This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1999.
Events
Murray Bail won the Miles Franklin Award for Eucalyptus Jan Fullerton was appointed Director General of the National Library of Australia, being the first woman and first internal appointee
Major publications
Novels
Thea Astley — Drylands Lily Brett — Too Many Men Marshall Browne – The Burnt City Kate Grenville — The Idea of Perfection Dorothy Hewett — Neap Tide Julia Leigh — The Hunter Michael Meehan — The Salt of Broken Tears Bruce Pascoe — Shark Dorothy Porter — What a Piece of Work Matthew Reilly — Ice Station Heather Rose — White Heart Kim Scott — Benang Amy Witting — Isobel on the Way to the Corner Shop
Science fiction and fantasy James Bradley — The Deep Field Trudi Canavan – "Whispers of the Mist Children" Sara Douglass — Crusader Kate Forsyth – The Cursed Towers Greg Egan "Border Guards" Teranesia Ian Irvine — Dark is the Moon Juliet Marillier – Daughter of the Forest Sean McMullen – Souls in the Great Machine George Turner – Down There in Darkness
Crime Marshall Browne — The Wooden Leg of Inspector Anders Garry Disher — The Dragon Man Kerry Greenwood – Death Before Wicket Gabrielle Lord – Feeding the Demons Barry Maitland – The Chalon Heads Tara Moss – Fetish Chris Nyst — Cop This! Peter Temple Black Tide Shooting Star
Children's and young adult fiction
Helen Barnes — Killing Aurora Graeme Base — The Worst Band in the Universe Damien Broderick, with Rory Barnes — Stuck in Fast Forward Kim Caraher — Goanna Anna Nick Earls — 48 Shades of Brown Christine Harris — Foreign Devil Sonya Hartnett — Stripes of the Sidestep Wolf Victor Kelleher — The Ivory Trail Dave Luckett — A Dark Victory Markus Zusak — The Underdog
Poetry
Kevin Hart — Wicked Heat John Kinsella — Visitants Jennifer Maiden — Mines Les Murray — Conscious and Verbal
Drama
Van Badham — The Wilderness of Mirrors
Non-fiction
Ian McFarlane — Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop Drusilla Modjeska — Stravinsky's Lunch Les Murray — The Quality of Sprawl: Thoughts about Australia Anne Summers — Ducks on the Pond: An Autobiography 1945–1976 David Walker— Anxious Nation: Australia and the Rise of Asia 1850–1939
Awards and honours
Michael Fitzgerald Page "for service to the book publishing industry and to literature as a writer, and through the encouragement and support of upcoming Australian authors" Frank John Ford "for service to the development of the performing arts in South Australia as a director, playwright, administrator and educator" Kay Saunders "for service to Australian history as a scholar, author and commentator on social issues" John Antill Millett "for service to literature as editor of Poetry Australia"
Lifetime achievement Award Author Christopher Brennan Award Kevin Hart Patrick White Award Gerald Murnane
Literary Award Author Title Publisher The Age Book of the Year Award K. S. Inglis Sacred Places: War Memorials in the Australian Landscape Miegunyah Press ALS Gold Medal Murray Bail Eucalyptus Random House Colin Roderick Award Christopher Koch Out of Ireland Doubleday Nita Kibble Literary Award Geraldine Brooks Foreign Correspondence: A Pen Pal's Journey From DownUnder to All Over Anchor Books
Fiction International
Award Category Author Title PublisherCommonwealth Writers' Prize Best Novel, SE Asia and South Pacific region Murray Bail Eucalyptus Harvill Press Best Overall Novel Murray Bail Eucalyptus Harvill Press
National Award Author Title Publisher Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature Not awarded The Age Book of the Year Award James Bradley The Deep Field Sceptre The Australian/Vogel Literary Award Hsu-Ming Teo Love and Vertigo Allen and Unwin Miles Franklin Award Murray Bail Eucalyptus Random House New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Roger McDonald Mr Darwin's Shooter Random House Queensland Premier's Literary Awards Les Murray Fredy Neptune: A Novel in Verse Duffy & Snellgrove Victorian Premier's Literary Awards Roger McDonald Mr Darwin's Shooter Random House Western Australian Premier's Book Awards Kim Scott Benang : From the Heart Fremantle Arts Centre Press
Crime and Mystery
National Award Category Author Title PublisherNed Kelly Award Novel Peter Doyle Amaze Your Friends Random House First novel Andrew Masterson The Last Days Picador Lifetime Achievement Peter Corris
Children and Young Adult Award Category Author Title PublisherChildren's Book of the Year Award Older Readers Phillip Gwynne Deadly, Unna? Penguin Books Picture Book John Marsden & Shaun Tan The Rabbits LothianNew South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Children's Literature Odo Hirsch Antonio S and the Mystery of Theodore Guzman Allen & Unwin Young People's Literature Garry Disher The Divine Wind Hodder Headline Australia Victorian Premier's Prize for Young Adult Fiction Phillip GwynneDeadly, Unna? Penguin
Poetry
Award Author Title Publisher Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature Not awarded The Age Book of the Year R. A. Simpson The Impossible, and Other Poems Five Islands Press Anne Elder Award Not awarded Grace Leven Prize for Poetry Not awarded Mary Gilmore Award Not awarded New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Lee Cataldi Race Against Time Penguin Books Australia Victorian Premier's Literary Awards Gig Ryan Pure and Applied Paper Bark Press Western Australian Premier's Book Awards Tracy Ryan The Willing Eye Fremantle Arts Centre Press
Drama
Award Category Author TitleNew South Wales Premier's Literary Awards FilmScript Heather Rose, Frederick Stahl and Rolf de Heer Dance Me to My Song Play Scott Rankin and Leah Purcell Box the Pony Victorian Premier's Literary Awards Drama Catherine Zimdahl Clark in Sarajevo
Non-fiction Award Category Author Title Publisher Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature Non-Fiction Not awarded The Age Book of the Year Non-Fiction K. S. Inglis Sacred Places: War Memorials in the Australian Landscape AnchorNational Biography Award Biography Not awarded New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Non-Fiction Ray Parkin H M Bark Endeavour Melbourne University Press Victorian Premier's Literary Awards Non-Fiction Peter Robb M: The Man Who Became Caravaggio Duffy and Snellgrove
Deaths A list, ordered by date of death (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of deaths in 1999 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of birth.
15 February — Gordon Neil Stewart, writer (born 1912) 1 March — Richard Beynon, playwright, actor and television producer (born 1925) 20 April — Ric Throssell, diplomat and author whose writings included novels, plays, film and television scripts and memoirs (born 1922) 8 July — Mavis Thorpe Clark, novelist and writer for children (born 1909) 12 July — Mungo Ballardie MacCallum, journalist, broadcaster and poet (born 1913) 9 October — Morris West, novelist and playwright (born 1916) 16 November — Mal Morgan, poet (born 1936, London, England)
See also
1999 in Australia 1999 in literature 1999 in poetry List of years in literature List of years in Australian literature
References