1992 in Australian literature

Literature-related events in Australia during the year of 1992

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1992.

## Events

[edit]

* Tim Winton won the Miles Franklin Award for Cloudstreet

## Major publications

[edit]

### Novels

[edit]

* Thea Astley – Vanishing Points
* Brian Castro – After China
* Helen Garner – Cosmo Cosmolino
* Peter Goldsworthy – Honk If You Are Jesus[1]
* Marion Halligan – Lovers' Knots
* Janette Turner Hospital – The Last Magician[2]
* Thomas Keneally – Woman of the Inner Sea
* Roger McDonald – Shearers' Motel[3]
* Andrew McGahan – Praise
* Alex Miller – The Ancestor Game

### Children's and young adult fiction

[edit]

* Pamela Allen – Belinda
* Brian Caswell – A Cage of Butterflies
* Garry Disher – The Bamboo Flute
* Anna Fienberg – Ariel, Zed and the Secret of Life[4]
* Joanne Horniman – Sand Monkeys
* Victor Kelleher – Del-Del
* Melina Marchetta – Looking for Alibrandi

### Crime and mystery

[edit]

* Peter Corris
* Beware of the Dog
* Browning, P.I.[5]
* The Japanese Job[6]
* Set Up[7]
* Marele Day – The Last Tango of Dolores Delgado[8]
* Garry Disher – Paydirt[9]
* Kerry Greenwood – Death at Victoria Dock
* Gabrielle Lord – Whipping Boy[10]
* Jan McKemmish – Only Lawyers Dancing[11]

### Science fiction and fantasy

[edit]

* Terry Dowling – Blue Tyson[12]
* Greg Egan
* "The Hundred Light-Year Diary"
* Quarantine
* Sean McMullen – Call to the Edge (short stories)[13]

### Poetry

[edit]

* Beatriz Copello – Women, Souls And Shadows[14]
* Robert Harris – Jane, Interlinear and Other Poems[15]
* A. D. Hope – Selected Poems[16]
* Jill Jones – The Mask and the Jagged Star[17]
* Les Murray – Translations from the Natural World[18]
* Elizabeth Riddell – Selected Poems[19]
* John Tranter — The Floor of Heaven[20]

### Drama

[edit]

* Louis Nowra
* Così
* Summer of the Aliens

### Non-fiction

[edit]

* Robert Adamson – Wards of the State[21]
* Stephanie Dowrick – Intimacy and Solitude[22]
* Sara Henderson – From Strength to Strength: An Autobiography[23]
* A. D. Hope – Chance Encounters[24]
* Ruth Park – A Fence Around the Cuckoo[25]
* Donna Williams – Nobody Nowhere

## Awards and honours

[edit]

* Thea Astley AO for "service to Australian literature"[26]
* Jack Pollard OAM for "service to sport and sporting history"[27]

### Lifetime achievement

[edit]

Award  | Author

|

Christopher Brennan Award[28] | R. A. Simpson
Oodgeroo Noonuccal
Patrick White Award[29] | Peter Cowan

### Literary

[edit]

Award  | Author  | Title  | Publisher

|
|
|

The Age Book of the Year Award[30] | Marion Halligan | Lovers' Knots | Heinemann
ALS Gold Medal[31] | Rodney Hall | The Second Bridegroom | McPhee Gribble
Colin Roderick Award[32] | Ruth Park | A Fence Around the Cuckoo | Viking

### Fiction

[edit]

#### National

[edit]

Award  | Author  | Title  | Publisher

|
|
|

Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature[33] | David Malouf | The Great World | Chatto & Windus
The Age Book of the Year Award[30] | Marion Halligan | Lovers' Knots | Heinemann
The Australian/Vogel Literary Award[34] | Fotini Epanomitis | The Mule's Foal | Allen & Unwin
Miles Franklin Award[35] | Tim Winton | Cloudstreet | Penguin Books
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards[36] | Simon Leys | The Death of Napoleon | Allen & Unwin
Victorian Premier's Literary Awards[37] | Brian Castro | Double-Wolf | Allen & Unwin
Western Australian Premier's Book Awards[38] | Philip Salom | Playback | Fremantle Arts Centre Press

### Poetry

[edit]

Award  | Author  | Title  | Publisher

|
|
|

Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature[33] | Vincent Buckley | Last Poems | McPhee Gribble
Anne Elder Award[39] | Nicolette Stasko | Abundance | Angus & Robertson
Grace Leven Prize for Poetry[40] | Kevin Hart | Dog Fox Field: Poems | Golvan Arts
Gary Catalano | The Empire of Grass : Twenty-Eight Poems : 1983-1989 | University of Queensland Press
Mary Gilmore Award[41] | Alison Croggon | This is the Stone | Penguin
Victorian Premier's Literary Awards[37] | Robert Harris | Jane, Interlinear and Other Poems | Paper Bark Press

### Children and Young Adult

[edit]

Award  | Category  | Author  | Title  | Publisher

|
|
|
|

Victorian Premier's Prize for Young Adult Fiction[37] |  | Eleanor Nilsson  | The House Guest | Viking

### Science fiction and fantasy

[edit]

Award  | Category  | Author  | Title  | Publisher

|
|
|
|

Australian SF Achievement Award[42] | Best Australian Long Fiction  | Terry Dowling | Wormwood | Aphelion
Best Australian Short Fiction  | Sean McMullen | "Alone in His Chariot"  | Eidolon #4 Summer 1991

### Non-fiction

[edit]

Award  | Author  | Title  | Publisher

|
|
|

Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature[33] | David Marr | Patrick White – A Life | Random House Australia
The Age Book of the Year Award[30] | Ruth Park | A Fence Around the Cuckoo | Viking

## Deaths

[edit]

A list, ordered by date of death (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of deaths in 1992 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of birth.

