List of years in Australian literature

This page gives a chronological list of years in Australian literature (descending order), with notable publications and events listed with their respective years. The time covered in individual years covers the period of European settlement of the country.

See Table of years in literature for an overview of all "year in literature" pages.

21st century

2010s

• 2015 in Australian literature – Death of Veronica Brady; Death of Colleen McCullough; The Other Side of the World — Stephanie Bishop; Clade – James Bradley; Clariel – Garth Nix; Quicksand – Steve Toltz; The Natural Way of Things – Charlotte Wood; Life or Death – Michael Robotham wins the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger award (UK)
• 2014 in Australian literature – Death of Morris Lurie; Death of Liam Davison; The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan wins the 2014 Man Booker Prize; Amnesia – Peter Carey; In Certain Circles – Elizabeth Harrower; The Eye of the Sheep – Sofie Laguna; The Golden Age – Joan London
• 2013 in Australian literature – Death of Christopher Koch; Death of Keith Dunstan; The Childhood of Jesus – J.M. Coetzee; The Narrow Road to the Deep North – Richard Flanagan; Burial Rites – Hannah Kent; Eyrie – Tim Winton; All The Birds, Singing – Evie Wyld
• 2012 in Australian literature – Death of Rosemary Dobson; Death of Bryce Courtenay; Death of Max Fatchen; Death of Robert Hughes; The Chemistry of Tears – Peter Carey; Questions of Travel – Michelle de Kretser; The Rosie Project – Graeme Simsion; The Hanging Garden – Patrick White
• 2011 in Australian literature – Death of T. A. G. Hungerford; Death of Hazel Rowley; Death of Sara Douglass; All That I Am – Anna Funder; Sarah Thornhill – Kate Grenville; Foal's Bread – Gillian Mears
• 2010 in Australian literature – Death of Jessica Anderson; Death of Ruth Park; Death of Peter Porter; Death of David Rowbotham; Death of Patricia Wrightson; Beautiful Malice – Rebecca James; That Deadman Dance – Kim Scott; Bereft – Chris Womersley

2000s

• 2009 in Australian literature – Parrot and Olivier in America – Peter Carey; Ransom – David Malouf
• 2008 in Australian literature – Death of Dorothy Porter; Death of Ivan Southall; Death of Eleanor Spence; The Spare Room – Helen Garner; The Slap – Christos Tsiolkas; Breath – Tim Winton; Sonya Hartnett receives the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award
• 2007 in Australian literature – Death of Elizabeth Jolley; The Time We Have Taken – Steven Carroll; The Zookeeper's War – Steven Conte; The Lost Dog – Michelle de Kretser; The Broken Shore – Peter Temple wins the Crime Writers' Association Duncan Lawrie Dagger award (UK)
• 2006 in Australian literature – Death of Colin Thiele; The Arrival – Shaun Tan; Carpentaria – Alexis Wright
• 2005 in Australian literature – Death of Donald Horne; The Secret River – Kate Grenville; A Commonwealth of Thieves: The Improbable Birth of Australia – Tom Keneally; The Ballad of Desmond Kale – Roger McDonald
• 2004 in Australian literature – Death of Thea Astley; Sixty Lights – Gail Jones; The White Earth – Andrew McGahan
• 2003 in Australian literature – Death of Joan Phipson; Mangroves – Laurie Duggan; The Great Fire – Shirley Hazzard wins the National Book Award (USA)
• 2002 in Australian literature – Death of Dorothy Hewett; Moral Hazard – Kate Jennings; Journey to the Stone Country – Alex Miller
• 2001 in Australian literature – Quarterly Essay publishes its first issue; True History of the Kelly Gang – Peter Carey wins the Man Booker Prize; Gould's Book of Fish – Richard Flanagan; Stravinsky's Lunch – Drusilla Modjeska; Dirt Music – Tim Winton
• 2000 in literature – Death of A. D. Hope; Death of Judith Wright; The Day We Had Hitler Home – Rodney Hall; Dark Palace – Frank Moorhouse

