2020 in Australian literature

This is a list of historical events and publications of Australian literature during 2020.

Major publications

Literary fiction

• Patrick Allington – Rise & Shine^[1]
• Robbie Arnott – The Rain Heron
• James Bradley – Ghost Species^[2]
• Trent Dalton – All Our Shimmering Skies^[3]
• Jon Doust – Return Ticket^[4]
• Chris Flynn – Mammoth^[5]
• Anna Goldsworthy – Melting Moments^[6]
• Kate Grenville – A Room Made of Leaves^[7]
• Gail Jones – Our Shadows^[8]
• Tom Keneally – The Dickens Boy^[9]
• Sofie Laguna – Infinite Splendours^[10]
• Bem Le Hunte – Elephants with Headlights^[11]
• Carol Lefevre – Murmurations^[12]
• Amanda Lohrey – The Labyrinth
• Laura Jean McKay – The Animals in That Country
• Andrew Pippos – Lucky's^[13]
• Mirandi Riwoe – Stone Sky Gold Mountain^[14]
• Ronnie Scott – The Adversary^[15]
• Craig Silvey – Honeybee^[16]
• Philip Salom – The Fifth Season^[17]
• Nardi Simpson – Song of the Crocodile
• Madeleine Watts – The Inland Sea^[18]
• Gina Wilkinson – When the Apricots Bloom
• Pip Williams – The Dictionary of Lost Words
• Daniel Davis Wood – At the Edge of the Solid World^[19]
• Evie Wyld – The Bass Rock

Children's and young adult fiction

• Davina Bell – The End of the World is Bigger than Love^[20]
• Alex Dyson – When It Drops^[21]
• Alison Evans – Euphoria Kids^[22]
• Zana Fraillon – The Lost Soul Atlas^[23]
• Jane Godwin – When Rain Turns to Snow^[24]
• Kate Gordon – Aster's Good, Right Things^[25]
• Libby Hathorn and Lisa Hathorn-Jarman – No! Never!^[26]
• Will Kostakis
  • Rebel Gods^[27]
  • The Greatest Hit^[28]
• Anna McGregor – Anemone Is Not The Enemy
• Cath Moore – Metal Fish, Falling Snow^[29]
• Jaclyn Moriarty – The Stolen Prince of Cloudburst^[30]
• Sally Murphy – Worse Things^[31]
• Katrina Nannestad – We Are Wolves^[32]
• Garth Nix – The Left-Handed Booksellers of London^[33]
• Kirli Saunders – Bindi^[34]
• Shaun Tan – Dog^[35]
• Jessica Townsend – Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow

Crime

• Anne Buist – The Long Shadow^[36]
• Garry Disher – Consolation
• Candice Fox – Gathering Dark^[37]
• Sulari Gentill – A Testament of Character^[38]
• Jane Harper – The Survivors^[39]
• Sally Hepworth – The Good Sister^[40]
• Dervla McTiernan – The Good Turn^[41]
• J. P. Pomare – Tell Me Lies^[42]
• Michael Robotham – When She Was Good^[43]
• Sarah Thornton – White Throat^[44]
• David Whish-Wilson – True West^[45]

Science Fiction and Fantasy

• Max Barry – Providence
• Trudi Canavan – Maker's Curse^[46]
• Greg Egan – Instantiation
• Gillian Polack – Poison & Light^[47]
• Paul Voermans – The White Library^[48]

Poetry

• Laurie Duggan – Homer Street
• Michael Farrell – Family Trees
• Kate Llewellyn – Harbour
• Felicity Plunkett – A Kinder Sea
• Ellen van Neerven
  • Homeland Calling: Words from a new generation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices (as editor)
  • Throat

