# 2012 in Australian literature

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 2012.

## Events

* Clive James is made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for "services to literature and the media" in the Queen Elizabeth II's New Year Honours List.
* Five literary figures are named in the Australia Day Honours: Paul Brunton, Stuart Macintyre, Roy Masters, Ros Pesman and Carol Woodrow.
* Peter Carey is the recipient of the Bodleian Libraries' 2012 Bodley Medal. The medal is awarded by the Bodleian Libraries of the University of Oxford "to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the worlds in which the Bodleian is active: literature, culture, science, and communication".
* Incoming Premier Campbell Newman cancels the Queensland Premier's Literary Awards.
* In response, a week later, the new Queensland Literary Awards are announced. The awards use a crowd-funding campaign to raise the prize-money for their initial set of awards.
* Sophie Cunningham is appointed as the new head of the Australian Literature Board.
* In the Queen's Birthday Honours, Peter Carey, Barbara Blackman, Rolf Harris, and Liz Jones were appointed Officers of the Order of Australia (AO), Grahame Bond and Peter Steele were appointed Members of the Order of Australia (AM), and Peter Singer was appointed Companion of the Order of Australia (AC).
* Text Publishing launches its Text Classics line, reprinting Australian literary classics.
* Melbourne City Council unveils "Literature Lane", a small laneway off Little LaTrobe Street near the State Library of Victoria, in recognition of Melbourne's status as a UNESCO City of Literature.
* The Grace Leven Prize for Poetry was discontinued.

## Major publications
### Literary fiction

* Romy Ash – Floundering
* Murray Bail – The Voyage
* Peter Carey – The Chemistry of Tears
* Brian Castro – Street to Street
* Michelle de Kretser – Questions of Travel
* Annah Faulkner – The Beloved
* Susan Johnson – My Hundred Lovers
* Toni Jordan – Nine Days
* Tom Keneally – The Daughters of Mars
* Christopher Koch – Lost Voices
* Drusilla Modjeska – The Mountain
* Stephanie Radok – An Opening: twelve love stories about art
* Graeme Simsion – The Rosie Project
* M. L. Stedman – The Light Between Oceans
* Carrie Tiffany – Mateship with Birds
* Patrick White – The Hanging Garden
* Sue Woolfe – The Oldest Song in the World

### Children's and Young Adult fiction

* Michael Gerard Bauer – Epic Fail
* Mem Fox
** Good Night, Sleep Tight
** Tell Me About Your Day Today
** Two Little Monkeys
* Jackie French – Pennies for Hitler
* Morris Gleitzman – After
* Sonya Hartnett – Children of the King
* Steven Herrick – Pookie Aleera Is Not My Boyfriend
* Doug MacLeod – The Shiny Guys
* Emily Rodda – The Silver Door
* Carole Wilkinson – Blood Brothers

### Science Fiction and Fantasy

* John Birmingham – Stalin's Hammer: Rome
* Trudi Canavan – The Traitor Queen
* Greg Egan – The Eternal Flame
* Will Elliott – Nightfall
* Jennifer Fallon – The Dark Divide
* Ian Irvine – Rebellion
* Margo Lanagan – Sea Hearts
* Jaclyn Moriarty – A Corner of White
* Garth Nix – A Confusion of Princes

### Crime and Mystery

* Jessie Cole – Darkness on the Edge of Town
* Peter Corris – Comeback
* Kathryn Fox – Cold Grave
* Kerry Greenwood – Unnatural Habits
* Katherine Howell – Silent Fear
* L. A. Larkin – Thirst
* Gabrielle Lord – Death by Beauty
* Zane Lovitt – The Midnight Promise
* Colleen McCullough – The Prodigal Son
* Geoffrey McGeachin – Blackwattle Creek
* Adrian McKinty – The Cold, Cold Ground
* Tara Moss – Assassin
* Malla Nunn – Silent Valley
* Michael Robotham – Say You're Sorry

### Poetry

* Rosemary Dobson – Rosemary Dobson: Collected
* Kate Fagan (poet) – First Light
* Robert Gray – Cumulus: Collected Poems
* John Kinsella – Jam Tree Gully: Poems
* Kate Lilley – Ladylike
* Rhyll McMaster – Late Night Shopping
* Jennifer Maiden – Liquid Nitrogen
* Les Murray ed. – The Quadrant Book of Poetry 2001–2010
* John Shaw Neilson – Collected Verse of John Shaw Neilson
* Peter Rose – Crimson Crop
* Randolph Stow – The Land's Meaning: New Selected Poems (edited by John Kinsella)
* John Tranter ed. – The Best Australian Poems 2012

