2012 in Australian literature

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 2012.

Events

• Clive James is made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for "services to literature and the media" in the Queen Elizabeth II's New Year Honours List.[1]
• Five literary figures are named in the Australia Day Honours: Paul Brunton, Stuart Macintyre, Roy Masters, Ros Pesman and Carol Woodrow.[2]
• Peter Carey is the recipient of the Bodleian Libraries' 2012 Bodley Medal. The medal is awarded by the Bodleian Libraries of the University of Oxford "to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the worlds in which the Bodleian is active: literature, culture, science, and communication".[3]
• Incoming Premier Campbell Newman cancels the Queensland Premier's Literary Awards.[4]
• In response, a week later, the new Queensland Literary Awards are announced.[5] The awards use a crowd-funding campaign to raise the prize-money for their initial set of awards.[6]
• Sophie Cunningham is appointed as the new head of the Australian Literature Board.[7]
• In the Queen's Birthday Honours, Peter Carey, Barbara Blackman, Rolf Harris, and Liz Jones were appointed Officers of the Order of Australia (AO), Grahame Bond and Peter Steele were appointed Members of the Order of Australia (AM), and Peter Singer was appointed Companion of the Order of Australia (AC).[8]
• Text Publishing launches its Text Classics line, reprinting Australian literary classics.[9]
• Melbourne City Council unveils "Literature Lane", a small laneway off Little LaTrobe Street near the State Library of Victoria, in recognition of Melbourne's status as a UNESCO City of Literature.[10]
• The Grace Leven Prize for Poetry was discontinued.[11]

Major publications

Literary fiction

• Romy Ash – Floundering
• Murray Bail – The Voyage
• Peter Carey – The Chemistry of Tears
• Brian Castro – Street to Street
• Michelle de Kretser – Questions of Travel
• Annah Faulkner – The Beloved
• Susan Johnson – My Hundred Lovers
• Toni Jordan – Nine Days
• Tom Keneally – The Daughters of Mars
• Christopher Koch – Lost Voices
• Drusilla Modjeska – The Mountain
• Stephanie Radok – An Opening: twelve love stories about art
• Graeme Simsion – The Rosie Project
• M. L. Stedman – The Light Between Oceans
• Carrie Tiffany – Mateship with Birds
• Patrick White – The Hanging Garden
• Sue Woolfe – The Oldest Song in the World

Children's and Young Adult fiction

• Michael Gerard Bauer – Epic Fail[12]
• Mem Fox
  • Good Night, Sleep Tight
  • Tell Me About Your Day Today
  • Two Little Monkeys
• Jackie French – Pennies for Hitler[13]
• Morris Gleitzman – After[14]
• Sonya Hartnett – Children of the King[15]
• Steven Herrick – Pookie Aleera Is Not My Boyfriend[16]
• Doug MacLeod – The Shiny Guys[17]
• Emily Rodda – The Silver Door[18]
• Carole Wilkinson – Blood Brothers[19]

Science Fiction and Fantasy

• John Birmingham – Stalin's Hammer: Rome[20]
• Trudi Canavan – The Traitor Queen
• Greg Egan – The Eternal Flame
• Will Elliott – Nightfall[21]
• Jennifer Fallon – The Dark Divide[22]
• Ian Irvine – Rebellion[23]
• Margo Lanagan – Sea Hearts[24]
• Jaclyn Moriarty – A Corner of White[25]
• Garth Nix – A Confusion of Princes

Crime and Mystery

• Jessie Cole – Darkness on the Edge of Town
• Peter Corris – Comeback
• Kathryn Fox – Cold Grave
• Kerry Greenwood – Unnatural Habits
• Katherine Howell – Silent Fear
• L. A. Larkin – Thirst
• Gabrielle Lord – Death by Beauty
• Zane Lovitt – The Midnight Promise
• Colleen McCullough – The Prodigal Son
• Geoffrey McGeachin – Blackwattle Creek
• Adrian McKinty – The Cold, Cold Ground
• Tara Moss – Assassin
• Malla Nunn – Silent Valley
• Michael Robotham – Say You're Sorry

