2009 in Australian literature

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 2009.

Events[]

• HarperCollins takes over ABC Books – the publishing arm of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.^[1]
• Caro Llewellyn, resigns as director of the new Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas (now called the Wheeler Centre) in Melbourne before taking up the role.^[2] Chrissy Sharp, the Australian general manager of Sadler's Wells Theatre in London, is appointed to take her place.^[3]
• The Australia-Asia Literary Award, based in Western Australia, is suspended.^[4]

Major publications[]

Literary fiction[]

• Steven Amsterdam – Things We Didn't See Coming
• Peter Carey – Parrot and Olivier in America
• Steven Carroll – The Lost life
• Brian Castro – The Bath Fugues
• Nick Cave – The Death of Bunny Munro
• Tracy Crisp – Black Dust Dancing
• Deborah Forster – The Book of Emmett
• Andrea Goldsmith – Reunion
• Marion Halligan – Valley of Grace
• Sonya Hartnett – Butterfly
• Eva Hornung – Dog Boy
• Katherine Johnson – Pescador's Wake
• Tom Keneally – The People's Train
• Kate Legge – The Marriage Club
• David Malouf – Ransom
• Alex Miller – Lovesong
• Jennifer Mills – The Diamond Anchor
• Sonia Orchard – The Virtuoso
• Susan Varga – Headlong

Children's and Young Adult fiction[]

• Allan Baille – Krakatoa Lighthouse
• Alyssa Brugman – Girl Next Door
• Judith Clarke – The Winds of Heaven
• Mem Fox – Hello, Baby!, The Goblin and the Empty Chair
• Paul Jennings – The Nest
• Justine Larbalestier – How to Ditch Your Fairy
• Sophie Masson – The Madman of Venice
• David Metzenthen – Jarvis 24
• Tohby Riddle – The Lucky Ones
• Sean Williams – The Scarecrow

Crime and Mystery[]

• Robert G. Barrett – High Noon in Nimbin
• Sydney Bauer – Move to Strike
• Marshall Browne – The Iron Heart
• Peter Corris – Deep Water
• Garry Disher – Blood Moon
• Kathryn Fox – Blood Born
• Leah Giarratano – Black Ice
• Bronwyn Parry – Dark Country

Romance[]

• Michelle Douglas – The Aristocrat and The Single Mom
• Nicola Marsh – Two Weeks in the Magnate's Bed
• Katherine Scholes – The Hunter's Wife
• Maxine Sullivan – Valente's Baby

Science Fiction and Fantasy[]

• Trudi Canavan – The Magician's Apprentice
• Kim Falconer – The Spell of Rosette
• Pamela Freeman – Full Circle
• Traci Harding – Being of the Field
• Deborah Kalin – Shadow Queen
• Glenda Larke – The Last Stormlord
• Juliet Marillier – Heart's Blood
• K. J. Taylor – The Dark Griffin
• Shaune Lafferty Webb – Bus Stop on a Strange Loop
• Sean Williams – The Grand Conjunction

Drama[]

• Angela Betzien – The Dark Room
• Matt Cameron & Tim Finn – Poor Boy
• Joanna Murray-Smith – Rockabye
• Richard Tulloch – The Book of Everything
• David Williamson – Let the Sunshine

Poetry[]

• Emily Ballou – The Darwin Poems
• Judith Beveridge – Storm and Honey
• Emma Jones – The Striped World
• Jennifer Maiden – Pirate Rain
• Dorothy Porter – The Bee Hut
• Peter Porter – Better Than God

Biographies[]

• Roger Averill – Boy He Cry: An Island Odyssey
• Stephen Cummings – Will It Be Funny Tomorrow, Billy?: Misadventures in Music
• Jacqueline Kent – The Making of Julia Gillard
• Harry M. Miller with Peter Holder – Harry M Miller: Confessions of a Not-So-Secret Agent
• Mark McKenna – Manning Clark: A Life
• Don Walker – Shots
• Jonathon Welch – Choir Man
• George Whaley – Leo 'Rumpole' McKern: An Accidental Actor
• Kristin Williamson – David Williamson: Behind the Scenes

Awards and honours[]

Lifetime achievement[]

Award	Author
Christopher Brennan Award	Jennifer Strauss
Melbourne Prize for Literature	Gerald Murnane
Patrick White Award	Beverley Farmer

Fiction[]

International[]

Award	Region	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Commonwealth Writers' Prize	SE Asia and South Pacific	Best Novel	Christos Tsiolkas	The Slap	Allen & Unwin
	Overall winner	Best Novel	Christos Tsiolkas	The Slap	Allen & Unwin

National[]

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Barbara Jefferis Award		Helen Garner	The Spare Room	Text Publishing
The Age Book of the Year	Fiction	Steven Amsterdam	Things We Didn't See Coming	Sleepers Publishing
ALS Gold Medal		Christos Tsiolkas	The Slap	Allen & Unwin
The Australian/Vogel Literary Award		Lisa Lang	Utopian Man
		Kristel Thornell	Night Street
Miles Franklin Award	Fiction	Tim Winton	Breath	Random House
Prime Minister's Literary Award	Fiction	Nam Le	The Boat	Hamish Hamilton
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards	Fiction	Joan London	The Good Parents	Hamish Hamilton
Queensland Premier's Literary Awards	Fiction	Richard Flanagan	Wanting	Random House
Victorian Premier's Literary Award	Fiction	Christos Tsiolkas	The Slap	Allen & Unwin

