This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 2011.
Events Four authors are named in the Queen's Birthday Honours: Peter FitzSimons, Susanne Gervay, Roland Perry, and Chris Wallace-CrabbeAustralian Writers Named in Queen's Birthday Honours Thomas Keneally donates his personal library to the Sydney Mechanics' School of ArtsKeneally's Library Finds New Home Australian libraries and library associations join together to make 2012 the National Year of ReadingNational Year of Reading in 2012 Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) declares Saturday, 20 August 2011, the inaugural National Bookshop DayNational Bookshop Day Final issue of the "Australian Literary Review" to be published in October 2011Australian Literary Review to Cease Publication Hannie Rayson is the first Australian to be awarded a commission with New York’s Manhattan Theatre ClubHannie Rayson Wins New York Commission Friends and family of biographer Hazel Rowley establish funds to commemorate Rowley’s life and her writing legacy via the Hazel Rowley Literary FundHazel Rowley's Literary Legacy Alison Lester and Boori Monty Pryor are appointed to be Australia’s first Children’s LaureatesAustralia's First Children's Laureates Announced The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) appoints Robert Adamson to hold the inaugural CAL Chair in Australian PoetryUTS Appoints Inaugural CAL Chair in Australian Poetry
Major publications
Literary fiction Tony Birch – Blood Geraldine Brooks – Caleb's Crossing Annah Faulkner – The Beloved Anna Funder – All That I Am Kate Grenville – Sarah Thornhill Gail Jones – Five Bells Jeanine Leane – Purple Threads Gillian Mears – Foal's Bread Alex Miller – Autumn Laing Frank Moorhouse – Cold Light Liane Moriarty – The Hypnotist's Love Story Favel Parrett – Past The Shallows Elliot Perlman – The Street Sweeper Craig Sherborne – The Amateur Science of Love Cory Taylor – Me and Mr Booker Rohan Wilson – The Roving Party Charlotte Wood – Animal People
Children's and Young Adult fiction Alexandra Adornetto – Hades Em Bailey – Shift J. C. Burke – Pig Boy Isobelle Carmody – The Sending Ursula Dubosarsky – The Golden Day Scott Gardner – The Dead I Know Andy Griffiths - The 13-Storey Treehouse Steven Herrick – Black Painted Fingernails Andrew McGahan – The Coming of the Whirlpool Melina Marchetta – Froi of the Exiles Vikki Wakefield – All I Ever Wanted Scott Westerfeld – Goliath
Science fiction and fantasy Max Barry – Machine Man Trudi Canavan – The Rogue Greg Egan – The Clockwork Rocket Will Elliott – Shadow Kim Falconer – Road to the Soul Pamela Freeman – Ember and Ash Richard Harland – Liberator Glenda Larke – Stormlord's Exile Kim Westwood – The Courier's New Bicycle
Crime and mystery Alan Carter – Prime Cut Peter Corris – Follow the Money Garry Disher – Whispering Death Sulari Gentill – A Decline in Prophets Kerry Greenwood – Cooking the Books Malcolm Knox – The Life Stuart Littlemore – Harry Curry: Counsel of Choice Barry Maitland – Chelsea Mansions Kel Robertson – Rip Off Michael Robotham – The Wreckage
Poetry Ali Alizadeh – Ashes in the Air Joanne Burns – Amphora Luke Davies – Interferon Psalms Barry Hill – Lines for Birds: Poems and Paintings John Kinsella – Armour Geoffrey Lehmann and Robert Gray – Australian Poetry Since 1788 (edited) Jaya Savige – Surface to Air
Biography Julian Assange – Julian Assange: The Unauthorised Autobiography A. J. Brown – Michael Kirby: Paradoxes and Principles Eileen Chanin – Book Life: The Life and Times of David Scott Mitchell 1836–1907 Raimond Gaita – After Romulus Mark McKenna – An Eye for Eternity: The Life of Manning Clark Susan Mitchell – Tony Abbott: A Man's Man Christine Nixon – Fair Cop Sue Pieters-Hawke – Hazel: My Mother's Story Alice Pung – Her Father's Daughter David Robert Walker – Not Dark Yet: A Personal History Sarah Watt & William McInnes – Worse Things Happen at Sea
Awards and honours
Lifetime achievement Award Author Christopher Brennan Award Jennifer Harrison Patrick White Award Robert Adamson