Non-fiction

• Julia Baird – Phosphorescence: On awe, wonder and things that sustain you when the world goes dark
• Richard Fidler – The Golden Maze: A History of Prague
• Michael Gawenda – The Powerbroker: Mark Leibler, an Australian Life
• Eddie Jaku – The Happiest Man on Earth
• John Kinsella – Displaced: A Rural Life
• Grace Karskens – People of the River: Lost worlds of early Australia
• Michael Gawenda – The Powerbroker: Mark Leibler, an Australian
• Sophie McNeill – We Can't Say We Didn't Know: Dispatches from an age of impunity
• Brenda Niall – Friends and Rivals: Four Great Australian Writers: Barbara Baynton, Ethel Turner, Nettie Palmer, Henry Handel Richardson
• Caroline Overington – Missing William Tyrrell
• Christopher Pyne – The Insider: The scoops, the scandals and the serious business within the Canberra bubble
• Cassandra Pybus – Truganini: Journey Through the Apocalypse
• Miranda Tapsell – Top End Girl
• Robert Tickner – Ten Doors Down: The Story of an Extraordinary Adoption Reunion
• Malcolm Turnbull – A Bigger Picture

Awards and honours

Note: these awards were presented in the year in question.

Lifetime achievement

Award	Author
Patrick White Award[49]	Gregory Day

Literary

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
ALS Gold Medal[50]	Charmaine Papertalk Green	Nganajungu Yagu	Cordite Press
Colin Roderick Award[51]	Sally Young	Paper Emperors: The Rise of Australia’s Newspaper Empires	NewSouth Publishing
Indie Book Awards Book of the Year[52]	Favel Parrett	There Was Still Love	Hachette
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards[53]	Tara June Winch	The Yield	Penguin Random House
Stella Prize[54]	Jess Hill	See What You Made Me Do	Black Inc
Victorian Premier's Literary Awards[55][56]	S. Shakthidharan, with Eamon Flack	Counting and Cracking	Belvoir and Co-Curious

Fiction

National

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature[57]	Jessica Townsend	Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow	Hachette
ARA Historical Novel Prize[58]	Mirandi Riwoe	Stone Sky Gold Mountain	University of Queensland Press
The Australian/Vogel Literary Award[59]	K. M. Kruimink	A Treacherous Country	Allen & Unwin
Barbara Jefferis Award[60]	Lucy Treloar	Wolfe Island	Pan Macmillan
Indie Book Awards Book of the Year – Fiction[52]	Favel Parrett	There Was Still Love	Hachette
Indie Book Awards Book of the Year – Debut Fiction[52]	Suzanne Daniel	Allegra in Three Parts	Pan Macmillan
Miles Franklin Literary Award[61]	Tara June Winch	The Yield	Penguin Random House
Prime Minister's Literary Awards[62]	Tara June Winch	The Yield	Penguin Random House
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards[63]	Tara June Winch	The Yield	Penguin Random House
Queensland Literary Awards[64]	Mirandi Riwoe	Stone Sky Gold Mountain	University of Queensland Press
Victorian Premier's Literary Awards[55][56]	Christos Tsiolkas	Damascus	Allen & Unwin

Children and Young Adult

National

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Children's Book of the Year Award[65]	Older Readers	Vikki Wakefield	This Is How We Change the Ending	Text Publishing
	Younger Readers	Pip Harry	The Little Wave	University of Queensland Press
	Picture Book	Chris McKimmie	I Need a Parrot	Ford Street
	Early Childhood	Frances Watts	My Friend Fred	Allen & Unwin
	Eve Pownall Award for Information Books	Bruce Pascoe	Young Dark Emu: A truer history	Magabala Books
Indie Book Awards Book of the Year[52]	Children's	Sami Bayly	The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Ugly Animals	Lothian
	Young Adult	Wal Chim	The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling	Allen & Unwin
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards[63]	Children's	Lian Tanner & Jonathan Bentley	Ella and the Ocean	Allen & Unwin
	Young People's	Karen Foxlee	Lenny's Book of Everything	Allen & Unwin
Victorian Premier's Literary Awards[55][56]	Young Adult Fiction	Helena Fox	How It Feels to Float	Pan Macmillan Australia

Crime and Mystery

International

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Barry Award[66]	Novel	Jane Harper	The Lost Man	Pan Macmillan

