1978 in Australian literature

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1978.

Events[]

Jessica Anderson won the 1978 Miles Franklin Award for Tirra Lirra by the River

Major publications[]

Books[]

Jessica Anderson – Tirra Lirra by the River
David Malouf – An Imaginary Life
Christopher Koch – The Year of Living Dangerously

Science fiction and fantasy[]

A. Bertram Chandler — To Keep the Ship
David Lake — The Gods of Xuma, or, Barsoom revisited

Children's and young adult fiction[]

Joan Phipson – Keep Calm
Patricia Wrightson – The Dark Bright Water

Poetry[]

Lee Cataldi – Invitation to a Marxist lesbian party
Jennifer Maiden – Birthstones

Non-fiction[]

Patsy Adam-Smith – The ANZACS
Mary Durack – The End of Dreaming
Wendy Lowenstein – Weevils in the Flour
Elyne Mitchell – Light Horse: The Story of Australia's Mounted Troops

Awards and honours[]

Order of Australia[]

Margaret Hasluck appointed Dame of the Order of Australia (AD) for "pre-eminent achievement in the fields of literature and history and for extraordinary and meritorious public service to Australia".^[1]

Lifetime achievement[]

Award	Author
Patrick White Award	Gwen Harwood^[2]

Literary[]

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
Colin Roderick Award	^[3]	History of Australian Drama	Angus & Robertson
Miles Franklin Award	Jessica Anderson^[4]	Tirra Lirra by the River	Macmillan

Children and Young Adult[]

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Children's Book of the Year Award	Older Readers	Patricia Wrightson^[5]	The Ice is Coming	Hutchinson
Children's Book of the Year Award	Picture Book	, illustrated by ^[5]	John Brown, Rose and the Midnight Cat	Viking Kestrel

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
Grace Leven Prize for Poetry	Bruce Dawe^[6]	Sometimes Gladness: Collected Poems 1954–1978	Longman Cheshire

Births[]

A list, ordered by date of birth (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of births in 1978 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of death.

28 December — Holly Throsby, novelist and musician

Unknown date

Brett McBean, horror, thriller and speculative fiction writer
Fiona McFarlane, novelist and short story writer
Andrew O'Connor, novelist

Deaths[]

A list, ordered by date of death (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of deaths in 1978 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of birth.

9 March – John K. Ewers, novelist, poet, schoolteacher and short story writer
16 April – Barbara Vernon, playwright, screenwriter and radio announcer
23 May – Rose Lindsay, artist's model, author, and printmaker
15 June – Paul McGuire, author, public servant and diplomat
23 July – T. Inglis Moore, writer, anthologist and academic
27 September – Margaret Horder, artist and children's book illustrator (b. 1903)
7 December – Helen Haenke, poet, playwright and artist

References[]

^ "Australian Government Gazette – Special" (PDF). Government House of The Commonwealth of Australia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
^ "Gwen Harwood". PoemHunter.com. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
^ "Other Winners". www.jcu.edu.au. 15 November 2017. Archived from the original on 20 April 2019. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
^ "Miles Franklin Literary Award – Every Winner Since 1957". Better Reading. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
^ ^a ^b "Winners and Commended Books 1970 - 1979 - CBCA". 12 November 2009. Archived from the original on 12 November 2009. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
^ "Brisbane Writers Festival - Bruce Dawe". 6 August 2007. Archived from the original on 6 August 2007. Retrieved 21 April 2019.

[1] "Australian Government Gazette – Special" (PDF). Government House of The Commonwealth of Australia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2019.

[2] "Gwen Harwood". PoemHunter.com. Retrieved 21 April 2019.

[3] "Other Winners". www.jcu.edu.au. 15 November 2017. Archived from the original on 20 April 2019. Retrieved 20 April 2019.

[4] "Miles Franklin Literary Award – Every Winner Since 1957". Better Reading. Retrieved 21 April 2019.

[:0-5] "Winners and Commended Books 1970 - 1979 - CBCA". 12 November 2009. Archived from the original on 12 November 2009. Retrieved 21 April 2019.

[6] "Brisbane Writers Festival - Bruce Dawe". 6 August 2007. Archived from the original on 6 August 2007. Retrieved 21 April 2019.

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v t Years in Australian literature (1860–present)
19th century	1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900
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21st century	2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021