Literary Award Author Title Publisher The Age Book of the Year Fiona Kelly McGregor Indelible Ink Scribe Publishing ALS Gold Medal Kim Scott That Deadman Dance Picador Colin Roderick Award Karen Kissane Worst of Days: Inside the Black Saturday Firestorm Hachette Australia Indie Book Awards Book of the Year Anh Do The Happiest Refugee Allen & Unwin Nita Kibble Literary Award Brenda Walker Reading by Moonlight Hamish Hamilton Victorian Prize for Literature Kim Scott That Deadman Dance Picador
Fiction
International Award Region Category Author Title Publisher Commonwealth Writers' Prize SE Asia and South Pacific Best Book Kim Scott That Deadman Dance Picador
National Award Author Title Publisher Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature Not awarded The Age Book of the Year Award Fiona Kelly McGregor Indelible Ink Scribe Publications The Australian/Vogel Literary Award Rohan Wilson The Roving Party Allen & Unwin Barbara Jefferis Award G.L. Osborne Come Inside Clouds of Magellan Colin Roderick Award Gillian Mears Foal's Bread Allen and Unwin Indie Book Awards Book of the Year – Fiction Chris Womersley Bereft Scribe Indie Book Awards Book of the Year – Debut Fiction Jon Bauer Rocks in the Belly Scribe Miles Franklin Award Kim Scott That Deadman Dance Picador Prime Minister's Literary Awards Stephen Daisley Traitor Text Publishing New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Alex Miller Lovesong Allen & Unwin Queensland Premier's Literary Awards Amanda Lohrey Reading Madame Bovary Black Inc. Victorian Premier's Literary Award Kim Scott That Deadman Dance Picador Western Australian Premier's Book Awards Anna Funder All That I Am Penguin Books
Children and Young Adult
National Award Category Author Title PublisherChildren's Book of the Year Award Older Readers Sonya Hartnett The Midnight Zoo Viking Books Younger Readers Isobelle Carmody The Red Wind Viking BooksPicture BookJeanie Baker Mirror Walker BooksNicki Greenberg Hamlet Allen & Unwin Early Childhood Jan Ormerod, illus. Freya Blackwood Maudie Bear Little Hare Books Indie Book Awards Book of the Year Children's & YA Jeannie Baker Mirror Walker BooksNew South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Children's Sophie Masson My Australian Story: The Hunt for Ned Kelly Scholastic Australia Young People'sCath Crowley Graffiti Moon Pan Macmillan AustraliaQueensland Premier's Literary Awards Children's Michael Gerard Bauer Just a Dog Omnibus Books Young AdultBarry Jonsberg Being Here Allen & Unwin Victorian Premier's Literary Award Young Adult Fiction Cassandra Golds The Three Loves of Persimmon Penguin GroupWestern Australian Premier's Book Awards Children's Michelle Gillespie & Sonia Martinez Sam, Grace and the Shipwreck Fremantle Press Writing for Young Adults Penni Russon Only Ever Always Allen and Unwin
Crime and Mystery
National Award Category Author Title PublisherDavitt Award Novel Katherine Howell Cold Justice Pan Macmillan Young Adult novel Penny Matthews A Girl Like Me Penguin True crime Colleen Egan Murderer No More Allen & Unwin Readers' choice P. M. Newton The Old School VikingNed Kelly Award Novel Geoffrey McGeachin The Diggers Rest Hotel Penguin Books First novel Alan Carter Prime Cut Fremantle Press True crime Geesche Jacobsen Abandoned - The Sad Death of Dianne Brimble Allen & Unwin Lifetime achievement Not awarded
Science fiction Award Category Author Title PublisherAurealis Award SF Novel Kim Westwood The Courier's New Bicycle HarperVoyager SF Short Story Robert N. Stephenson "Rains of la Strange" Coeur de Lion Publishing (Anywhere but Earth) Fantasy Novel Pamela Freeman Ember and Ash Hachette Fantasy Short Story Thoraiya Dyer "Fruit of the Pipal Tree" FableCroft Publishing (After the Rain)Horror Short Story Paul Haines "The Past is a Bridge Best Left Burnt" Brimstone Press (The Last Days of Kali Yuga) Lisa L. Hannett "The Short Go: a Future in Eight Seconds" Ticonderoga Publications (Bluegrass