National

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Davitt Award[67]	Novel	Meg Mundell	The Trespassers	University of Queensland Press
	Young adult novel	Astrid Scholte	Four Dead Queens	Allen & Unwin
	Children's novel	Jenny Blackford	The Girl in the Mirror	Eagle Books
	True crime	Adele Ferguson	Banking Bad: Whistleblowers. Corporate cover-ups. One Journalist's Fight for the Truth	HarperCollins
	Debut novel	Susan Hurley	Eight Lives	Affirm Press
	Readers' choice	Dervla McTiernan	The Scholar	HarperCollins
		Emma Viskic	Darkness for Light	Echo Publishing
Ned Kelly Award[68]	Novel	Christian White	The Wife and the Widow	Affirm Press
	First novel	Natalie Conyer	Present Tense	Clan Destine Press
	True crime	Dan Box	Bowraville	Viking Books

Science fiction

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Ditmar Award[69]	Novel	Gillian Polack	The Year of the Fruit Cake	IFWG Publishing
	Best Short Fiction	Rivqa Rafael	"Whom My Soul Loves"

Poetry

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature[57]	Natalie Harkin	Archival-Poetics	Vagabond Press
Anne Elder Award (joint winners)[70]	Cham Zhi Yi	blur by the	Subbed In
	Gareth Sion Jenkins	Recipes for the Disaster	Five Islands Press
Mary Gilmore Award[71]	Thom Sullivan	Carte Blanche	Vagabond Press
Prime Minister's Literary Awards[62]	Omar Sakr	The Lost Arabs	University of Queensland Press
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards[63]	Peter Boyle	Enfolded in the Wings of a Great Darkness	Vagabond Press
Victorian Premier's Literary Awards[55][56]	Charmaine Papertalk Green	Nganajungu Yagu	Cordite

Drama

Award	Category	Author	Title
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards[63]	Script	Kylie Boltin	Missing
		Jacquelin Perske	The Cry, Episode 2
	Play	S. Shakthidharan, with Eamon Flack	Counting and Cracking
Victorian Premier's Literary Awards[55]	Drama	S. Shakthidharan, with Eamon Flack	Counting and Cracking

Non-Fiction

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature[57]	Non-Fiction	Meredith Lake	The Bible in Australia	NewSouth
Indie Book Awards Book of the Year[52]	Non-Fiction	Archie Roach	Tell Me Why	Simon and Schuster Australia
	Illustrated Non-Fiction	Paul Byrnes	The Lost Boys	Affirm Press
National Biography Award[72]	Biography	Patrick Mullins	Tiberius with a Telephone: The life and stories of William McMahon	Scribe Publications
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards[63]	Non-Fiction	Patrick Mullins	Tiberius with a Telephone: The Life and Stories of William McMahon	Scribe Publications
New South Wales Premier's History Awards	Australian History	James Dunk	Bedlam at Botany Bay	NewSouth Publishing[73]
	Community and Regional History	Callum Clayton-Dixon	Surviving New England: A History of Aboriginal Resistance and Resilience Through the First Forty Years of Colonial Apocalypse	Nēwara Aboriginal Corporation[74]
	General History	Kate Fullagar	The Warrior, the Voyager, and the Artist: Three Lives in an Age of Empire	Yale University Press[75]
Queensland Literary Awards[64]	Non-Fiction	Joe Gorman	Heartland: How Rugby League Explains Queensland	University of Queensland Press
Victorian Premier's Literary Awards[55][56]	Non-Fiction	Christina Thompson	Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia	HarperCollins

Deaths

• 1 January – Alexander Frater, travel writer and journalist (born 1937 in Vanuatu)^[76]
• 6 January – Timoshenko Aslanides, poet (born 1943)^[77]
• 20 January – Steph Bowe, young adult novelist and blogger (born 1994)^[78]
• 1 April – Bruce Dawe, poet (born 1930)^[79]
• 14 May – Judith Clarke, writer for children and teenagers (born 1943)^[80]
• 5 June – Andrew Riemer, literary critic and author (born 1936)^[81]
• 10 June – Jesse Blackadder, novelist, screenwriter and journalist (born 1964)^[82]
• 7 July – Elizabeth Harrower, novelist (born 1928)^[83]
• 10 September – Barbara Ker Wilson, English-born Australian editor and novelist (born 1929)^[84]
• 29 September – Ania Walwicz, poet, playwright, prose writer and visual artist (born 1951 in Poland)^[85]
• 6 November – Gerald Stone, journalist (born 1933 in USA)^[86]
• 14 November – Greg Growden, sports journalist, author and biographer (born 1959/60)^[87]
• 9 December – Mungo MacCallum, political journalist and commentator (born 1941)^[88]
• 12 December – Wendy Brennan, romantic fiction writer (co-wrote with husband Frank Brennan as Emma Darcy) (born 1940)^[89]

