2001 in Australian literature

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 2001.

Major publications

Literary fiction

• Geraldine Brooks – Year of Wonders
• Marshall Browne – The Trumpeting Angel^[1]
• Steven Carroll – The Art of the Engine Driver
• Bryce Courtenay – Four Fires
• Robert Dessaix – Corfu: A Novel^[2]
• Garry Disher – Past the Headlands^[3]
• Richard Flanagan – Gould's Book of Fish: A Novel in Twelve Fish
• Stephen Gray – The Artist is a Thief^[4]
• Marion Halligan – The Fog Garden^[5]
• Elizabeth Jolley – An Innocent Gentleman^[6]
• Kathy Lette – Nip 'n' Tuck^[7]
• Joan London – Gilgamesh
• John A. Scott – The Architect
• Tim Winton – Dirt Music
• Arnold Zable – Cafe Scheherazade^[8]

Children's and Young Adult fiction

• Graeme Base – The Waterhole^[9]
• Gary Crew – Gothic Hospital
• Garry Disher – Moondyne Kate^[10]
• Andy Griffiths – The Day My Bum Went Psycho
• Sonya Hartnett – Forest
• Odo Hirsch – Have Courage, Hazel Green!^[11]
• Leigh Hobbs – Horrible Harriet^[12]
• Maureen McCarthy – Flash Jack^[13]
• Garth Nix
  • Above the Veil
  • Lirael
• Emily Rodda – City of Rats
• Shaun Tan – The Red Tree
• Margaret Wild – Jinx^[14]
• Markus Zusak – When Dogs Cry

Crime and mystery

• Bunty Avieson – Apartment 255
• Marshall Browne – Inspector Anders and the Ship of Fools^[15]
• Lindy Cameron – Bleeding Hearts
• Jon Cleary – Yesterday's Shadow
• Peter Corris – Lugarno^[16]
• Emma Darcy – Who Killed Angelique?^[17]
• Peter Doyle – The Devil's Jump^[18]
• Kerry Greenwood – Away with the Fairies^[19]
• Gabrielle Lord – Death Delights
• Carolyn Morwood – A Simple Death
• Matthew Reilly – Area 7
• Patricia Shaw – The Dream Seekers^[20]

Romance

• Lilian Darcy – The Paramedic's Secret^[21]
• Barbara Hannay
  • The Pregnancy Discovery^[22]
  • The Wedding Dare^[23]

Science Fiction and Fantasy

• Trudi Canavan – The Magicians' Guild
• Cecilia Dart-Thornton – The Ill-Made Mute^[24]
• Sara Douglass – The Wounded Hawk
• Greg Egan – Schild's Ladder
• Jennifer Fallon
  • Harshini
  • Treason Keep
• Kate Forsyth – The Skull of the World^[25]
• Ian Irvine – Geomancer
• Fiona McIntosh – Betrayal^[26]
• Sean McMullen – Eyes of the Calculor
• Juliet Marillier – Child of the Prophecy
• Kim Wilkins – Angel of Ruin
• Sean Williams
  • The Dark Imbalance with Shane Dix
  • The Stone Mage and the Sea^[27]

Drama

• Andrew Bovell – Holy Day^[28]
• David Brown – Keep Everything You Love^[29]
• Nick Enright – Spurboard^[30]
• Dorothy Hewett – Nowhere^[31]
• Peta Murray – Salt : A Play in Five Helpings^[32]
• Joanna Murray-Smith – Bombshells^[33]
• John Romeril – Miss Tanaka^[34]
• David Williamson
  • Charitable Intent
  • A Conversation
  • Up for Grabs

Poetry

• M. T. C. Cronin – Bestseller^[35]
• John Forbes – Collected Poems : 1970–1998^[36]
• Peter Goldsworthy – New Selected Poems^[37]
• Dorothy Hewett – Halfway Up the Mountain^[38]
• John Kinsella – The Hierarchy of Sheep^[39]
• Peter Porter – Max is Missing^[40]
• Chris Wallace-Crabbe – By and Large^[41]
• Alan Wearne – The Lovemakers^[42]

Biographies

• Peter Carey – 30 Days in Sydney : A Wildly Distorted Account
• Dawn Fraser – Dawn: One Hell of a Life^[43]
• Jacqueline Kent – A Certain Style: Beatrice Davis, a Literary Life^[44]
• John Kinsella – Auto^[45]
• Roger McDonald – The Tree in Changing Light^[46]
• Hilary McPhee – Other People's Words^[47]
• Peter Rose – Rose Boys^[48]
• Nadia Wheatley – The Life and Myth of Charmian Clift^[49]

Non-Fiction

• Diane Armstrong – The Voyage of Their Life : The Story of the SS Derna and its Passengers^[50]
• Emily Chantiri – The Money Club^[51]
• Jill Jolliffe – Cover-Up: The Inside Story of the Balibo Five^[52]

Awards and honours

Note: these awards were presented in the year in question.