### Biography

* John Bailey – Into the Unknown: The Tormented Life and Expeditions of Ludwig Leichhardt
* Daryl Dellora – Michael Kirby: Law, Love and Life
* Gideon Haigh – On Warne
* Jenny Hocking – Gough Whitlam: His Time: Volume 2
* J. C. Kannemeyer – J. M. Coetzee: A Life in Writing
* Malcolm Knox – Bradman's War: How the 1948 Invincibles Turned the Cricket Pitch into a Battlefield
* Mungo MacCallum – The Good, the Bad and the Unlikely: Australia's Prime Ministers
* David McKnight – Rupert Murdoch: An Investigation of Political Power
* Brenda Niall – True North: The Story of Mary and Elizabeth Durack

### Drama

* Ian Meadows – Between Two Waves
* Tee O'Neill – Barassi

## Awards and honours
### Lifetime achievement

| Award | Author |
| Christopher Brennan Award | Tim Thorne |
| Melbourne Prize for Literature | Alex Miller |
| Patrick White Award | Amanda Lohrey |

### Literary

| Award | Author | Title | Publisher |
| The Age Book of the Year | James Boyce | 1835: The Founding of Melbourne & The Conquest of Australia | Black Inc |
| ALS Gold Medal | Gillian Mears | Foal's Bread | Allen & Unwin |
| Colin Roderick Award | Thomas Keneally | The Daughters of Mars | Random House |
| Indie Book Awards Book of the Year | Anna Funder | All That I Am | Penguin Books |
| Nita Kibble Literary Award | Gail Jones | Five Bells | Vintage Books |
| Victorian Prize for Literature | Bill Gammage | The Biggest Estate on Earth | Allen & Unwin |

### Fiction
#### International

| Award | Region | Author | Title | Publisher |
| Commonwealth Book Prize | Pacific | Cory Taylor | Me and Mr Booker | Text Publishing |

#### National

| Award | Author | Title | Publisher |
| Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature | Kim Scott | That Deadman Dance | Picador |
| The Age Book of the Year Award | Gillian Mears | Foal's Bread | Allen & Unwin |
| The Australian/Vogel Literary Award | Paul D. Carter | Eleven Seasons | Allen & Unwin |
| Barbara Jefferis Award | Anna Funder | All That I Am | Penguin Books |
| Indie Book Awards Book of the Year – Fiction | Elliot Perlman | The Street Sweeper | Vintage Books |
| Indie Book Awards Book of the Year – Debut Fiction | Anna Funder | All That I Am | Penguin Books |
| Miles Franklin Award | Anna Funder | All That I Am | Penguin Books |
| Prime Minister's Literary Awards | Gillian Mears | Foal's Bread | Allen & Unwin |
| New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards | Kim Scott | That Deadman Dance | Picador |
| Queensland Literary Awards | Frank Moorhouse | Cold Light | Vintage Australia |
| Victorian Premier's Literary Award | Gillian Mears | Foal's Bread | Allen & Unwin |
| Western Australian Premier's Book Awards | Michelle de Kretser | Questions of Travel | Allen & Unwin |

### Children and Young Adult
#### National

| Award | Category | Author | Title | Publisher |
| Children's Book of the Year Award | Older Readers | Scott Gardner | The Dead I Know | Allen & Unwin |
| Children's Book of the Year Award | Younger Readers | Kate Constable | Crow Country | Allen & Unwin |
| Children's Book of the Year Award | Picture Book | Bob Graham | A Bus Called Heaven | Walker Books |
| Children's Book of the Year Award | Early Childhood | Nick Bland, illus. Freya Blackwood | Maudie Bear | Scholastic Press |
| Indie Book Awards Book of the Year | Children's & YA | Anh Do & Suzanne Do & Bruce Whatley (Illus) | The Little Refugee | Allen & Unwin |
| New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards | Children's | Kate Constable | Crow Country | Allen & Unwin |
| New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards | Young People's | Penni Russon | Only Ever Always | Allen & Unwin |
| Queensland Literary Awards | Children's | Briony Stewart | Kumiko and the Shadow Catchers | University of Queensland Press |
| Queensland Literary Awards | Young Adult | Neil Grant | The Ink Bridge | Allen & Unwin |
| Victorian Premier's Literary Award | Young Adult Fiction | John Larkin | The Shadow Girl | Random House |
| Western Australian Premier's Book Awards | Children's | Stephen Herrick | Pookie Aleera Is Not My Boyfriend | University of Queensland Press |
| Western Australian Premier's Book Awards | Children's | Peter Macinnis | Australian Backyard Naturalist | National Library of Australia |
| Western Australian Premier's Book Awards | Writing for Young Adults | Margo Lanagan | Sea Hearts | Allen and Unwin |

