1988 in Australian literature

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1988.

Events

• Peter Carey won the 1988 Booker Prize for Oscar and Lucinda
• The Miles Franklin Award was not awarded this year as the date was changed from year of publication to year of announcement.

Major publications

Novels

• Peter Carey — Oscar and Lucinda
• Liam Davison — The Velodrome^[1]
• Rodney Hall — Captivity Captive
• Dorothy Johnston — Maralinga, My Love^[2]
• Thomas Keneally — Act of Grace
• Gerald Murnane — Inland
• Morris West — Masterclass
• Tim Winton — In the Winter Dark

Short stories

• Olga Masters — The Rose Fancier^[3]
• Frank Moorhouse — Forty-Seventeen

Children's and young adult fiction

• Graeme Base — The Eleventh Hour
• Hesba Fay Brinsmead — When You Come to the Ferry^[4]
• P. L. Travers — Mary Poppins and the House Next Door
• Gillian Rubinstein — Beyond the Labyrinth^[5]
• Tim Winton — Jesse

Crime fiction

• Jon Cleary — Now and Then, Amen
• Marele Day — The Life and Crimes of Harry Lavender (first in the Claudia Valentine series)^[6]

Poetry

• Gwen Harwood — Bone Scan^[7]
• Judith Rodriguez — The House by Water: New and Selected Poems^[8]
• John Tranter — Under Berlin^[9]

Drama

• Andrew Bovell — After Dinner
• Jan Cornall — Escape from a Better Place^[10]

Non-fiction

• Tom Cole — Hell West and Crooked^[11]
• Peter Conrad — Down Home: Revisiting Tasmania^[12]
• Laurie Hergenhan (editor) — The Penguin New Literary History of Australia^[13]
• Eric Rolls — A Million Wild Acres
• Dale Spender — Writing a New World: Two Centuries of Australian Women Writers^[14]

Awards and honours

• Dorothy Auchterlonie Green AO, for "service to Australian literature, particularly as a writer, critic and teacher"^[15]
• Elizabeth Jolley AO, for "service to Australian literature"^[16]
• Rosemary Wighton AO, for "public service, to literature and to the community"^[17]
• Tom Hungerford AM, for "service to literature"^[18]
• David Martin (poet) AM, for "service to Australian literature"^[19]
• Gavin Souter AM, for "service to literature and journalism"^[20]
• Len Beadell OAM, for "service to the Public service and to literature"^[21]

Lifetime achievement

Award	Author
Christopher Brennan Award^[22]	Roland Robinson
Patrick White Award^[23]	Roland Robinson

Literary

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
The Age Book of the Year Award^[24]	Frank Moorhouse	Forty-Seventeen	Viking
ALS Gold Medal^[25]	Brian Matthews	Louisa	McPhee Gribble
Colin Roderick Award^[26]	Peter Carey	Oscar and Lucinda	Hyland House

Fiction

International

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Booker Prize^[27]		Peter Carey	Oscar and Lucinda	University of Queensland Press
Commonwealth Writers' Prize^[28]	Best Novel, SE Asia and South Pacific region	George Turner	The Sea and Summer	Faber & Faber

National

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
The Age Book of the Year Award^[29]	Frank Moorhouse	Forty-Seventeen	Viking
The Australian/Vogel Literary Award^[30]	Tom Flood	Oceana Fine	Allen and Unwin
Miles Franklin Award^[31]	Not awarded
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards^[32]	John Sligo	Final Things	Penguin Books Australia
Victorian Premier's Literary Awards^[33]	Murray Bail	Holden's Performance	Viking

Poetry

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
Anne Elder Award^[34]	Alex Skovron	The Rearrangement	Melbourne University Press
Grace Leven Prize for Poetry^[35]	John Tranter	Under Berlin	University of Queensland Press
Mary Gilmore Award^[36]	Judith Beveridge	The Domesticity of Giraffes	Black Lightning Press
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards^[37]	Judith Beveridge	The Domesticity of Giraffes	Black Lightning Press
Victorian Premier's Literary Awards^[38]	Judith Beveridge	The Domesticity of Giraffes	Black Lightning Press

Children and Young Adult

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Children's Book of the Year Award	Older Readers^[39]	John Marsden	So Much to Tell You	Walter McVitty Books
	Picture Book^[40]	Bob Graham	Crusher is Coming!	Lothian Books
Victorian Premier's Prize for Young Adult Fiction^[41]		John Marsden	So Much to Tell You	Walter McVitty Books

Non-fiction

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
The Age Book of the Year Award^[42]	Robin Gerster	Big-Noting : The Heroic Theme in Australian War Writing	Melbourne University Press
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards^[43]	Brian Matthews	Louisa	McPhee Gribble
Victorian Premier's Literary Awards^[44]	Brian Matthews	Louisa	McPhee Gribble

Deaths

A list, ordered by date of death (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of deaths in 1988 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of birth.