20th century

1990s

• 1999 in literature – Death of Morris West; Drylands – Thea Astley; The Idea of Perfection – Kate Grenville; Fredy Neptune – Les Murray; Benang – Kim Scott
• 1998 in literature – Death of Geoffrey Dutton; Death of Elizabeth Riddell; Eucalyptus – Murray Bail; Romulus, My Father – Raymond Gaita
• 1997 in literature – Death of Dal Stivens; Death of George Turner; The Endeavour Journal of Sir Joseph Banks, 1768–71 – Joseph Banks; Jack Maggs – Peter Carey
• 1996 in literature – Death of P. L. Travers; A Mapmaker's Dream – James Cowan; The Glade within the Grove – David Foster; Remembering Babylon – David Malouf wins the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award; Subhuman Redneck Poems – Les Murray
• 1995 in literature – Death of Gwen Harwood; The First Stone – Helen Garner; Highways to a War – Christopher Koch
• 1994 in literature – Death of Frank Hardy; The Hand That Signed the Paper – Helen Demidenko; Permutation City – Greg Egan; The Monkey's Mask – Dorothy Porter
• 1993 in literature – Death of Nancy Keesing; The Grisly Wife – Rodney Hall; Grand Days – Frank Moorhouse; Looking for Alibrandi – Melina Marchetta; Christina Stead: A Biography – Hazel Rowley
• 1992 in literature – Honk If You Are Jesus – Peter Goldsworthy; Praise – Andrew McGahan; The Ancestor Game – Alex Miller
• 1991 in literature – Death of Manning Clark; Our Sunshine – Robert Drewe; Patrick White: A Life – David Marr; Cloudstreet – Tim Winton
• 1990 in literature – Death of Patrick White; Cabin Fever – Elizabeth Jolley; The Great World – David Malouf

1980s

• 1989 in literature – The Power of One – Bryce Courtenay; Oceana Fine – Tom Flood; Maestro – Peter Goldsworthy; I for Isobel – Amy Witting
• 1988 in literature – Oscar and Lucinda – Peter Carey wins the Man Booker Prize
• 1987 in literature – Dancing on Coral – Glenda Adams; The Songlines – Bruce Chatwin; The Fatal Shore – Robert Hughes; Louisa – Brian Matthews; My Place – Sally Morgan; The Sea and Summer – George Turner; Emerald City – David Williamson
• 1986 in literature – The Well – Elizabeth Jolley; Julia Paradise – Rod Jones
• 1985 in literature – Lillian's Story – Kate Grenville; The Doubleman – Christopher Koch
• 1984 in literature – Death of Xavier Herbert; Milk and Honey – Elizabeth Jolley; Shallows – Tim Winton
• 1983 in literature – Death of Christina Stead; Possum Magic – Mem Fox; "The Quality of Sprawl" – Les Murray
• 1982 in literature – Just Relations – Rodney Hall; Schindler's Ark – Tom Keneally wins the Man Booker Prize; The Plains – Gerald Murnane
• 1981 in literature – Death of Dymphna Cusack; Bliss – Peter Carey; A Fortunate Life – Albert Facey
• 1980 in literature – The Impersonators – Jessica Anderson; The Dying Trade – Peter Corris; Tracks – Robyn Davidson; The Transit of Venus – Shirley Hazzard; Unreliable Memoirs – Clive James

1970s

• 1979 in literature – Death of David Campbell; Death of Ion Idriess; A Woman of the Future – David Ireland; The Visitants – Randolph Stow
• 1978 in literature – Tirra Lirra By the River – Jessica Anderson; An Imaginary Life – David Malouf
• 1977 in literature – Monkey Grip – Helen Garner; The Thorn Birds – Colleen McCullough; Swords and Crowns and Rings – Ruth Park; The Club – David Williamson
• 1976 in literature – Death of James McAuley; The Glass Canoe – David Ireland; "The Buladelah-Taree Holiday Song Cycle" – Les Murray;
• 1975 in literature – Peter's Pence – Jon Cleary; Poor Fellow My Country – Xavier Herbert
• 1974 in literature – Death of Eve Langley; The Mango Tree – Ronald McKie; Harlequin – Morris West
• 1973 in literature – Patrick White is awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature; The Breaker – Kit Denton; The Nargun and the Stars – Patricia Wrightson
• 1972 in literature – Death of Martin Boyd; The Acolyte – Thea Astley; The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith – Tom Keneally
• 1971 in literature – Death of Kenneth Slessor; Josh – Ivan Southall wins the Carnegie Medal (UK); The Unknown Industrial Prisoner – David Ireland; A Cartload of Clay – George Johnston; Don's Party – David Williamson
• 1970 in literature – Death of George Johnston; The Female Eunuch – Germaine Greer; A Horse of Air – Dal Stivens; The Vivisector – Patrick White

