# 1996 in Australian literature

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1996.

## Events

* Christopher Koch won the Miles Franklin Award for Highways to a War
* David Malouf won the International Dublin Literary Award for Remembering Babylon
* The Ned Kelly Awards, honouring excellence in Australian crime writing, are presented for the first time

## Major publications
### Novels

* Thea Astley — The Multiple Effects of Rainshadow
* James Cowan — A Mapmaker's Dream
* Robert Dessaix — Night Letters: A Journey Through Switzerland and Italy Edited and Annotated by Igor Miazmov
* Garry Disher — The Sunken Road
* Robert Drewe — The Drowner
* David Foster — The Glade Within the Grove
* Clive James — The Silver Castle
* David Malouf — The Conversations at Curlow Creek
* John A. Scott — Before I Wake
* Janette Turner Hospital — Oyster
* Morris West — Vanishing Point
* Sue Woolfe — Leaning Towards Infinity

### Short story anthologies

* Kerryn Goldsworthy — Australian Love Stories (edited)

### Science fiction and fantasy

* Sara Douglass
** Enchanter
** StarMan
* Matthew Reilly — Contest
* Jane Routley — Mage Heart
* Dirk Strasser — Equinox
* Lucy Sussex — The Scarlet Rider
* Sean Williams — Metal Fatigue

### Crime

* Jon Cleary – Endpeace
* Peter Doyle – Get Rich Quick
* Shane Maloney – The Brush-Off
* Peter Temple – Bad Debts

### Children's and young adult fiction

* Margaret Clark — Fat Chance
* Sonya Hartnett — Black Foxes
* Kerry Greenwood — The Broken Wheel
* John Marsden — Checkers
* James Moloney — A Bridge to Wiseman's Cove

### Poetry

* Eric Beach — Weeping for Lost Babylon
* Lisa Bellear — Dreaming in Urban Areas
* Judith Beveridge — Accidental Grace
* John Kinsella — The Undertow: New and Selected Poems
* Anthony Lawrence — The Viewfinder
* Les Murray — Subhuman Redneck Poems
* Dorothy Porter — Crete
* Morgan Yasbincek — Night Reversing

### Drama

* Nick Enright — Blackrock
* Jenny Kemp — The Black Sequin Dress
* Debra Oswald — Gary's House
* David Williamson — Heretic

### Non-fiction

* Bronwyn Donaghy — Anna's Story
* Doris Pilkington Garimara — Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence
* Helen Garner — True Stories: Selected Non-Fiction

## Awards and honours

* Mavis Thorpe Clark AM "for service to the arts as the author of children's literature and as an active member of the writer's organisations in Australia"
* Susanna de Vries AM "for service to art as an author and lecturer in Australian and European art history and history"
* Christobel Mattingley AM "for service to literature, particularly children's literature, and for community service through her commitment to social and cultural issues"

### Lifetime achievement

| Award | Author |
| Christopher Brennan Award | Dorothy Hewett |
| Patrick White Award | Elizabeth Harrower |

### Literary

| Award | Author | Title | Publisher |
| The Age Book of the Year Award | Thea Astley | The Multiple Effects of Rainshadow | Viking |
| ALS Gold Medal | Amanda Lohrey | Camille's Bread | Angus and Robertson |
| Colin Roderick Award | Tim Flannery, Roger Martin and Alexandra Szalay, Illustrator Peter Schouten | Tree Kangaroos | Reed Publications |
| Nita Kibble Literary Award | Judy Cassab | Judy Cassab: Diaries | Random House |

### Fiction
#### International

| Award | Category | Author | Title | Publisher |
| Commonwealth Writers' Prize | Best Novel, SE Asia and South Pacific region | Gillian Mears | The Grass Sister | Random House |

#### National

| Award | Author | Title | Publisher |
| Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature | Richard Flanagan | Death of a River Guide | McPhee Gribble |
| The Age Book of the Year Award | Thea Astley | The Multiple Effects of Rainshadow | Viking Press |
| The Australian/Vogel Literary Award | Bernard Cohen | The Blindman's Hat | Allen and Unwin |
| Miles Franklin Award | Christopher Koch | Highways to a War | Heinemann |
| New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards | Sue Woolfe | Leaning Towards Infinity | Random House Australia |
| Victorian Premier's Literary Awards | Amanda Lohrey | Camille's Bread | Angus and Robertson |
| Western Australian Premier's Book Awards | Heather Grace | The Lighthouse Spark | Fremantle Arts Centre Press |
| Western Australian Premier's Book Awards | Dave Warner | City of Light | Fremantle Arts Centre Press |

### Crime and Mystery
#### National

| Award | Category | Author | Title | Publisher |
| Ned Kelly Award | Novel | Barry Maitland | The Malcontenta | Hamish Hamilton |
| Ned Kelly Award | Novel | Paul Thomas | Inside Dope | Mandarin Publishing |
| Ned Kelly Award | First novel | John Dale | Dark Angel | Serpent's Tail |
| Ned Kelly Award | Lifetime Achievement | Jon Cleary | | |

### Poetry

| Award | Author | Title | Publisher |
| Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature | John Kinsella | The Silo: A Pastoral Symphony | Fremantle Arts Centre Press |
| The Age Book of the Year Award | Eric Beach | Weeping for Lost Babylon | Angus and Robertson |
| Anne Elder Award | Marcella Polain | Dumbstruck | Five Islands Press |
| Grace Leven Prize for Poetry | John Kinsella | The Undertow : New and Selected Poems | Arc Publications |
| Mary Gilmore Award | Jordie Albiston | Nervous Arcs | Spinfex Press |

### Children and Young Adult

| Award | Category | Author | Title | Publisher |
| Victorian Premier's Prize for Young Adult Fiction | | Sonya Hartnett | Sleeping Dogs | Viking Books |

### Non-fiction

| Award | Category | Author | Title | Publisher |
| Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature | Non-Fiction | Tim Flannery | The Future Eaters | Reed Books |
| The Age Book of the Year Award | Non-Fiction | Geoffrey Serle | Robin Boyd : A Life | Miegunyah Press |
| National Biography Award | Biography | Abraham Biderman | The World of My Past | AHB Publications |

## Deaths

A list, ordered by date of death (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of deaths in 1996 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of birth.
* 12 February — Betty Roland, writer of plays, screenplays, novels, children's books and comics (born 1903)
* 26 March —Godfrey Blunden, journalist and author (died in Paris)(born 1906)
* 23 April — P. L. Travers, children's writer, best known for the Mary Poppins (book series) (born 1899)
* 28 April —Mena Calthorpe, writer (born 1905)
* 27 October — Charlotte Jay, mystery writer and novelist who also wrote under her married name, Geraldine Halls (born 1919)
* 28 November — Hugh V. Clarke, soldier, public servant and author, specialising in military history (born 1919)
* 31 December — John Rowland, public servant, diplomat and poet (born 1925)