### Crime and Mystery
#### National

| Award | Category | Author | Title | Publisher |
| Davitt Award | Novel | Sulari Gentill | A Decline in Prophets | Pantera Press |
| Davitt Award | Young adult novel | Meg McKinlay | Surface Tension | Walker Books |
| Davitt Award | True crime | Liz Porter | Cold Case Files: Past Crimes Solved by New Forensic Science | Pan Macmillan |
| Davitt Award | Debut novel | Jaye Ford | Beyond Fear | Bantam Books |
| Davitt Award | Readers' choice | YA Erskine | The Brotherhood | Bantam Books |
| Davitt Award | Readers' choice | Jaye Ford | Beyond Fear | Bantam Books |
| Ned Kelly Award | Novel | J. C. Burke | Pig Boy | Random House Australia |
| Ned Kelly Award | First novel | Peter Twohig | The Cartographer | Fourth Estate |
| Ned Kelly Award | True crime | Eamonn Duff | Sins of the Father: The Untold Story Behind Schapelle Corby's Ill-Fated Drug Run | Allen & Unwin |
| Ned Kelly Award | Life achievement | Gabrielle Lord | | |

### Science fiction

| Award | Category | Author | Title | Publisher |
| Aurealis Award | SF Novel | Daniel O'Malley | The Rook | HarperCollins |
| Aurealis Award | SF Short Story | Margo Lanagan | "Significant Dust" | Twelfth Planet Press (Cracklescape) |
| Aurealis Award | Fantasy Novel | Margo Lanagan | Sea Hearts | Allen & Unwin |
| Aurealis Award | Fantasy Short Story | Margo Lanagan | "Bajazzle" | Twelfth Planet Press (Cracklescape) |
| Aurealis Award | Horror Novel | Kirstyn McDermott | Perfections | Xuom |
| Aurealis Award | Horror Short Story | Kaaron Warren | "Sky" | Twelfth Planet Press (Through Splintered Walls) |
| Aurealis Award | Anthology | Jonathan Strahan | The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year Volume 6 | Night Shade Books |
| Aurealis Award | Collection | K. J. Bishop | That Book Your Mad Ancestor Wrote | K. J. Bishop |
| Australian Shadows Awards | Novel | Kirstyn McDermott | Perfections | Xoum |
| Australian Shadows Awards | Long Fiction | Kaaron Warren | "Sky" | Through Splintered Walls: A Twelve Planets Collection edited by Alisa Krasnostein |
| Australian Shadows Awards | Short Fiction | Martin J. Livings | "Birthday Suit" | Living with the Dead by Martin J. Livings |
| Australian Shadows Awards | Edited Publication | Craig Bezant, editor | Surviving The End | Dark Prints Press |
| Australian Shadows Awards | Collected Works | Kaaron Warren | Through Splintered Walls: A Twelve Planets Collection | Twelfth Planet Press |
| Ditmar Award | Novel | Kim Westwood | The Courier's New Bicycle | HarperVoyager |
| Ditmar Award | Novella/Novelette | Paul Haines | "The Past is a Bridge Best Left Burnt" | The Last Days of Kali Yuga |
| Ditmar Award | Short Story | Tansy Rayner Roberts | "The Patrician" | Love and Romanpunk |
| Ditmar Award | Collected Work | Paul Haines | The Last Days of Kali Yuga | Brimstone |

### Poetry

| Award | Author | Title | Publisher |
| Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature | Les Murray | Taller When Prone | Black Inc Publishing |
| The Age Book of the Year | Mal McKimmie | The Brokenness Sonnets I-III And Other Poems | Five Islands Press |
| Anne Elder Award | Elizabeth Allen | Body Language | Vagabond Press |
| Grace Leven Prize for Poetry | Toby Fitch | Rawshock | Puncher and Wattmann |
| Grace Leven Prize for Poetry | Michael Brennan | Autoethnographic | Giramondo Publishing |
| Grace Leven Prize for Poetry | Laurie Duggan | The Collected Blue Hills | Puncher and Wattmann |
| Grace Leven Prize for Poetry | John Kinsella | Jaguar's Dream | Alma Books |
| Grace Leven Prize for Poetry | Michael Sharkey | Another Fine Morning in Paradise | Five Island Press |
| Mary Gilmore Prize | Fiona Wright | Knuckled | Giramondo Publishing |
| New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards | Gig Ryan | New and Selected Poems | Giramondo Publishing |
| Queensland Literary Awards | Peter Rose | Crimson Crop | UWA Publishing |
| Victorian Premier's Literary Award | John Kinsella | Armour | Picador |
| Western Australian Premier's Book Awards | Robert Gray | Cumulus | John Leonard Press |