1960s

• 1969 in literature – Death of Charmian Clift; Death of Norman Lindsay; Death of Katharine Susannah Prichard; Clean Straw for Nothing – George Johnston
• 1968 in literature – Death of Dorothea Mackellar; Death of Bernard Cronin; Three Cheers for the Paraclete – Tom Keneally
• 1967 in literature – Death of D'Arcy Niland; Death of David Unaipon; Bring Larks and Heroes – Tom Keneally; Picnic at Hanging Rock – Joan Lindsay
• 1966 in literature – Death of Eric Lambert; The Tyranny of Distance – Geoffrey Blainey; Trap – Peter Mathers; "No More Boomerang" – Oodgeroo Noonuccal; The Solid Mandala – Patrick White
• 1965 in literature – The Slow Natives – Thea Astley; The Ambassador – Morris West
• 1964 in literature – Death of Zora Cross; The Lucky Country – Donald Horne; My Brother Jack – George Johnston; We are Going – Oodgeroo Noonuccal
• 1963 in literature – Death of Will H. Ogilvie; Careful, He Might Hear You – Sumner Locke Elliott; "A Letter from Rome" – A. D. Hope; Storm Boy – Colin Thiele; The Shoes of the Fisherman – Morris West
• 1962 in literature – Death of Mary Gilmore; The Well Dressed Explorer – Thea Astley; A History of Australia – Manning Clark (to 1987); The Cupboard Under the Stairs – George Turner
• 1961 in literature – Death of Jeannie Gunn; Wake in Fright – Kenneth Cook; The One Day of the Year – Alan Seymour; Sun on the Stubble – Colin Thiele; Riders in the Chariot – Patrick White
• 1960 in literature – Death of Nevil Shute; The Irishman – Elizabeth O'Conner; A Descant for Gossips – Thea Astley

1950s

• 1959 in literature – Kings in Grass Castles – Mary Durack; The Big Fellow – Vance Palmer; The Devil's Advocate – Morris West
• 1958 in literature – First Miles Franklin Literary Award presented; 10 for 66 and All That – Arthur Mailey; To the Islands – Randolph Stow
• 1957 in literature – Tiger in the Bush – Nan Chauncy; On the Beach – Nevil Shute ; Voss – Patrick White
• 1956 in literature – Death of a Doll – Carter Brown; The Brown Land was Green – Mavis Thorpe Clark; Beyond the Black Stump – Nevil Shute
• 1955 in literature – Summer of the Seventeenth Doll – Ray Lawler; I Can Jump Puddles – Alan Marshall; The Shiralee – D'Arcy Niland; The Tree of Man – Patrick White
• 1954 in literature – Death of Miles Franklin; White Topee – Eve Langley; "At Cooloolah" – Judith Wright
• 1953 in Australian literature – The Big Chariot – Charmian Clift and George Johnston; Southern Steel — Dymphna Cusack; "Old Botany Bay" — Mary Gilmore
• 1952 in Australian literature – The Sundowners – Jon Cleary
• 1951 in Australian literature – Death of Daisy Bates; Come in Spinner – Dymphna Cusack & Florence James
• 1950 in Australian literature – Farewell to Cricket – Don Bradman; Power Without Glory – Frank Hardy; A Town Like Alice – Nevil Shute

1940s

• 1949 in Australian literature – Death of Roderic Quinn; Poor Man's Orange – Ruth Park
• 1948 in Australian literature – The Harp in the South – Ruth Park; Golden Miles – Katharine Susannah Prichard; The Aunt's Story – Patrick White
• 1947 in Australian literature – Death of Lennie Lower; Tomorrow and Tomorrow – M. Barnard Eldershaw
• 1946 in Australian literature – Death of Henry Handel Richardson; Lucinda Brayford – Martin Boyd; My Career Goes Bung – Miles Franklin; "Woman to Child" – Judith Wright
• 1945 in Australian literature – The Cousin from Fiji – Norman Lindsay; "The Tomb of Lieut. John Learmonth, AIF" – J. S. Manifold
• 1944 in Australian literature – Death of Capel Boake; Ern Malley poems first published; "Beach Burial" – Kenneth Slessor; For Love Alone – Christina Stead; "Bullocky" – Judith Wright
• 1943 in Australian literature – Death of Louis Esson; Ride on Stranger – Kylie Tennant; "South of my Days" – Judith Wright
• 1942 in Australian literature – Death of John Shaw Neilson; "Nationality" – Mary Gilmore; The Pea-Pickers – Eve Langley
• 1941 in Australian literature – Death of Banjo Paterson; The Battlers – Kylie Tennant
• 1940 in Australian literature – Meanjin magazine publishes its first issue; "No Foe Shall Gather Our Harvest" – Mary Gilmore; The Man Who Loved Children – Christina Stead

