Hannie Rayson — Life After George
* David Williamson
** Face to Face
** The Great Man

### Non-fiction

* Brian Matthews — A Fine and Private Place
* Wendy McCarthy — Don't Fence Me In
* Margaret Scott — Changing Countries: On moving from one island to another

## Awards and honours

* Ray Parkin, AM, "for service to Australian war literature through autobiographical works, and to historical research as author of HM Bark Endeavour

### Lifetime achievement

| Award | Author |
| Christopher Brennan Award | J. S. Harry |
| Patrick White Award | Thomas Shapcott |

### Literary

| Award | Author | Title | Publisher |
| The Age Book of the Year Award | Amy Witting | Isobel on the Way to the Corner Shop | Penguin |
| ALS Gold Medal | Drusilla Modjeska | Stravinsky's Lunch | Picador |
| Colin Roderick Award | Peter Carey | True History of the Kelly Gang | University of Queensland Press |
| Nita Kibble Literary Award | Drusilla Modjeska | Stravinsky's Lunch | Picador |

### Fiction
#### International

| Award | Category | Author | Title | Publisher |
| Commonwealth Writers' Prize | Best Novel, SE Asia and South Pacific region | Lily Brett | Too Many Men | Picador |

#### National

| Award | Author | Title | Publisher |
| Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature | Roger McDonald | Mr Darwin's Shooter | Vintage Books |
| The Age Book of the Year Award | Amy Witting | Isobel on the Way to the Corner Shop | Penguin Books |
| The Australian/Vogel Literary Award | Stephen Gray | The Artist is a Thief | Allen and Unwin |
| Miles Franklin Award | Thea Astley | Drylands | Penguin Books |
| Miles Franklin Award | Kim Scott | Benang | Fremantle Press |
| New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards | Michael Meehan | The Salt of Broken Tears | Vintage Books |
| Victorian Premier's Literary Awards | Christopher Koch | Out of Ireland | Doubleday |

### Crime and Mystery
#### National

| Award | Category | Author | Title | Publisher |
| Ned Kelly Award |
| Ned Kelly Award | Novel | Peter Temple | Shooting Star | Bantam Books |
| Ned Kelly Award | First novel | Marshall Browne | The Wooden Leg of Inspector Anders | Duffy & Snellgrove |
| Ned Kelly Award | True crime | John Dale | Huckstepp: A Dangerous Life | Allen & Unwin |
| Ned Kelly Award | True crime | Andrew Rule & John Silvester | Underbelly 3 | Floradale Productions & Sly Ink |
| Ned Kelly Award | Lifetime Achievement | Not awarded | | |

### Poetry

| Award | Author | Title | Publisher |
| Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature | Dimitris Tsaloumas | The Harbour | University of Queensland Press |
| The Age Book of the Year | Peter Minter | Empty Texas | Paper Bark Press |
| Anne Elder Award | Arthur M. Spyrou | Garden of Delights | Monogene |
| Grace Leven Prize for Poetry | Not awarded | | |
| Mary Gilmore Award | Lucy Dougan | Memory Shell | Five Islands Press |

### Non-fiction

| Award | Category | Author | Title | Publisher |
| Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature | Non-Fiction | Tim Flannery | Throw'im Way Leg: An Adventure | Text Publishing |
| The Age Book of the Year | Non-Fiction | Kim Mahood | Craft for a Dry Lake | Anchor |
| National Biography Award | Biography | Peter Robb | M, a biography of European painter Caravaggio | Duffy and Snellgrove |
| National Biography Award | Biography | Mandy Sayer | Dreamtime Alice: A Memoir | Random House |

## Deaths

A list, ordered by date of death (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of deaths in 2000 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of birth.
* 5 March – Michael Noonan, novelist and radio scriptwriter (born 1921 in New Zealand)
* 11 March – Gerald Glaskin, writer (born 1923)
* 17 March – Jack Davis, playwright, poet and Indigenous rights campaigner (born 1917)
* 6 May – Elizabeth O'Conner, novelist (born 1913)
* 25 May – Elizabeth Durack, artist and writer (born 1915)
* 16 June — Colin Roderick, editor and critic (born 1911)
* 25 June – Judith Wright, poet, environmentalist and campaigner for Aboriginal land rights (born 1915)
* 3 July – Nancy Cato, historical novelist, biographer and poet (born 1917)
* 13 July – A. D. Hope, poet and essayist (born 1907)
* August – John Joseph Jones, poet, folk singer, musician, playwright and theatre director (born in London, 1930)
* 10 August – Clement Semmler, author, literary critic, broadcaster and radio and television executive (born 1914)
* 17 August – Leslie Rees, children's writer and dramatist (born 1905)
* 1 November – Ian Moffitt, journalist and novelist (born 1926)