1977 in Australian literature

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1977.

Events

Ruth Park won the 1977 Miles Franklin Award for Swords and Crowns and Rings

Major publications

Books

Jon Cleary – High Road to China
Helen Garner – Monkey Grip
Thomas Keneally – A Victim of the Aurora
Colleen McCullough – The Thorn Birds
Ruth Park – Swords and Crowns and Rings

Short stories

Frank Moorhouse – Tales of Mystery and Romance

Science fiction and fantasy

A. Bertram Chandler
- The Far Traveller^[1]
- Star Courier^[2]
Lee Harding — The Weeping Sky^[3]
David Lake
- The Right Hand of Dextra^[4]
- The Wildings of Westron^[5]
Cherry Wilder — The Luck of Brin's Five^[6]

Children's and young adult fiction

Joan Phipson – Fly into Danger
Eleanor Spence – A Candle for St. Antony
Patricia Wrightson – The Ice Is Coming

Poetry

Robert Adamson – Cross The Border
Nancy Keesing – Hails and Farewells
Jennifer Maiden – Mortal Details
Les Murray – Ethnic Radio
John Tranter – Crying in Early Infancy: 100 Sonnets

Drama

Dorothy Hewett – The Golden Oldies
Peter Kenna
- Mates
- Trespassers Will Be Prosecuted
Louis Nowra – Inner Voices
Patrick White – Big Toys
David Williamson – The Club

Non-fiction

Blanche d'Alpuget – Mediator: A biography of Sir Richard Kirby
Zelda D'Aprano – Zelda: The becoming of a woman
Fred Daly – From Curtin to Kerr
John Edwards – Life Wasn't Meant to Be Easy: A political profile of Malcolm Fraser
Paul Hasluck – Mucking About: An Autobiography

Awards and honours

Order of Australia

Eleanor Dark appointed Officer of the Order of Australia (AO)^[7]
Colin Thiele appointed Companion of the Order of Australia (AC)^[8]

Lifetime achievement

Award	Author
Christopher Brennan Award^[9]	Gwen Harwood
Patrick White Award^[10]	Sumner Locke Elliott

Literary

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
The Age Book of the Year Award^[11]	No award
ALS Gold Medal^[12]	No award
Colin Roderick Award^[13]	Alan Marshall	The Complete Stories of Alan Marshall	Thomas Nelson

Fiction

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
The Age Book of the Year Award^[11]	No award
Miles Franklin Award^[14]	Ruth Park	Swords and Crowns and Rings	Nelson Books

Children and Young Adult

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Children's Book of the Year Award	Older Readers^[15]	Eleanor Spence	The October Child	Oxford University Press
Children's Book of the Year Award	Picture Book	No award

Poetry

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
Anne Elder Award^[16]	Laurie Duggan	East: Poems 1970-74	R. Kenny
Anne Elder Award^[16]	Graeme Curtis	At Last No Reply	Makar Press
Grace Leven Prize for Poetry^[17]	Robert Adamson	Selected Poems	Angus & Robertson

Non-fiction

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
The Age Book of the Year Award^[11]	No award

Births

A list, ordered by date of birth (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of births in 1977 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of death.

7 August — Patrick Holland, novelist and short story writer^[18]

Unknown date

Jennifer Mills — novelist, short story writer and poet^[19]

Deaths

A list, ordered by date of death (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of deaths in 1977 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of birth.

10 July – Alec Chisholm, journalist, ornithologist and encyclopaedist (born 1890)^[20]
22 August – Leon Gellert, poet (born 1892)^[21]
2 September – Pat Flower, playwright, television scriptwriter and crime novelist (born 1914)^[22]
12 September – Les Haylen, politician, playwright, novelist and journalist (born 1898)^[23]

References

^ "The Far Traveller by A. Bertram Chandler". ISFDB. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
^ "Star Courier by A. Bertram Chandler". ISFDB. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
^ "The Weeping Sky by Lee Harding". ISFDB. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
^ "The Right Hand of Dextra by David Lake". ISFDB. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
^ "The Wildings of Westron by David Lake". ISFDB. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
^ "The Luck of Brin's Five by Cherry Wilder". ISFDB. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
^ "Full list for Order of Australia". Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995). 26 January 1977. p. 12. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
^ "Colin Milton Thiele". honours.pmc.gov.au. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
^ "Harwood, Gwendoline Nessie (Gwen) (1920–1995) by Alison Hoddinott". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
^ "Austlit — Patrick White Award - Past Winners". Austlit. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Austlit — The Age Book of the Year Award". Austlit. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
^ "ALS Gold Medal — Previous Winners". Association for the Study of Australian Literature. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
^ "Other Winners". www.jcu.edu.au. 15 November 2017. Archived from the original on 20 April 2019. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
^ Eccleshare, Julia (7 January 2011). "Ruth Park obituary". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
^ Spence, Eleanor; Green, Malcolm (1977). The October child. Melbourne: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195505474.
^ "Austlit — Anne Elder Award 1977-78". Austlit. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
^ "Adamson, Robert - Poet - Australian Poetry Library". www.poetrylibrary.edu.au. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
^ "Patrick Holland". Austlit. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
^ "Jennifer Mills". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
^ "Chisholm, Alexander Hugh (Alec) (1890-1977)". Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
^ "Gellert, Leon Maxwell (1892–1977) by Gavin Souter". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
^ "Flower, Patricia Mary (Pat) (1914–1977) by Susan Lever". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
^ "Haylen, Leslie Clement (Les) (1898–1977) by R. E. Northey". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 3 July 2023.