Lifetime achievement

Award	Author
Christopher Brennan Award[53]	Dorothy Porter
Patrick White Award[54]	Geoff Page

Literary

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
The Age Book of the Year Award[55]	Rosemary Dobson	Untold Lives and Later Poems	Brandl and Schlesinger
ALS Gold Medal[56]	Rodney Hall	The Day We Had Hitler Home	Picador
Colin Roderick Award[57]	Peter Rose	Rose Boys	Allen & Unwin
Nita Kibble Literary Award[58]	Inga Clendinnen	Tiger's Eye: A Memoir	Text Publishing

Fiction

International

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Commonwealth Writers' Prize[59]	Best Novel, SE Asia and South Pacific region	Peter Carey	True History of the Kelly Gang	University of Queensland Press
	Best First Novel, SE Asia and South Pacific region	Arabella Edge	The Company	Picador
	Overall winner	Peter Carey	True History of the Kelly Gang	University of Queensland Press
Man Booker Prize[60]		Peter Carey	True History of the Kelly Gang	Faber & Faber

National

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature[61]	Not awarded
The Age Book of the Year Award[55]	Peter Carey	True History of the Kelly Gang	University of Queensland Press
The Australian/Vogel Literary Award[62]	Sarah Hay	Skins	Allen & Unwin
	Catherine Padmore	Sibyl's Cave	Allen & Unwin
Miles Franklin Award[63]	Frank Moorhouse	Dark Palace	Knopf
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards[64]	Alex Miller	Conditions of Faith	Allen & Unwin
Queensland Premier's Literary Awards[65]	Peter Carey	True History of the Kelly Gang	University of Queensland Press
Victorian Premier's Literary Award[66]	Peter Carey	True History of the Kelly Gang	University of Queensland Press
Western Australian Premier's Book Awards[67]	Tim Winton	Dirt Music	Picador

Children and Young Adult

National

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Children's Book of the Year Award	Older Readers	Judith Clarke	Wolf on the Fold	Allen & Unwin
	Younger Readers	Diana Kidd	Two Hands Together	Penguin Books
	Picture Book	Margaret Wild, illus. Ron Brooks	Fox	Allen & Unwin
	Early Childhood	Catherine Jinks, illus. Andrew McLean	You'll Wake the Baby!	Penguin Books
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards[64]	Children's	Margaret Wild, illus. Ron Brooks	Fox	Allen & Unwin
	Young People's	Jaclyn Moriarty	Feeling Sorry for Celia	Pan Macmillan Australia
Queensland Premier's Literary Awards	Children's	Margaret Wild, illus. Ron Brooks	Fox	Allen & Unwin
Victorian Premier's Literary Award[66]	Young Adult Fiction	James Moloney	Touch Me	University of Queensland Press
Western Australian Premier's Book Awards	Writing for Young Adults	Julia Lawrinson	Obsession	Fremantle Arts Centre
	Children's	Deborah Lisson	The Yankee Whaler	Scholastic

Crime and Mystery

National

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Davitt Award[68]	Novel	Caroline Shaw	Eye to Eye	Random House Australia
Ned Kelly Award[69]	Novel	Peter Temple	Dead Point	Bantam Books
		Andrew Masterson	The Second Coming	Flamingo
	First novel	Andrew McGahan	Last Drinks	Allen and Unwin
	True crime	Estelle Blackburn	Broken Lives	Stellar Publishing
	Readers' vote	Lindsay Cameron	Bleeding Hearts	HarperCollins
	Lifetime achievement	Professor Stephen Knight