Symphony)Australian Shadows Awards Novel No Award Long Fiction Paul Haines "The Past is a Bridge Best Left Burnt" Brimstone Press (The Last Days of Kali Yuga) Short Fiction Amanda J. Spedding "Shovel Man Joe" Shades of Sentience, May 2011 Edited Publication Russell B. Farr, editor Dead Red Heart Ticonderoga Publications Collected Works Brett McBean Tales of Sin and Madness LegumeMan BooksDitmar Award Novel Tansy Rayner Roberts Power and Majesty HarperVoyager Novella/Novelette Thoraiya Dyer "The Company Articles of Edward Teach" Twelfth Planet PressShort Story Cat Sparks "All the Love in the World" Twelfth Planet Press (Sprawl) Kirstyn McDermott "She Said" Morrigan Books (Scenes From the Second Storey) Collected Work Alisa Krasnostein ed. Sprawl Twelfth Planet Press
Poetry Award Author Title Publisher Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature Not awarded The Age Book of the Year John Tranter Starlight: 150 Poems University of Queensland Press Anne Elder Award Rosanna Licari The Weather of Tongues Sunline Grace Leven Prize for Poetry Not awarded Mary Gilmore Prize Not awarded New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Jennifer Maiden Pirate Rain Giramondo Publishing Queensland Premier's Literary Awards John Tranter Starlight: 150 Poems University of Queensland Press Victorian Premier's Literary Award Cate Kennedy The Taste of River Water Scribe Western Australian Premier's Book Awards Tracy Ryan The Argument Fremantle Press
Drama Award Category Author Title PublisherNew South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Play Patricia Cornelius Do Not Go Gentle Currency Press Script Debra Oswald Offspring Southern Star EntertainmentPatrick White Playwrights' Award Award Phillip Kavanagh Little Borders Fellowship Patricia Cornelius
Non-Fiction Award Category Author Title Publisher Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature Non-Fiction Not awarded The Age Book of the Year Non-fiction Jim Davidson A Three-Cornered Life UNSW Press Children's Book of the Year Award Eve Pownall Award for Information Books Ursula Dubosarsky, illus. Tohby Riddle The Return of the Word Spy Viking Books Davitt Award True crime Colleen Egan Murderer No More Allen & Unwin National Biography Award Biography Alasdair McGregor Grand Obsessions: The Life and Work of Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin Lantern Indie Book Awards Book of the Year Non-Fiction Anh Do The Happiest Refugee Allen & Unwin Prime Minister's Literary Awards Non-fictionRod Moss The Hard Light of Day University of Queensland Press New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Non-fiction Malcolm Fraser and Margaret Simons Malcolm Fraser: The Political Memoirs Melbourne University PublishingNew South Wales Premier's History Awards Australian History Penny Russell Savage or Civilised?: Manners in Colonial Australia UNSW Press Community and Regional History Stephen Gapps Cabrogal to Fairfield City: A History of a Multicultural Community Fairfield City Council General History Shane White, Stephen Garton, Stephen Robertson and Graham White Playing the Numbers: Gambling in Harlem Between the Wars Harvard University Press Young People's Kirsty Murray India Dark Allen & UnwinQueensland Premier's Literary Awards Non-fiction Mark McKenna An Eye for Eternity: The Life of Manning Clark Melbourne University Publishing HistoryAlan Powell Northern Voyagers: Australia's monsoon coast in maritime history Australian Scholarly Publishing Victorian Premier's Literary Award Non-fiction Mark McKenna An Eye for Eternity: The Life of Manning Clark Melbourne University PublishingWestern Australian Premier's Book Awards Non-fiction Alice Pung Her Father's Daughter Black Inc. Western Australian history Fiona Skyring Justice: A History of the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia University of Western Australia Press
Deaths 1 March – Hazel Rowley, author (born 1951) 15 June – Anne Godfrey-Smith, poet and theatre producer/director (born 1921)