1930s

• 1939 in Australian literature – Battlefields – Mary Gilmore; "Five Bells" – Kenneth Slessor; Happy Valley – Patrick White
• 1938 in Australian literature – Death of C. J. Dennis; Capricornia – Xavier Herbert; House of All Nations – Christina Stead
• 1937 in Australian literature – The Picnic – Martin Boyd; The Young Desire It – Seaforth Mackenzie; Under Capricorn – Helen Simpson
• 1936 in Australian literature – Death of Arthur Henry Adams; My Natives and I – Daisy Bates; Return to Coolami – Eleanor Dark; "Garrakeen" – Rex Ingamells
• 1935 in Australian literature – Death of Mabel Forrest; Death of Louise Mack; Death of Frederick Manning; Earth's Quality — Winifred Birkett; The Lemon Tree – Martin Boyd; The Singing Garden – C. J. Dennis
• 1934 in Australian literature – Prelude to Christopher – Eleanor Dark; Mary Poppins – P. L. Travers
• 1933 in Australian literature – Death of John Le Gay Brereton; Bring the Monkey – Miles Franklin; Pageant — G. B. Lancaster; Blinky Bill – Dorothy Wall
• 1932 in Australian literature – Death of Christopher Brennan; Death of Fergus Hume; Flesh in Armour – Leonard Mann
• 1931 in Australian literature – Death of Edward Dyson; Man-Shy — Frank Dalby Davison; Back to Bool Bool – Miles Franklin; "Five Visions of Captain Cook" – Kenneth Slessor
• 1930 in Australian literature – Here's Luck – Lennie Lower; The Passage – Vance Palmer

1920s

• 1929 in Australian literature – Death of Barbara Baynton; A Man's Life – Arthur H. Adams; Ultima Thule – Henry Handel Richardson
• 1928 in Australian literature – The Montfords – Martin Boyd; Up the Country – Miles Franklin; Coonardoo – Katharine Susannah Prichard; "Choker's Lane" – Kenneth Slessor
• 1927 in Australian literature – "Happiness" – Katharine Susannah Prichard; "Country Towns" – Kenneth Slessor
• 1926 in Australian literature – The Butcher Shop – Jean Devanny; "The Gentle Water Bird" – John Shaw Neilson
• 1925 in Australian literature – The Way Home – Henry Handel Richardson
• 1924 in Australian literature – The Boy in the Bush – D. H. Lawrence and M. L. Skinner
• 1923 in Australian literature – Kangaroo – D. H. Lawrence
• 1922 in Australian literature – Death of Henry Lawson; "Schoolgirls Hastening" – John Shaw Neilson; "Nuremberg" – Kenneth Slessor
• 1921 in Australian literature – A Book for Kids – C. J. Dennis; "Said Hanrahan" – John O'Brien
• 1920 in Australian literature – "The Farmer Remembers the Somme" – Vance Palmer

1910s

• 1919 in Australian literature – Death of J.F. Archibald; The Burning Marl – John Le Gay Brereton; Out of the Silence – Erle Cox; The Escapades of Ann – Edward Dyson; Heart of Spring – John Shaw Neilson; The Shrieking Pit – Arthur J Rees
• 1918 in Australian literature – Sally : The Tale of a Currency Lass - J. H. M. Abbott; Tales of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie: Their Wonderful Adventures – May Gibbs; The Magic Pudding – Norman Lindsay
• 1917 in Australian literature – Death of Sumner Locke; Songs of Love and Life – Zora Cross; Songs of a Campaign – Leon Gellert; Australia Felix – Henry Handel Richardson
• 1916 in Australian literature – The Moods of Ginger Mick – C. J. Dennis; Samaritan Mary – Sumner Locke
• 1915 in Australian literature – Death of Rolf Boldrewood; The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke – C. J. Dennis
• 1914 in Australian literature – Green Days and Cherries : the early verses of Shaw Neilson – John Shaw Neilson
• 1913 in Australian literature – Poems: 1913 – Christopher Brennan; "The Robe of Grass" – John Le Gay Brereton; Backblock Ballads and Other Verses – C. J. Dennis; A Curate in Bohemia – Norman Lindsay
• 1912 in Australian literature – Death of Joseph Furphy; The Poems of Adam Lindsay Gordon – Adam Lindsay Gordon
• 1911 in Australian literature – "A Ballad of Eureka" – Victor Daley; Jonah – Louis Stone
• 1910 in Australian literature – Death of Mary Fortune; The Getting of Wisdom – Henry Handel Richardson

