1965 in Australian literature

Literature-related events in Australia during the year of 1965

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1965.

Major publications

Books

Thea Astley – The Slow Natives
Clive Barry – Crumb Borne
Nancy Cato – North West by South
Don Charlwood – All the Green Year
Catherine Gaskin – The File on Devlin
Donald Horne – The Permit
George Johnston – The Far Face of the Moon
Thomas Keneally – The Fear
Christopher Koch – Across the Sea Wall
Eric Lambert – The Long White Night
D'Arcy Niland – The Apprentices
Randolph Stow – The Merry-Go-Round in the Sea
George Turner – A Waste of Shame
Morris West – The Ambassador

Short stories

Mena Kasmiri Abdullah and Ray Mathew – The Time of the Peacock: Stories
Damien Broderick – A Man Returned
Peter Cowan – The Empty Street: Stories
John K. Ewers – Modern Australian Short Stories (edited)
Thelma Forshaw – "The Mateship Syndrome"
Frank Hardy – The Yarns of Billy Borker
Hal Porter – The Cats of Venice

Children's and Young Adult fiction

Nan Chauncy
- Panic at the Garage
- The Skewbald Pony
Ruth Park
- The Muddle-Headed Wombat in the Treetops
- Ring for the Sorcerer
Joan Phipson – Birkin
Ivan Southall – Ash Road
Eleanor Spence – The Year of the Currawong
Kylie Tennant – Trail Blazers of the Air
Colin Thiele – February Dragon
Patricia Wrightson – Down to Earth

Poetry

Bruce Dawe – A Need of Similar Name
Rosemary Dobson – Cock Crow : Poems
Robert D. Fitzgerald – Forty Years' Poems
A. D. Hope – "Ode on the Death of Pius the Twelfth"
Geoffrey Lehmann & Les Murray – The Ilex Tree
Les Murray – "Noonday Axeman"
Vivian Smith – "At an Exhibition of Historical Paintings, Hobart"

Biography

Martin Boyd – Day of My Delight
Norman Lindsay – Bohemians of the Bulletin

Drama

Patrick White – A Cheery Soul

Awards and honours

Literary

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
ALS Gold Medal^[1]	Patrick White	The Burnt Ones	Penguin Books Australia
Miles Franklin Award^[2]	Thea Astley	The Slow Natives	Angus and Robertson

Children and Young Adult

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Children's Book of the Year Award	Older Readers^[3]	H. F. Brinsmead	Pastures of the Blue Crane	Oxford University Press
Children's Book of the Year Award	Picture Book^[3]	Elisabeth MacIntyre	Hugh's Zoo	Constable Young Books

Poetry

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
Grace Leven Prize for Poetry^[4]	Geoffrey Lehmann & Les Murray	The Ilex Tree	Australian National University Press

Births

A list, ordered by date of birth (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of births in 1965 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of death.

25 March – Melina Marchetta, novelist^[5]
11 September — Cat Sparks, science fiction writer^[6]
29 December – Gideon Haigh, journalist and author^[7]

Unknown date

Michael Farrell, poet^[8]
Fiona McGregor, novelist^[9]
Carrie Tiffany, novelist^[10]
Christos Tsiolkas, novelist^[11]
Charlotte Wood, novelist^[12]

Deaths

A list, ordered by date of death (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of deaths in 1965 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of birth.

28 January – Gertrude Hart, novelist (born 1873)^[13]
29 January – T. Harri Jones, Welsh poet who emigrated to Australia (born 1921)^[14]
17 May – Duke Tritton, poet and folksinger (born 1886)^[15]
28 May – P. R. Stephensen, writer, publisher and political activist (born 1901)^[16]
3 September – Brian Fitzpatrick, author, historian and journalist (born 1905)^[17]
2 November –
- Lex Banning, poet (born 1921 with cerebral palsy and unable to speak clearly or to write with a pen)^[18]
- H.V. Evatt, judge, parliamentarian and writer (born 1894)^[19]

References

^ "ALS Gold Medal — Previous Winners". Association for the Study of Australian Literature. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
^ ""Miles Franklin 1965 : Award to Slow Natives"". The Canberra Times, 22 April 1966, p22. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
^ ^a ^b "Children's Book Awards", The Canberra Times, 3 July 1965, p14
^ Austlit – The Ilex Tree by Geoffrey Lehmann and Les Murray
^ "Melina Marchetta". Austlit. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
^ "Cat Sparks". Austlit. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
^ "Gideon Haigh". Austlit. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
^ "Michael Farrell". Austlit. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
^ "Fiona McGregor". Austlit. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
^ "Carrie Tiffany". Austlit. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
^ "Christos Tsiolkas". Austlit. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
^ "Charlotte Wood". Austlit. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
^ "Austlit — Gertrude Hart (1873-1965)". Austlit. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
^ "Jones, Thomas Henry (1921–1965) by Julian Croft". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
^ "Tritton, Harold Percy Croydon (1886–1965) by John Meredith". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
^ "Austlit — P. R. Stephensen (1901-1965)". Austlit. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
^ "Fitzpatrick, Brian Charles (1905–1965) by Geoffrey Serle". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
^ "Banning, Arthur Alexander (Lex) (1921–1965) by Gavin Souter". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
^ "Evatt, Herbert Vere (Bert) (1894–1965) by G. C. Bolton". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 12 July 2023.