Science fiction

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Aurealis Award	Sf Novel	Sean Williams & Shane Dix	The Dark Imbalance	Voyager Books
	Sf Short Story	Adam Browne	"The Weatherboard Spaceship"	Aurealis
	Fantasy Novel	Sara Douglass	The Wounded Hawk	Voyager Books
	Fantasy Short Story	Sue Isle	"The Woman of Endor"	Orb
	Horror Novel	Kim Wilkins	Angel of Ruin	Voyager Books
	Horror Short Story	Simon Haynes	"Sleight of Hand"	Potato Monkey
	Young Adult Novel	Louise Katz	The Other Face of Janus	Angus & Robertson
Ditmar Award	Novel	Sean Williams & Shane Dix	Evergence 2: The Dying Light	Ace Books
	Short Fiction	Stephen Dedman	"The Devotee"	Eidolon 29/30
		Terry Dowling	"The Saltimbanques"	Blackwater Days

Poetry

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature[61]	Not awarded
The Age Book of the Year[55]	Rosemary Dobson	Untold Lives and Later Poems	Brandl and Schlesinger
Anne Elder Award[70]	Not awarded
Grace Leven Prize for Poetry[71]	Geoff Page	Darker and Lighter	Five Islands Press
Mary Gilmore Award[72]	Not awarded
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards[64]	Ken Taylor	Africa	Five Islands Press
Queensland Premier's Literary Awards[73]	Brook Emery	and dug my fingers in the sand	Five Islands Press
Victorian Premier's Literary Award[66]	John Mateer	Barefoot Speech	Fremantle Press
Western Australian Premier's Book Awards[67]	Dorothy Hewett	Halfway up the Mountain	Fremantle Arts Centre Press

Drama

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
Patrick White Playwrights' Award[74]	Brendan Cowell	Bed
	Toby Schmitz	Lucky
	Jackie Smith	The Aliens

Non-Fiction

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature[61]	Non-Fiction	Not awarded
The Age Book of the Year[55]	Non-Fiction	Nadia Wheatley	The Life and Myth of Charmian Clift	HarperCollins
National Biography Award[75]	Biography	Not awarded
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards[64]	Non-Fiction	Kim Mahood	Craft for a Dry Lake	Random House Australia
New South Wales Premier's History Awards	Australian History	Tim Bonyhady	The Colonial Earth	Miegunyah Press at Melbourne University Publishing
	Community and Regional History	Carolyn Wadley Dowley	Through Silent Country	Fremantle Arts Centre Press
	General History	Rowena Lennox	Fighting Spirit of East Timor: The Life of Martinho da Costa Lopes	Pluto Press Australia
	Young People's	No award
Queensland Premier's Literary Awards	Non-fiction	Brian Matthews	A Fine and Private Place	Picador
	History	Tim Bonyhady	The Colonial Earth	Miegunyah Press
Victorian Premier's Literary Award[66]	Non-fiction	Anna Haebich	Broken Circles: Fragmenting Indigenous Families 1800–2000	Fremantle Press

Deaths

• 25 February – Don Bradman, cricketer and author (born 1908)^[76]
• 18 September – Amy Witting, novelist (born 1918)^[77]
• 20 September – Patsy Adam-Smith, writer (born 1924)^[78]
• 10 October – Helen Asher, novelist, left bequest for Asher Award (born 1927 in Germany)^[79]

Unknown date

• Peter Bladen, poet (born 1922)^[80]

See also

• 2001 in Australia
• 2001 in literature
• 2001 in poetry
• List of years in literature
• List of years in Australian literature