### Drama

| Award | Category | Author | Title | Publisher |
| New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards | Play | Joanna Murray-Smith | The Gift | Melbourne Theatre Company |
| New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards | Play | Vanessa Bates | Porn.Cake | Beckett Theatre, Melbourne |
| New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards | Script | Peter Duncan | Rake (Episode 1): "R v Murray" | ABC Television |
| Patrick White Playwrights' Award | Award | Anna Barnes | Minus One Sister | Griffin Theatre Company |
| Patrick White Playwrights' Award | Fellowship | Hilary Bell | | |

### Non-Fiction

| Award | Category | Author | Title | Publisher |
| Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature | Non-fiction | Mark McKenna | An Eye for Eternity: The Life of Manning Clark | Miegunyah Press |
| The Age Book of the Year | Non-fiction | James Boyce | 1835: The Founding of Melbourne & The Conquest of Australia | Black Inc. |
| Children's Book of the Year Award | Eve Pownall Award for Information Books | Alison Lester and Coral Tulloch | One Small Island: The Story of Macquarie Island | Penguin Group |
| Davitt Award | True crime | Liz Porter | Cold Case Files: Past crimes solved by new forensic science | Pan Macmillan |
| National Biography Award | Biography | Martin Thomas | The Many Worlds of R. H. Mathews: In Search of an Australian Anthropologist | Allen & Unwin |
| Indie Book Awards Book of the Year | Non-Fiction | William McInnes & Sarah Watt | Worse Things Happen at Sea | Hachette |
| Prime Minister's Literary Awards | Non-fiction | Mark McKenna | An Eye for Eternity: The Live of Manning Clark | Melbourne University Publishing |
| New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards | Non-fiction | Mark McKenna | An Eye for Eternity: The Live of Manning Clark | Melbourne University Publishing |
| New South Wales Premier's History Awards | Australian History | Russell McGregor | Indifferent Inclusion: Aboriginal People and the Australian Nation | Aboriginal Studies Press |
| New South Wales Premier's History Awards | Community and Regional History | Deborah Beck | Set in Stone: A History of the Cell Block Theatre | UNSW Press |
| New South Wales Premier's History Awards | General History | Tim Bonyhady | Good Living Street: The Fortunes of My Viennese Family | Allen & Unwin |
| New South Wales Premier's History Awards | Young People's | Stephanie Owen Reeder | Amazing Grace: An Adventure at Sea | National Library of Australia |
| Queensland Literary Awards | Non-fiction | Robin De Crespigny | The People Smuggler | Penguin Group |
| Queensland Literary Awards | History | Bill Gammage | The Biggest Estate on Earth: How Aborigines Made Australia | Allen & Unwin |
| Victorian Premier's Literary Award | Non-fiction | Bill Gammage | The Biggest Estate on Earth: How Aborigines Made Australia | Allen & Unwin |
| Western Australian Premier's Book Awards | Non-fiction | Roger Averill (author) | Exile: The Lives and Hopes of Werner Pelz | Transit Lounge |
| Western Australian Premier's Book Awards | Western Australian history | edited by Anne Scrimgeour; transcribed and translated by Barbara Hale, Mark Clendon | Kurlumarniny: We come from the Desert | Aboriginal Studies Press |

## Deaths

* 14 April – Bruce Bennett, literary academic (born 1941)
* 18 June – Don Charlwood, writer (born 1915)
* 24 June – Ralph Elliott, critic and academic (born 1921)
* 27 June –
** Rosemary Dobson, poet (born 1920)
** Peter Steele, poet (born 1939)
* 6 August – Robert Hughes, writer and critic (born 1938)
* 20 September – Robert G. Barrett, novelist (born 1942)
* 14 October – Max Fatchen, writer for children (born 1920)
* 22 November – Bryce Courtenay, novelist (born 1933 in Johannesburg)