See also

• 2020 in Australia
• 2020 in literature
• 2020 in poetry
• List of years in Australian literature
• List of years in literature
• List of Australian literary awards

References

1. "Rise & Shine by Patrick Allington". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
2. "Ghost Species by James Bradley". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
3. "All Our Shimmering Skies by Trent Dalton". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
4. "Return Ticket by Jon Doust". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
5. "Mammoth by Chris Flynn". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
6. "Melting Moments by Anna Goldsworthy". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
7. "A Room Made of Leaves by Kate Grenville". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
8. "Our Shadows by Gail Jones". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
9. "The Dickens Boy by Tom Keneally". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
10. "Infinite Splendours by Sofie Laguna". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
11. "Elephants with Headlights by Bem Le Hunte". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
12. "Murmurations by Carol Lefevre". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
13. "Lucky's by Andrew Pippos". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
14. "Stone Sky Gold Mountain by Mirandi Riwoe". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
15. "The Adversary by Ronnie Scott". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
16. "Honeybee by Craig Silvey". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
17. "The Fifth Season by Philip Salom". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
18. "The Inland Sea by Madeleine Watts". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
19. "At the Edge of the Solid World by Daniel Davis Wood". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
20. "The End of the World is Bigger than Love by Davina Bell". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
21. "When It Drops by Alex Dyson". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
22. "Euphoria Kids". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
23. "The Lost Soul Atlas by Zana Fraillon". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
24. "When Rain Turns to Snow by Jane Godwin". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
25. "Aster's Good, Right Things by Kate Gordon". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
26. "No! Never! by Libby Hathorn and Lisa Hathorn-Jarman". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
27. "Rebel Gods by Will Kostakis". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
28. "The Greatest Hit by Will Kostakis". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
29. "Metal Fish, Falling Snow by Cath Moore". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
30. "The Stolen Prince of Cloudburst by Jaclyn Moriarty". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
31. "Worse Things by Sally Murphy". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
32. "We Are Wolves by Katrina Nannestad". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
33. "The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
34. "Bindi by Kirli Saunders". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
35. "Dog by Shaun Tan". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
36. "The Long Shadow by Anne Buist". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
37. "Gathering Dark by Candice Fox". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
38. "A Testament of Character by Sulari Gentill". Pantera Press. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
39. "The Survivors by Jane Harper". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
40. "The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
41. "The Good Turn by Dervla McTiernan". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
42. "Tell Me Lies by J. P. Pomare". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
43. "When She Was Good by Michael Robotham". Hachette Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
44. "White Throat by Sarah Thornton". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
45. "True West by David Whish-Wilson". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
46. "Maker's Curse by Trudi Canavan". ISFDB. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
47. "Poison & Light by Gillian Polack". ISFDB. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
48. "The White Library by Paul Voermans". ISFDB. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
49. "Day wins Patrick White Literary Award". Books+Publishing. 30 November 2020. Archived from the original on 29 November 2020. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
50. "ALS Gold Medal — Previous Winners". Association for the Study of Australian Literature. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
51. "Colin Roderick Award — Other Winners". James Cook University. 13 July 2020. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
52. ""Indie Book Awards - Winners 2020"". Australian Independent Booksellers. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
53. Evans, Kate Evans (26 April 2020). "Novel celebrating Wiradjuri language wins Book of the Year at major literary awards". ABC News. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
54. Convery, Stephanie (14 April 2020). "Jess Hill wins $50,000 Stella prize for See What You Made Me Do, book investigating domestic violence". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