References

1. "The Trumpeting Angel by Marshall Browne". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
2. "Corfu by Robert Dessaix". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
3. "Past the Headlands by Garry Disher". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
4. "The Artist is a Thief by Stephen Gray". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
5. "The Fog Garden by Marion Halligan". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
6. "An Innocent Gentleman by Elizabeth Jolley". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
7. "Nip 'n' Tuck by Kathy Lette". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
8. "Cafe Scheherazade by Arnold Zable". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
9. "The Waterhole by Graeme Base". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
10. "Moondyne Kate by Garry Disher". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
11. "Have Courage, Hazel Green! by Odo Hirsch". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
12. "Horrible Harriet by Leigh Hobbs". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
13. "Flash Jack by Maureen McCarthy". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
14. "Jinx by Margaret Wild". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
15. "Inspector Anders and the Ship of Fools by Marshall Browne". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
16. "Lugarno by Peter Corris". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
17. "Who Killed Angelique? by Emma Darcy". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
18. "The Devil's Jump by Peter Doyle". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
19. "Away with the Fairies by Kerry Greenwood". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
20. "The Dream Seekers by Patricia Shaw". Austlit. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
21. "The Paramedic's Secret by Lilian Darcy". Austlit. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
22. "The Pregnancy Discovery by Barbara Hannay". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
23. "The Wedding Dare by Barbara Hannay". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
24. "The Ill-Made Mute by Cecilia Dart-Thornton". ISFDB. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
25. "The Skull of the World by Kate Forsyth". ISFDB. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
26. "Betrayal by Fiona McIntosh". ISFDB. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
27. "The Stone Mage and the Sea by Sean Williams". ISFDB. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
28. "Holy Day by Andrew Bovell". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
29. "Keep Everything You Love by David Brown". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
30. "Spurboard by Nick Enright". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
31. "Nowhere by Dorothy Hewett". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
32. "Salt : A Play in Five Helpings by Peta Murray". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
33. "Bombshells by Joanna Murray-Smith". Austlit. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
34. "Miss Tanaka by John Romeril". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
35. "Bestseller by M. T. C. Cronin". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
36. "Collected Poems : 1970–1998 by John Forbes". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
37. "New Selected Poems by Peter Goldsworthy". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
38. "Halfway Up the Mountain by Dorothy Hewett". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
39. "The Hierarchy of Sheep by John Kinsella". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
40. "Max is Missing by Peter Porter". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
41. "By and Large by Chris Wallace-Crabbe". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
42. "The Lovemakers by Alan Wearne". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
43. "Dawn: One Hell of a Life by Dawn Fraser". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
44. "A Certain Style: Beatrice Davis, a Literary Life by Jacqueline Kent". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
45. "Auto by John Kinsella". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
46. "The Tree in Changing Light by Roger McDonald". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
47. "Other People's Words by Hilary McPhee". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
48. "Rose Boys by Peter Rose". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
49. "The Life and Myth of Charmian Clift by Nadia Wheatley". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
50. "The Voyage of Their Life : The Story of the SS Derna and its Passengers by Diane Armstrong". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
51. "The Money Club by Emily Chantiri". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
52. "Cover-Up: The Inside Story of the Balibo Five by Jill Jolliffe". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
53. "Austlit — FAW Christopher Brennan Award". Austlit. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
54. "Austlit — Patrick White Award - Past Winners". Austlit. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
55. ""Poet wins Book of the Year award"". The Age, 25 August 2001, p12. ProQuest 363533531. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
56. "ALS Gold Medal — Previous Winners". Association for the Study of Australian Literature. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
57. "Colin Roderick Award - Other Winners". James Cook University. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
58. "Kibble Literary Award". Australian National University. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
59. "Commonwealth Writers' Prize Regional Winners 1987-2007" (PDF). Commonwealth Foundation. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
60. "Peter Carey | The Booker Prizes". thebookerprizes.com. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
61. "Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature – Past Literary Award Winners". State Library of South Australia. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
62. ""Austlit – Australian/Vogel Award 2000-2002"". Austlit. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
63. "Austlit — Miles Franklin Literary Award (1957-)". Austlit. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
64. ""A boundary writer climbs the mountain"". Sydney Morning Herald, 15 May 2001, p6. ProQuest 363769884. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
65. ""Queensland Premier's Literary Awards - Previous Winners"". Queensland Government. Archived from the original on 17 July 2012. Retrieved 13 May 2025.
66. ""Joining the circles"". The Age, 20 October 2001, p7. ProQuest 363451702. Retrieved 7 February 2025.
67. ""Australian Literary Awards: Western Australian Premier's"". University Libraries, University of Washington. Retrieved 23 May 2025.
68. ""LibraryThing: Davitt Awards 2001"". LibraryThing. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
69. "2001 Ned Kelly Award Winners". Australian Crime Writers. Archived from the original on 27 March 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
70. "Austlit — Anne Elder Award 1998-2000". Austlit. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
71. "Austlit — Grace Leven Poetry Prize 1994-2001". Austlit. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
72. "Mary Gilmore Award". Association for the Study of Australian Literature. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
73. Beattie, Peter (2001), "Ministerial Statement (18 October 2001)", Legislative Assembly Hansard, Queensland.
74. ""Patrick White Playwrights' Award – Past Winners"". Sydney Theatre Company. Retrieved 25 December 2025.
75. ""National Biography Award – Past Winners"". State Library of NSW. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
76. "Bradman, Sir Donald George (Don) (1908–2001) by John Howard". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
77. "Austlit — Amy Witting". Austlit. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
78. "Austlit — Patsy Adam-Smith". Austlit. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
79. "Cemetery record". Centennial Park. Retrieved 28 January 2025.
80. "Austlit — Peter Bladen". Austlit. Retrieved 10 August 2023.

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