* 28 January — Dora Birtles, novelist, short-story writer, poet and travel writer (born 1903)[43]
* 8 February — Roland Robinson, poet, writer and collector of Australian Aboriginal myths (born 1912)[44]
* 24 May — Beatrice Davis, Australia's first full-time book editor (born 1909)[45]
* 19 June — Jas H. Duke, performance poet (born 1939)[46]
* 22 October — Peter Pinney, novelist and travel writer (born 1922)[47]
* 6 December — Mary Finnin, artist, art teacher and poet (born 1906)[48]
* 21 December — Paul White, missionary, evangelist, radio program host and author of the Jungle Doctor Series (born 1910)[49]

## See also

[edit]

* 1992 in Australia
* 1992 in literature
* 1992 in poetry
* List of years in literature
* List of years in Australian literature

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Honk If You Are Jesus by Peter Goldsworthy". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
2. ^ "The Last Magician by Janette Turner Hospital". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
3. ^ "Shearers' Motel by Roger McDonald". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
4. ^ "Ariel, Zed and the Secret of Life by Anna Fienberg". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
5. ^ "Browning, P.I. by Peter Corris". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
6. ^ "The Japanese Job by Peter Corris". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
7. ^ "Set Up by Peter Corris". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
8. ^ "The Last Tango of Dolores Delgado by Marele Day". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
9. ^ "Paydirt by Garry Disher". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
10. ^ "Whipping Boy by Gabrielle Lord". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
11. ^ "Only Lawyers Dancing by Jan McKemmish". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
12. ^ "Blue Tyson by Terry Dowling". ISFDB. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
13. ^ "Call to the Edge by Sean McMullen". ISFDB. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
14. ^ "Women, Souls And Shadows by Beatriz Copello". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
15. ^ "Jane, Interlinear and Other Poems by Robert Harris". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
16. ^ "Selected Poems by A. D. Hope". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
17. ^ "The Mask and the Jagged Star by Jill Jones". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
18. ^ "Translations from the Natural World by Les Murray". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
19. ^ "Selected Poems by Elizabeth Riddell". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
20. ^ "The Floor of Heaven by John Tranter". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
21. ^ "Wards of the State by Robert Adamson". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
22. ^ "Intimacy and Solitude by Stephanie Dowrick". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
23. ^ "From Strength to Strength: An Autobiography by Sara Henderson". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
24. ^ "Chance Encounters by A. D. Hope". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
25. ^ "A Fence Around the Cuckoo by Ruth Park". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
26. ^ "Thea Beatrice May Astley, AM". honours.pmc.gov.au. Archived from the original on 25 December 2019. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
27. ^ "Jack Ernest Pollard". honours.pmc.gov.au. Archived from the original on 25 December 2019. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
28. ^ "Austlit — FAW Christopher Brennan Award". Austlit. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
29. ^ "Austlit — Patrick White Award - Past Winners". Austlit. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
30. ^ a b c ""Family the theme 'Age' literary winners"". The Age, 5 December 1992, p19. ProQuest 2521744240. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
31. ^ "ALS Gold Medal — Previous Winners". Association for the Study of Australian Literature. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
32. ^ "Colin Roderick Award - Other Winners". James Cook University. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
33. ^ a b c "Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature – Past Literary Award Winners". State Library of South Australia. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
34. ^ "Austlit — The Australian/Vogel National Literary Award 1992". Austlit. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
35. ^ "Austlit — Cloudstreet \- Awards". Austlit. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
36. ^ "Author creates more than a tingle of excitement". Sydney Morning Herald, 5 September 1992, p4. ProQuest 2527534076. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
37. ^ a b c "Castro wins two writers' awards". The Sunday Age, 13 September 1992, p4. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
38. ^ ""Australian Literary Awards: Western Australian Premier's"". University Libraries. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
39. ^ "Austlit — Anne Elder Award 1992-94". Austlit. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
40. ^ "Austlit — Grace Leven Poetry Prize 1991-93". Austlit. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
41. ^ "Mary Gilmore Award". Association for the Study of Australian Literature. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
42. ^ ""Ditmar Awards 1992"". SFADB. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
43. ^ Cushing, Nancy, "Dora Eileen Birtles (1903–1992)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 13 February 2024
44. ^ "Roland Edward Robinson (1912–1992) by Peter Kirkpatrick". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
45. ^ "Beatrice Deloitte Davis (1909–1992) by Beverley Kingston". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
46. ^ "Jas Heriot Duke (1939-1992)". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
47. ^ "Peter Patrick Pinney (1922–1992) by Richard White and Claire Petrie". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
48. ^ Death Notice showing date of death as 6 Dec 1992, including crossreference to married name Mary Connellan, The Age, published 7 Dec 1992, via Ryerson Index
49. ^ Hawkesbury on the Net, Paul White's grave Retrieved 1 June 2009

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