Crime and Mystery[]

National[]

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Davitt Award	Novel	Malla Nunn	A Beautiful Place to Die	Pan Macmillan
Ned Kelly Award	Novel	Peter Corris	Deep Water	Allen & Unwin
		Kel Robertson	Smoke and Mirrors	Ginninderra Press
	First novel	Nick Gadd	Ghostlines	Scribe Publishing

Science Fiction and Fantasy[]

International[]

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
World Fantasy Award	Best Novel	Margo Lanagan	Tender Morsels	Knopf

National[]

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Aurealis Award	SF Novel	Andrew McGahan	Wonders of a Godless World	Allen & Unwin
	SF Short Story	Peter M. Ball	"Clockwork, Patchwork and Ravens"	Apex Magazine
	Fantasy Novel	Trudi Canavan	The Magician's Apprentice	Orbit Books
	Fantasy Short Story	Christopher Green	"Father's Kill"	Beneath Ceaseless Skies
		Ian McHugh	"Once a Month, On a Sunday"	Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine
	Horror Novel	Honey Brown	Red Queen	Penguin Books
	Horror Short Story	Paul Haines	"Slice of Life – A Spot of Liver"	The Mayne Press
		Paul Haines	"Wives"	Coeur de Lion Publishing (X6)
Ditmar Award	Novel	Margo Lanagan	Tender Morsels	Allen & Unwin
	Novella/Novelette	Kirstyn McDermott	"Painlessness"	Greatest Uncommon Denominator
	Short Story	Margo Lanagan	"The Goosle"	The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy
	Collected Work	ed. Jack Dann	Dreaming Again	Voyager
Shadows Award		Kaaron Warren	Slights	Angry Robot

Non-Fiction[]

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
National Biography Award		Ann Blainey	I Am Melba	Black Inc.
The Age Book of the Year	Non-fiction	Guy Rundle	Down to the Crossroads	Penguin Books
Children's Book of the Year Award	Eve Pownall Award for Information Books	Lincoln Hall	Alive in the Death Zone	Random House
Davitt Award	True crime	Chloe Hooper	The Tall Man: Death and Life on Palm Island	Hamish Hamilton
Prime Minister's Literary Awards	Non-fiction	Evelyn Juers	House of Exile: The Life and Times of Heinrich Mann and Nelly-Kroeger Mann	Giramondo Publishing
		Marilyn Lake and Henry Reynolds	Drawing the Global Colour Line	Melbourne University Press
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards	Non-fiction	Chloe Hooper	The Tall Man: Death and Life on Palm Island	Hamish Hamilton
New South Wales Premier's History Awards	Australian History	Robin Gerster	Travels in Atomic Sunshine: Australia and the Occupation of Japan	Scribe
	Community and Regional History	David Bollen	Up on the Hill: A History of St Patrick's College	UNSW Press
	General History	Warwick Anderson	The Collectors of Lost Souls: Turning Kuru Scientists into Whitemen	Johns Hopkins University Press
	Young People's	Anthony Hill	Captain Cook's Apprentice	Penguin Books
Queensland Premier's Literary Awards	Non-fiction	Chloe Hooper	The Tall Man: Death and Life on Palm Island	Hamish Hamilton
	History	Jill Roe	Stella Miles Franklin	Fourth Estate
Victorian Premier's Literary Award	Non-fiction	Chloe Hooper	The Tall Man: Death and Life on Palm Island	Hamish Hamilton
Western Australian Premier's Book Awards	Non-fiction	Iain McCalman	Darwin's Armada	W.W. Norton
	Western Australian history	Penelope Hetherington	Paupers, Poor Relief & Poor Houses	UWA Publishing

Poetry[]

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
The Age Book of the Year	Peter Porter	Better Than God	Picador
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards	L. K. Holt	Man Wolf Man	John Leonard Press
Queensland Premier's Literary Awards	Emma Jones	The Striped World	Faber
Victorian Premier's Literary Award	Robert Adamson	The Golden Bird	Black Inc.
Western Australian Premier's Book Awards	Kate Middleton	Fire Season	Giramondo Publishing

Drama[]

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
Patrick White Playwrights' Award	Ian Wilding	Forever Seven

Deaths[]

• 14 January – Val Vallis, poet (born 1916)
• 3 June – Geoffrey C. Bingham, theological and short story writer (born 1919)
• 3 July – Frank Devine, journalist (born 1931)
• 6 September – Catherine Gaskin, author (born 1929)
• 8 September – Rica Erickson, botanical and historical writer (born 1908)
• 24 November – John West, poet (born 1951)

See also[]

• 2009 in Australia
• 2009 in literature
• 2009 in poetry
• List of years in literature
• List of Australian literary awards

References[]

Note: all references relating to awards can, or should be, found on the relevant award's page.