1900s

• 1909 in Australian literature – Death of George Essex Evans; Death of W. T. Goodge; The Golden Treasury of Australian Verse – Bertram Stevens; "Heart of Spring!" – John Shaw Neilson; Some Everyday Folk and Dawn – Miles Franklin
• 1908 in Australian literature – "The Austra-laise" – C. J. Dennis; "My Country" – Dorothea Mackellar
• 1907 in Australian literature – Human Toll – Barbara Baynton; "In the Street" – John Shaw Neilson
• 1906 in Australian literature – Betty the Scribe – Lilian Turner; "Taking the Old Piano" – Louisa Lawson; The Secret Key and Other Verses – George Essex Evans
• 1905 in Australian literature – Death of Victor Daley; Rigby's Romance – Joseph Furphy
• 1904 in Australian literature – Sisters: A Novel – Ada Cambridge; "The Last Review" – Henry Lawson
• 1903 in Australian literature – Thirty Years in Australia – Ada Cambridge; Such Is Life – Joseph Furphy
• 1902 in Australian literature – Death of Breaker Morant; Tommy Cornstalk – J. H. M. Abbott; Bush Studies – Barbara Baynton
• 1901 in Australian literature – My Brilliant Career – Miles Franklin; Joe Wilson and His Mates – Henry Lawson
• 1900 in Australian literature – Death of Charles De Boos; "Ode for Commonwealth Day" — George Essex Evans; Verses, Popular and Humorous – Henry Lawson; "Australia" – Bernard O'Dowd; An Outback Marriage – A. B. Paterson

19th century

1890s

• 1899 in Australian literature – "Narcissus And Some Tadpoles" – Victor Daley; Hits! Skits! and Jingles! – W. T. Goodge; On Our Selection – Steele Rudd
• 1898 in Australian literature – Girls Together – Louise Mack; Fair Girls and Gray Horses: With Other Verses – Will H. Ogilvie
• 1897 in Australian literature – Kirkham's Find – Mary Gaunt; "The Great Australian Adjective" – W. T. Goodge
• 1896 in Australian literature – Death of Henry Parkes; "The Chosen Vessel" – Barbara Baynton; Dr Nikola – Guy Boothby; Rhymes from the Mines and Other Lines – Edward Dyson; In the Days When the World was Wide and Other Verses – Henry Lawson; While the Billy Boils – Henry Lawson; "Mulga Bill's Bicycle" – Banjo Paterson
• 1895 in Australian literature – A Bid for Fortune: or, Dr Nikola's Vendetta – Guy Boothby; The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses – Banjo Paterson; "Waltzing Matilda" – Banjo Paterson
• 1894 in Australian literature – In Strange Company – Guy Boothby; Seven Little Australians – Ethel Turner
• 1893 in Australian literature – "The Geebung Polo Club" – Banjo Paterson
• 1892 in Australian literature – Death of Barcroft Boake; The Bulletin Debate, (to 1893); "The Drover's Wife" – Henry Lawson; "The Man from Ironbark" – Banjo Paterson
• 1891 in Australian literature – "Where the Dead Men Lie" – Barcroft Boake; "The Bunyip" – Campbell Praed; "Bannerman of Dandenong" – Alice Werner
• 1890 in Australian literature – "The Song of Old Joe Swallow" – Henry Lawson; "The Man from Snowy River" – Banjo Paterson