Poetry

• Rosemary Dobson – Rosemary Dobson: Collected
• Kate Fagan (poet) – First Light
• Robert Gray – Cumulus: Collected Poems
• John Kinsella – Jam Tree Gully: Poems
• Kate Lilley – Ladylike
• Rhyll McMaster – Late Night Shopping
• Jennifer Maiden – Liquid Nitrogen
• Les Murray ed. – The Quadrant Book of Poetry 2001–2010
• John Shaw Neilson – Collected Verse of John Shaw Neilson
• Peter Rose – Crimson Crop
• Randolph Stow – The Land's Meaning: New Selected Poems (edited by John Kinsella)
• John Tranter ed. – The Best Australian Poems 2012

Biography

• John Bailey – Into the Unknown: The Tormented Life and Expeditions of Ludwig Leichhardt
• Daryl Dellora – Michael Kirby: Law, Love and Life
• Gideon Haigh – On Warne
• Jenny Hocking – Gough Whitlam: His Time: Volume 2
• J. C. Kannemeyer – J. M. Coetzee: A Life in Writing
• Malcolm Knox – Bradman's War: How the 1948 Invincibles Turned the Cricket Pitch into a Battlefield
• Mungo MacCallum – The Good, the Bad and the Unlikely: Australia's Prime Ministers
• David McKnight – Rupert Murdoch: An Investigation of Political Power
• Brenda Niall – True North: The Story of Mary and Elizabeth Durack

Drama

• Ian Meadows – Between Two Waves
• Tee O'Neill – Barassi

Awards and honours

Lifetime achievement

Award	Author
Christopher Brennan Award[26]	Tim Thorne
Melbourne Prize for Literature[27]	Alex Miller
Patrick White Award[28]	Amanda Lohrey

Literary

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
The Age Book of the Year[29]	James Boyce	1835: The Founding of Melbourne & The Conquest of Australia	Black Inc
ALS Gold Medal[30]	Gillian Mears	Foal's Bread	Allen & Unwin
Colin Roderick Award[31]	Thomas Keneally	The Daughters of Mars	Random House
Indie Book Awards Book of the Year[32]	Anna Funder	All That I Am	Penguin Books
Nita Kibble Literary Award[33]	Gail Jones	Five Bells	Vintage Books
Victorian Prize for Literature[34]	Bill Gammage	The Biggest Estate on Earth	Allen & Unwin

Fiction

International

Award	Region	Author	Title	Publisher
Commonwealth Book Prize[35]	Pacific	Cory Taylor	Me and Mr Booker	Text Publishing

National

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature[36]	Kim Scott	That Deadman Dance	Picador
The Age Book of the Year Award[29]	Gillian Mears	Foal's Bread	Allen & Unwin
The Australian/Vogel Literary Award[37]	Paul D. Carter	Eleven Seasons	Allen & Unwin
Barbara Jefferis Award[38]	Anna Funder	All That I Am	Penguin Books
Indie Book Awards Book of the Year – Fiction[32]	Elliot Perlman	The Street Sweeper	Vintage Books
Indie Book Awards Book of the Year – Debut Fiction[32]	Anna Funder	All That I Am	Penguin Books
Miles Franklin Award[39]	Anna Funder	All That I Am	Penguin Books
Prime Minister's Literary Awards[40]	Gillian Mears	Foal's Bread	Allen & Unwin
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards[41]	Kim Scott	That Deadman Dance	Picador
Queensland Literary Awards[42]	Frank Moorhouse	Cold Light	Vintage Australia
Victorian Premier's Literary Award[34]	Gillian Mears	Foal's Bread	Allen & Unwin
Western Australian Premier's Book Awards	Michelle de Kretser	Questions of Travel	Allen & Unwin

