# 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

* Peter Carey — The Tax Inspector
* Brian Castro — Double-Wolf
* Bryce Courtenay — Tandia
* Robert Drewe — Our Sunshine
* David Foster — Mates of Mars
* Alan Gould — To the Burning City
* Rodney Hall — The Second Bridegroom
* Thomas Keneally
** Chief of Staff (as by "William Coyle")
** Flying Hero Class
* Colleen McCullough — The Grass Crown
* Gillian Mears — The Mint Lawn
* Morris West — The Ringmaster
* Tim Winton — Cloudstreet

### Short stories

* Lily Brett – What God Wants
* Suzanne Edgar — Counting Backwards and Other Stories

### Crime and mystery

* Jon Cleary — Pride's Harvest
* Peter Corris
** Aftershock
** Wet Graves
* Garry Disher — Kickback
* Kerry Greenwood — Murder on the Ballarat Train
* Brenda Walker — Crush

### Science fiction and fantasy

* Greg Egan – "Appropriate Love"
* Keith Taylor – Felimid's Homecoming
* George Turner – Brain Child

### Children's and young adult fiction

* Margaret Barbalet — The Wolf
* Anna Fienberg — The Magnificent Nose and Other Marvels
* Jackie French — Rain Stones (for children)
* Robin Klein — Came Back to Show You I Could Fly
* John Marsden — Letters from the Inside

### Poetry

* Alison Croggon — This is the Stone
* A. D. Hope — Orpheus
* Jean Kent — Practising Breathing

### 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 AO, for "service to art and to the promotion of Australian culture"
* Bruce Beaver AM, for "service to literature, particularly in the field of poetry"
* David Rowbotham AM, for "service to literature"
* Patricia Scott AM, for "service to children's literature"

### Lifetime achievement

| Award | Author |
| Christopher Brennan Award | Elizabeth Riddell |
| Patrick White Award | David Martin |

### Literary

| Award | Author | Title | Publisher |
| The Age Book of the Year Award | David Marr | Patrick White : A Life | Jonathan Cape |
| ALS Gold Medal | Elizabeth Jolley | Cabin Fever | Viking |
| Colin Roderick Award | Joan Dugdale | Struggle of Memory | University of Queensland Press |

### Fiction
#### International

| Award | Category | Author | Title | Publisher |
| Commonwealth Writers' Prize | Best Novel, SE Asia and South Pacific region | David Malouf | The Great World | Chatto & Windus |
| Commonwealth Writers' Prize | Best Overall Novel | David Malouf | The Great World | Chatto & Windus |

#### National

| Award | Author | Title | Publisher |
| Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature | Not awarded | | |
| The Age Book of the Year Award | Brian Castro | Double-Wolf | Allen & Unwin |
| The Australian/Vogel Literary Award | Andrew McGahan | Praise | Allen and Unwin |
| Miles Franklin Award | David Malouf | The Great World | Chatto & Windus |
| New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards | Nigel Krauth | JF Was Here | Allen and Unwin |
| Victorian Premier's Literary Awards | Finola Moorhead | Still Murder | Penguin |

### Poetry

| Award | Author | Title | Publisher |
| Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature | Not awarded | | |
| Anne Elder Award | Alison Croggon | This is the Stone | Penguin |
| Grace Leven Prize for Poetry | Les Murray | Dog Fox Field: Poems | Angus & Robertson |
| Mary Gilmore Award | Jean Kent | Vernadahs | Hale & Iremonger |

### Children and Young Adult

| Award | Category | Author | Title | Publisher |
| Victorian Premier's Prize for Young Adult Fiction | | Gary Crew | Strange Objects | Heinemann |

### Non-fiction

| Award | Author | Title | Publisher |
| Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature | Not awarded | | |
| The Age Book of the Year Award | David Marr | Patrick White : A Life | Jonathan Cape |

## 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)
* 30 March — Joan Colebrook, journalist and writer (born 1910)
* 3 April — Coral Lansbury, writer and academic (born 1929)
* 7 April — Bob Brissenden, poet, novelist, critic and academic (born 1928)
* 2 May — Ronald McKie, novelist (born 1909)
* 23 May — Manning Clark, historian (born 1915)
* 24 June — Sumner Locke Elliott, novelist and playwright (born 1917)
* 17 November — Pixie O'Harris, children's book author and illustrator (born 1903)
* 1 December — Barbara Hanrahan, novelist and artist (born 1939)