1880s

• 1889 in Australian literature – A Woman's Friendship – Ada Cambridge; "The Teams" – Henry Lawson; "Clancy of the Overflow" – Banjo Paterson
• 1888 in Australian literature – The History of Australian Exploration from 1788 to 1888 – Ernest Favenc; "Andy's Gone with Cattle" – Henry Lawson
• 1887 in Australian literature – The Bond of Wedlock – Rosa Praed; The Sphinx of Eaglehawk – Rolf Boldrewood
• 1886 in Australian literature – The Mystery of the Hansom Cab – Fergus Hume
• 1885 in Australian literature – The Head Station – Rosa Praed; Where the Pelican Builds and Other Poems – Mary Hannay Foott
• 1884 in Australian literature – Plain Living – Rolf Boldrewood
• 1883 in Australian literature – Poems – Charles Harpur
• 1882 in Australian literature – Death of Henry Kendall; Robbery Under Arms – Rolf Boldrewood
• 1881 in Australian literature – Death of Marcus Clarke; "Where the Pelican Builds" – Mary Hannay Foott; The Austral Months – Henry Kendall
• 1880 in Australian literature – The Bulletin magazine publishes its first issue; Songs from the Mountains – Henry Kendall

1870s

• 1879 in Australian literature – "To My Sister" – Adam Lindsay Gordon; The Jerilderie Letter – Ned Kelly
• 1878 in Australian literature – "Advance Australia Fair" – Peter Dodds McCormick
• 1877 in Australian literature – Babes in the Bush – Rolf Boldrewood
• 1876 in Australian literature – "Bill the Bullock Driver" – Henry Kendall
• 1875 in Australian literature – The Manor House and Other Poems – Ada Cambridge; "Mooni" – Henry Kendall
• 1874 in Australian literature – "Song of the Shingle Splitters" – Henry Kendall
• 1873 in Australian literature – "The Aurora Australis" – Mary Hannay Foott; By and By: an historical romance of the future – Edward Maitland; The Black Gin and Other Poems – J. Brunton Stephens; Lady Anna – Anthony Trollope
• 1872 in Australian literature – "Sydney Harbour" – Henry Kendall
• 1871 in literature – "Perdita" – Rolf Boldrewood
• 1870 in literature – Death of Adam Lindsay Gordon; For the Term of His Natural Life – Marcus Clarke until 1872; "The Sick Stockrider" – Adam Lindsay Gordon

1860s

• 1869 in literature – Leaves from Australian Forests – Henry Kendall
• 1868 in literature – Death of Charles Harpur; "A Death in the Bush" – Henry Kendall
• 1867 in literature – "Bell-Birds" – Henry Kendall; Sea Spray and Smoke Drift – Adam Lindsay Gordon
• 1866 in literature – Hymns on the Holy Communion – Ada Cambridge
• 1865 in literature – Force and Fraud : A Tale of the Bush — Ellen Davitt; "Cooee" – Mary Fortune; "Daniel Henry Deniehy" – Henry Kendall
• 1864 in literature – The Australasian newspaper publishes its first issue; "The Last of His Tribe" – Henry Kendall; Mr Hogarth's Will – Catherine Helen Spence
• 1863 in literature – "An Australian Girl's Farewell" – Emma Francis Anderson
• 1862 in literature – Poems and Songs – Henry Kendall
• 1861 in literature – "Fainting by the Way" – Henry Kendall
• 1860 in literature – South Australian Lyrics – C. J. Carleton; Tasmanian Rhymings – John Anthony Moore; Margaret Falconer – Eliza Winstanley

1850s

• 1859 in literature – The Recollections of Geoffry Hamlyn – Henry Kingsley; Botany Bay, or, True Stories of the Early Days of Australia – John Lang
• 1858 in literature – The Kangaroo Hunters, or, Adventures in the Bush – Anne Bowman; "Aboriginal Death Song" – Charles Harpur
• 1857 in literature – Gertrude, the Emigrant : A Tale of Colonial Life – Louisa Atkinson; The Two Convicts – Friedrich Gerstaecker; Songs Without Music – James Lionel Michael
• 1856 in literature – "A Storm in the Mountains" – Charles Harpur; Tender and True : A Colonial Tale – Catherine Helen Spence
• 1855 in literature – The Eureka Stockade – Raffaello Carboni
• 1854 in literature – Lyra Australis, or, Attempts to Sing in a Strange Land – Caroline W. Leakey
• 1853 in literature – The Bushrangers, a Play in Five Acts, and Other Poems – Charles Harpur
• 1852 in literature – Life and Adventures of William Buckley – John Morgan
• 1851 in literature – "A Mid-Summer Noon in the Australian Forest" – Charles Harpur; Moyarra - G. W. Rusden
• 1850 in literature – "Rhymes to a Lady with a Copy of Love Poems" – Charles Harpur; "Sunrise, from Bourke's Statue" – Henry Parkes