Children and Young Adult

National

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Children's Book of the Year Award[43]	Older Readers	Scott Gardner	The Dead I Know	Allen & Unwin
	Younger Readers	Kate Constable	Crow Country	Allen & Unwin
	Picture Book	Bob Graham	A Bus Called Heaven	Walker Books
	Early Childhood	Nick Bland, illus. Freya Blackwood	Maudie Bear	Scholastic Press
Indie Book Awards Book of the Year[32]	Children's & YA	Anh Do & Suzanne Do & Bruce Whatley (Illus)	The Little Refugee	Allen & Unwin
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards	Children's	Kate Constable	Crow Country	Allen & Unwin
	Young People's	Penni Russon	Only Ever Always	Allen & Unwin
Queensland Literary Awards	Children's	Briony Stewart	Kumiko and the Shadow Catchers	University of Queensland Press
	Young Adult	Neil Grant	The Ink Bridge	Allen & Unwin
Victorian Premier's Literary Award[34]	Young Adult Fiction	John Larkin	The Shadow Girl	Random House
Western Australian Premier's Book Awards	Children's	Stephen Herrick	Pookie Aleera Is Not My Boyfriend	University of Queensland Press
		Peter Macinnis	Australian Backyard Naturalist	National Library of Australia
	Writing for Young Adults	Margo Lanagan	Sea Hearts	Allen and Unwin

Crime and Mystery

National

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Davitt Award[44]	Novel	Sulari Gentill	A Decline in Prophets	Pantera Press
	Young adult novel	Meg McKinlay	Surface Tension	Walker Books
	True crime	Liz Porter	Cold Case Files: Past Crimes Solved by New Forensic Science	Pan Macmillan
	Debut novel	Jaye Ford	Beyond Fear	Bantam Books
	Readers' choice	YA Erskine	The Brotherhood	Bantam Books
		Jaye Ford	Beyond Fear	Bantam Books
Ned Kelly Award[45]	Novel	J. C. Burke	Pig Boy	Random House Australia
	First novel	Peter Twohig	The Cartographer	Fourth Estate
	True crime	Eamonn Duff	Sins of the Father: The Untold Story Behind Schapelle Corby's Ill-Fated Drug Run	Allen & Unwin
	Life achievement	Gabrielle Lord

Science fiction

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Aurealis Award	SF Novel	Daniel O'Malley	The Rook	HarperCollins
	SF Short Story	Margo Lanagan	"Significant Dust"	Twelfth Planet Press (Cracklescape)
	Fantasy Novel	Margo Lanagan	Sea Hearts	Allen & Unwin
	Fantasy Short Story	Margo Lanagan	"Bajazzle"	Twelfth Planet Press (Cracklescape)
	Horror Novel	Kirstyn McDermott	Perfections	Xuom
	Horror Short Story	Kaaron Warren	"Sky"	Twelfth Planet Press (Through Splintered Walls)
	Anthology	Jonathan Strahan	The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year Volume 6	Night Shade Books
	Collection	K. J. Bishop	That Book Your Mad Ancestor Wrote	K. J. Bishop
Australian Shadows Awards	Novel	Kirstyn McDermott	Perfections	Xoum
	Long Fiction	Kaaron Warren	"Sky"	Through Splintered Walls: A Twelve Planets Collection edited by Alisa Krasnostein
	Short Fiction	Martin J. Livings	"Birthday Suit"	Living with the Dead by Martin J. Livings
	Edited Publication	Craig Bezant, editor	Surviving The End	Dark Prints Press
	Collected Works	Kaaron Warren	Through Splintered Walls: A Twelve Planets Collection	Twelfth Planet Press
Ditmar Award	Novel	Kim Westwood	The Courier's New Bicycle	HarperVoyager
	Novella/Novelette	Paul Haines	"The Past is a Bridge Best Left Burnt"	The Last Days of Kali Yuga
	Short Story	Tansy Rayner Roberts	"The Patrician"	Love and Romanpunk
	Collected Work	Paul Haines	The Last Days of Kali Yuga	Brimstone