• 4 January — Alice Duncan-Kemp, writer and Indigenous rights activist (born 1901)^[45]
• 28 February — Kylie Tennant, novelist, playwright, short-story writer, critic, biographer and historian (born 1912)^[46]
• 31 July — Stephen Murray-Smith, writer, editor and educator (born 1922)^[47]
• 12 November — Vincent Buckley, poet, teacher, editor, essayist and critic (born 1925)^[48]

See also

• 1988 in Australia
• 1988 in literature
• 1988 in poetry
• List of years in literature
• List of years in Australian literature

References

1. "Austlit — The Velodrome by Liam Davison". Austlit. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
2. "Austlit — Maralinga, My Love by Dorothy Johnston". Austlit. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
3. "Austlit — The Rose Fnacier by Olga Masters". Austlit. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
4. "Austlit — When You Come to the Ferry by Hesba Brinsmead". Austlit. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
5. "Austlit — Beyond the Labyrinth by Gillina Rubinstein". Austlit. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
6. "Austlit — The Life and Crimes of Harry Lavender by Marele Day". Austlit. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
7. "Austlit — Bone Scan by Gwen Harwood". Austlit. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
8. "Austlit — The House by Water: New and Selected Poems by Judith Rodriguez". Austlit. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
9. "Austlit — Under Berlin by John Tranter". Austlit. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
10. "Austlit — Escape from a Better Place by Jan Cornall". Austlit. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
11. "Austlit — Hell West and Crooked by Tom Cole". Austlit. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
12. "Austlit — Down Home: Revisiting Tasmania by Peter Conrad". Austlit. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
13. "Austlit — The Penguin New Literary History of Australia edoited by Laurie Hergenhan". Austlit. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
14. "Austlit — Writing a New World: Two Centuries of Australian Women Writers by Dale Spender". Austlit. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
15. "Dorothy Green, OAM". honours.pmc.gov.au. from the original on 21 December 2019. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
16. "Monica Elizabeth Jolley". honours.pmc.gov.au. from the original on 21 December 2019. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
17. "Rosemary Neville Wighton". Dept of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. from the original on 11 December 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
18. "Thomas Arthur Guy Hungerford". honours.pmc.gov.au. from the original on 21 December 2019. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
19. "David Martin". honours.pmc.gov.au. from the original on 21 December 2019. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
20. "Gavin Geoffrey Souter". honours.pmc.gov.au. from the original on 21 December 2019. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
21. "Leonard Beadell, BEM". honours.pmc.gov.au. from the original on 11 December 2019. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
22. "Austlit — FAW Christopher Brennan Award". Austlit. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
23. "Austlit — Patrick White Award - Past Winners". Austlit. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
24. "The Age" 9 December 1988, p14
25. "ALS Gold Medal - Previous Winners". Association for the Study of Australian Literature. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
26. "Colin Roderick Award - Other Winners". James Cook University. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
27. Jordison, Sam (28 May 2008). "Looking back at the Booker: Peter Carey". The Guardian.
28. "Commonwealth Writers' Prize Regional Winners 1987-2007" (PDF). Commonwealth Foundation. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
29. "Austlit — Age Book of the Year — Imaginative Writing Prize 1988". Austlit. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
30. "Austlit — The Australian/Vogel National Literary Award 1988". Austlit. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
31. "Austlit — Miles Franklin Literary Award". Austlit. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
32. "Austlit — Christina Stead Prize 1988". Austlit. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
33. "Austlit — Vance Palmer Prize 1988". Austlit. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
34. "Austlit — Anne Elder Award 1985-88". Austlit. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
35. "Austlit — Grace Leven Prize for Poetry 1988". Austlit. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
36. "Mary Gilmore Award". Association for the Study of Australian Literature. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
37. "Austlit — Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry 1988". Austlit. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
38. "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards—C. J. Dennis Prize for Poetry 1988". Austlit. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
39. "Austlit — Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers 1988". Austlit. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
40. "Austlit — Children's Book of the Year Award: Picture Book 1988". Austlit. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
41. ""Victorian Premier's Prize for Young Adult Fiction — 1988"". Austlit. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
42. ""The Age Book of the Year Award - Non-Fiction 1988"". Austlit. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
43. ""Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction 1988"". Austlit. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
44. ""Victorian Premier's Prize for Nonfiction — 1988"". Austlit. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
45. "Duncan-Kemp, Alice Monkton (1901–1988) by Pamela Lukin Watson". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
46. "Kathleen (Kylie) Tennant (1912–1988) by Jane Grant". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
47. "Stephen Murray-Smith (1922-1988)". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
48. "Vincent Buckley (1925-1988)". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 26 September 2023.