1840s

• 1849 in literature – "Our Coming Countrymen" – Henry Parkes
• 1848 in literature – Lucy Marline, or, The Bush-rangers: A Tale of New South Wales – Louis A. Baker
• 1847 in literature – "The Genius and the Ghost" – William Forster; Australian Sketches – Thomas McCombie
• 1846 in literature – The Bushranger of Van Diemen's Land – Charles Rowcroft
• 1845 in literature – "The Creek of the Four Graves" by Charles Harpur; "A Flight of Wild Ducks" by Charles Harpur; "Songs of the Squatters (No. 2)" – Robert Lowe
• 1844 in literature – "To Mary" – Charles Harpur
• 1843 in literature – "To Charles Harpur" – Henry Parkes
• 1842 in literature – "A War Song for the Nineteenth Century" – Charles Harpur; Stolen Moments — Henry Parkes; Tales of the Colonies – Charles Rowcroft
• 1841 in literature – "My Native Land" – Henry Parkes
• 1840 in literature – "The Convict's Grave" – Henry Parkes

1830s

• 1839 in literature – "A Convict's Tour to Hell" – Francis McNamara
• 1838 in literature – A Month in the Bush of Australia – Thomas Walker
• 1837 in literature –
• 1836 in literature –
• 1835 in literature –
• 1834 in literature –
• 1833 in literature –
• 1832 in literature –
• 1831 in literature –
• 1830 in literature – Quintus Servinton – Henry Savery

1820s

• 1829 in literature – The Bushranger — David Burn; The Hermit in Van Diemen's Land — Henry Savery
• 1828 in literature –
• 1827 in literature –
• 1826 in literature – Aurora Australis — John Dunmore Lang
• 1825 in literature –
• 1824 in literature – Australasia — William Wentworth
• 1823 in literature –
• 1822 in literature – The Life and Times of John Nicol, Mariner – John Nicol
• 1821 in literature –
• 1820 in literature – Journals of Two Expeditions into the Interior of New South Wales: Undertaken by Order of the British Government in the Years 1817–18 – John Oxley

1810s

• 1819 in literature – First Fruits of Australian Poetry – Barron Field; Memoirs of James Hardy Vaux – James Hardy Vaux
• 1818 in literature –
• 1817 in literature –
• 1816 in literature –
• 1815 in literature –
• 1814 in literature – A Voyage to Terra Australis – Matthew Flinders
• 1813 in literature –
• 1812 in literature –
• 1811 in literature –
• 1810 in literature – "Ode (for His Majesty's Birth Day)" – Michael Massey Robinson

1800s

• 1809 in literature –
• 1808 in literature –
• 1807 in literature –
• 1806 in literature –
• 1805 in literature –
• 1804 in literature –
• 1803 in literature –
• 1802 in literature –
• 1801 in literature – Adventures on a Journey to New Holland – Therese Huber
• 1800 in literature – "Botany Bay Ecologues" – Robert Southey

18th century

1790s

• 1799 in literature –
• 1798 in literature –
• 1797 in literature –
• 1796 in literature –
• 1795 in literature –
• 1794 in literature – Letters from an Exile at Botany Bay – Thomas Watling
• 1793 in literature –
• 1792 in literature –
• 1791 in literature –
• 1790 in literature – Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales — John White

1780s

• 1789 in literature – The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay — Arthur Phillip
• 1788 in literature – Journal of a First Fleet Surgeon – George Bouchier Worgan
• 1787 in literature –
• 1786 in literature –
• 1785 in literature –
• 1784 in literature –
• 1783 in literature –
• 1782 in literature –
• 1781 in literature –
• 1780 in literature –

1770s

• 1779 in literature –
• 1778 in literature –
• 1777 in literature –
• 1776 in literature –
• 1775 in literature –
• 1774 in literature –
• 1773 in literature –
• 1772 in literature –
• 1771 in literature –
• 1770 in literature –

External links

• Literature Timeline An interactive timeline of major literary events, books and authors.