Poetry

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature[36]	Les Murray	Taller When Prone	Black Inc Publishing
The Age Book of the Year	Mal McKimmie	The Brokenness Sonnets I-III And Other Poems	Five Islands Press
Anne Elder Award[46]	Elizabeth Allen	Body Language	Vagabond Press
Grace Leven Prize for Poetry[47]	Toby Fitch	Rawshock	Puncher and Wattmann
	Michael Brennan	Autoethnographic	Giramondo Publishing
	Laurie Duggan	The Collected Blue Hills	Puncher and Wattmann
	John Kinsella	Jaguar's Dream	Alma Books
	Michael Sharkey	Another Fine Morning in Paradise	Five Island Press
Mary Gilmore Prize[48]	Fiona Wright	Knuckled	Giramondo Publishing
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards	Gig Ryan	New and Selected Poems	Giramondo Publishing
Queensland Literary Awards	Peter Rose	Crimson Crop	UWA Publishing
Victorian Premier's Literary Award[34]	John Kinsella	Armour	Picador
Western Australian Premier's Book Awards	Robert Gray	Cumulus	John Leonard Press

Drama

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards	Play	Joanna Murray-Smith	The Gift	Melbourne Theatre Company
		Vanessa Bates	Porn.Cake	Beckett Theatre, Melbourne
	Script	Peter Duncan	Rake (Episode 1): "R v Murray"	ABC Television
Patrick White Playwrights' Award	Award	Anna Barnes	Minus One Sister	Griffin Theatre Company
	Fellowship	Hilary Bell

Non-Fiction

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature[36]	Non-fiction	Mark McKenna	An Eye for Eternity: The Life of Manning Clark	Miegunyah Press
The Age Book of the Year	Non-fiction	James Boyce	1835: The Founding of Melbourne & The Conquest of Australia	Black Inc.
Children's Book of the Year Award	Eve Pownall Award for Information Books	Alison Lester and Coral Tulloch	One Small Island: The Story of Macquarie Island	Penguin Group
Davitt Award	True crime	Liz Porter	Cold Case Files: Past crimes solved by new forensic science	Pan Macmillan
National Biography Award[49]	Biography	Martin Thomas	The Many Worlds of R. H. Mathews: In Search of an Australian Anthropologist	Allen & Unwin
Indie Book Awards Book of the Year[32]	Non-Fiction	William McInnes & Sarah Watt	Worse Things Happen at Sea	Hachette
Prime Minister's Literary Awards	Non-fiction	Mark McKenna	An Eye for Eternity: The Live of Manning Clark	Melbourne University Publishing
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards	Non-fiction	Mark McKenna	An Eye for Eternity: The Live of Manning Clark	Melbourne University Publishing
New South Wales Premier's History Awards	Australian History	Russell McGregor	Indifferent Inclusion: Aboriginal People and the Australian Nation	Aboriginal Studies Press
	Community and Regional History	Deborah Beck	Set in Stone: A History of the Cell Block Theatre	UNSW Press
	General History	Tim Bonyhady	Good Living Street: The Fortunes of My Viennese Family	Allen & Unwin
	Young People's	Stephanie Owen Reeder	Amazing Grace: An Adventure at Sea	National Library of Australia
Queensland Literary Awards	Non-fiction	Robin De Crespigny	The People Smuggler	Penguin Group
	History	Bill Gammage	The Biggest Estate on Earth: How Aborigines Made Australia	Allen & Unwin
Victorian Premier's Literary Award[34]	Non-fiction	Bill Gammage	The Biggest Estate on Earth: How Aborigines Made Australia	Allen & Unwin
Western Australian Premier's Book Awards	Non-fiction	Roger Averill (author)	Exile: The Lives and Hopes of Werner Pelz	Transit Lounge
	Western Australian history	edited by Anne Scrimgeour; transcribed and translated by Barbara Hale, Mark Clendon	Kurlumarniny: We come from the Desert	Aboriginal Studies Press

Deaths

• 14 April – Bruce Bennett, literary academic (born 1941)[50]
• 18 June – Don Charlwood, writer (born 1915)[51]
• 24 June – Ralph Elliott, critic and academic (born 1921)[52]
• 27 June –
  • Rosemary Dobson, poet (born 1920)[53]
  • Peter Steele, poet (born 1939)[54]
• 6 August – Robert Hughes, writer and critic (born 1938)[55]
• 20 September – Robert G. Barrett, novelist (born 1942)[56]
• 14 October – Max Fatchen, writer for children (born 1920)[57]
• 22 November – Bryce Courtenay, novelist (born 1933 in Johannesburg)[58]