55. "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2020". The Wheeler Centre. Archived from the original on 4 March 2020. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
56. "Christos Tsiolkas' 'Damascus' wins best fiction at VPLAs". Books+Publishing. 11 February 2020. Archived from the original on 15 February 2020. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
57. "Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature – Past Literary Award Winners". State Library of South Australia. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
58. ""The 2020 ARA Historical Novel Prize"". Historical Novel Society Australasia. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
59. "'A Treacherous Country' wins 2020 Vogel". Books+Publishing. 20 April 2020. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
60. ""Barbara Jefferis Award"". Australian Society of Authors. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
61. "Winch wins 2020 Miles Franklin for 'The Yield'". Books+Publishing. 16 July 2020. Archived from the original on 16 July 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
62. "Prime Minister's Literary Awards 2020 winners announced". Books+Publishing. 10 December 2020. Archived from the original on 9 December 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
63. Evans, Kate Evans (26 April 2020). "Novel celebrating Wiradjuri language wins Book of the Year at major literary awards". ABC News. Archived from the original on 26 April 2020. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
64. Kim, Sharnie (4 September 2020). "Book about rugby league takes out richest prize in Queensland Literary Awards". ABC News. Archived from the original on 4 September 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
65. "CBCA Book of the Year 2020 winners announced". Books+Publishing. 16 October 2020. Archived from the original on 17 October 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
66. "Barry Awards (crime Fiction) - 2020". NBR. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
67. "Davitt Awards 2020 winners announced". Books+Publishing. 28 September 2020. Archived from the original on 28 October 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
68. "Ned Kelly Awards 2020 winners announced". Books+Publishing. 15 October 2020. Archived from the original on 20 October 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
69. "2020 Ditmar Winners". Locus Online. 21 September 2020. Archived from the original on 25 September 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
70. "Cham, Jenkins named joint winners of Anne Elder poetry award". Books+Publishing. 7 May 2020. Archived from the original on 7 May 2020. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
71. "Mary Gilmore Award". Association for the Study of Australian Literature. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
72. "'Tiberius with a Telephone' wins National Biography Award". Books+Publishing. 31 August 2020. Archived from the original on 5 September 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
73. "Australian History Prize". State Library of NSW. 25 March 2020. Archived from the original on 25 September 2020. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
74. "NSW Community and Regional History Prize". State Library of NSW. 2 April 2020. Archived from the original on 25 September 2020. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
75. "General History Prize". State Library of NSW. 2 April 2020. Archived from the original on 25 September 2020. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
76. "Alexander Frater, award-winning author whose book Chasing the Monsoon became a classic work of Anglo-Indian literature". The Telegraph. 27 March 2020. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
77. "Timoshenko Aslanides (1943-2020)". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
78. Carmody, Broede (21 January 2020). "Great human': Tributes flow for YA author Steph Bowe". Sydney Morning-Herald.
79. Romei, Stephen (2 April 2020). "Australian poet Bruce Dawe dies, aged 90". The Australian. News Limited. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
80. "Vale Judith Clarke". Books+Publishing. 20 May 2020. Archived from the original on 13 June 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
81. "Andrew Peter Riemer – Death Notice". The Sydney Morning Herald. 13 June 2020. Archived from the original on 20 September 2021. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
82. Moran, Robert (12 June 2020). "Award-winning author Jesse Blackadder dies, aged 56". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
83. "Obituary - Elizabeth Harrower - Obituaries Australia". oa.anu.edu.au. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
84. "Barbara Ker Wilson". My Tributes. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
85. "Ania Walwicz Death Notice - Melbourne, Victoria | The Age". tributes.theage.com.au. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
86. Idato, Michael (6 November 2020). "60 minutes trailblazer and legendary TV producer Gerald Stone dead". The Age. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
87. FitzSimons, Peter (14 November 2020). "Vale Greg Growden, you will be long remembered". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
88. "Mungo MacCallum (1941-2020)". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
89. Ripley, Amy (27 January 2021). "Mills & Boon author sold 71 million copies worldwide". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 22 February 2022.