See also

• 2012 in Australia
• 2012 in literature
• 2012 in poetry
• List of years in Australian literature
• List of years in literature
• List of Australian literary awards

References

1. British Honour for Clive James
2. Australia Day Honours
3. Carey Wins Oxford's Bodley Medal
4. Queensland Premier's Literary Awards Cancelled
5. Queensland Literary Awards to Proceed Under New Management
6. Queensland Literary Awards Funding
7. Literature Board's New Head
8. Queen's Birthday Honours 2012
9. Australian Writers Back in Print
10. Literature Lane
11. "Toby Fitch's Rawshock wins Grace Leven Poetry Prize". Puncher & Wattmann. 23 July 2013. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
12. "Epic Fail by Michael Gerard Bauer". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
13. "Pennies for Hitler by Jackie French". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
14. "After by Morris Gleitzman". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
15. "Children of the King by Sonya Hartnett". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
16. "Pookie Aleera Is Not My Boyfriend by Steven Herrick". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
17. "The Shiny Guys by Doug MacLeod". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
18. "The Silver Door by Emily Rodda". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
19. "Blood Brothers by Carole Wilkinson". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
20. "Stalin's Hammer: Rome by John Birmingham". ISFDB. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
21. "Nightfall by Will Elliott". ISFDB. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
22. "The Dark Divide by Jennifer Fallon". ISFDB. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
23. "Rebellion by Ian Irvine". ISFDB. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
24. "Sea Hearts by Margo Lanagan". ISFDB. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
25. "A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty". ISFDB. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
26. ""THORNE, Tim—poetry, 'Running out of Entropy'"". Walleah Press. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
27. "Austlit — Melbourne Prize". Austlit. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
28. Susan Wyndham (16 November 2012). "Religion shapes winner's prose". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
29. Steger, Jason (24 August 2012). "The words that count". The Age. Archived from the original on 13 June 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
30. "ALS Gold Medal — Previous Winners". Association for the Study of Australian Literature. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
31. "Colin Roderick Award — Other Winners". James Cook University. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
32. ""Indie Book Awards - Winners 2012 & prior"". Australian Independent Booksellers. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
33. "Kibble Literary Award". Australian National University. 9 June 2009. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
34. "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2012". The Wheeler Centre. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
35. "Commonwealth Writers announces regional winners for 2012 prizes". Commonwealth Writers. 21 May 2012. Archived from the original on 25 May 2012. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
36. "Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature – Past Literary Award Winners". State Library of South Australia. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
37. ""Austlit – Australian/Vogel Award 2009-2012"". Austlit. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
38. ""Barbara Jefferis Award"". Australian Society of Authors. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
39. Nancarrow, Daniel (20 June 2012). "Anna Funder's All That I Am wins Miles Franklin". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
40. ""Prime Minister's Literary Awards - Shortlist and winners: 2021-2008"". Creative Australia. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
41. ""Huge power in sparse narratives"". The Age, 20 May 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
42. ""2012 Winners (Queensland Literary Awards)"". State Library of Queensland. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
43. ""CBCA – Winners 2012"". CBCA. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
44. ""LibraryThing: Davitt Awards 2012"". LibraryThing. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
45. "Ned Kelly Award Winners 2012 Announced". Readings Books. 29 August 2012. Archived from the original on 10 November 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
46. "Austlit — Anne Elder Award (2011-2013)". Austlit. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
47. "Austlit — Grace Leven Poetry prize (2008-2012)". Austlit. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
48. "Mary Gilmore Award". Association for the Study of Australian Literature. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
49. "Dr Martin Thomas wins 2012 National Biography Award". Australian National University. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
50. "Bruce Bennett (1941-2012)". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
51. "D. E. Charlwood (1915-2012)". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
52. "Ralph Elliott (1921-2012)". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
53. "Rosemary Dobson (1920-2012)". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
54. "Peter Steele (1939-2012)". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
55. "Robert Hughes (1938-2012)". Austlit. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
56. "Robert G. Barrett (1942-2012)". Austlit. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
57. "Max Fatchen (1920-2012)". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
58. "Bryce Courtenay (1933-2012)". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 16 February 2024.