Australians are prolific storytellers, authors and illustrators. They write in every genre, producing material for every level and purpose. Many have international reputations and recognition.

This page has information about Australian authors - for children and in fiction & non-fiction. Well known illustrators are included as many are authors.

In addition, there is information about Australian Awards and Prizes from the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards to Children’s Book Council Awards and beyond. International Awards & Prizes are found on this page. Australian authors have been short-listed and/or won several of these.

For information on where to get an Australian author’s books, check the Booksellers or Publishers pages. Some authors are listed on the Famous Australians page.

Children’s Authors

General Sites

Link listings, general information, awards, illustrators, more.

• Australian Authors and Illustrators
  ‘To make available official websites of authors who have had books entered for the Children’s Book of the Year Awards’.
• Australian Authors and Illustrators [2]
  Links to sources for these [briefly annotated] as well as links to a range of home pages.
• Australian Authors and Illustrators [Walker Books]
  Contains quite a good list with brief annotations and links to further information.
• Authors & Illustrators [DET Western Australia]
  Extensive alphabetical listing with Australians clearly indicated. Has indicators for reading levels.
• Authors and Illustrators [Scholastic]
  Quite an extensive alphabetical listing. Well worth visiting.
• Forrest Primary School
  Australian Authors & Illustrators. Links to lists at other sites, links to specific authors.
  A really good collection.
• Kids Authors & Illustrators
  Alphabetical listing from Scholastic books, some included here.
• Lu Rees Archives of Australian Children’s Literature
  Extensive list, but links to author/illustrator pages are limited.
• South Australian Children’s Authors and Illustrators
  Alphabetical collection compiled by eKIDnas. Many have links to home pages.
• YARA Young Adult Readers Reviews - Australia
  ‘Devoted to teenage/young adult readers. Features reviews, provides opportunities to write a review and more’.

Individual Australian Children’s Authors

Includes author/illustrators.

• Baker, Jeannie
  Author, illustrator. The creator of books such as The Hidden Forest, Where the Forest Meets the Sea.
• Base, Graeme
  Author of Animalia, The Eleventh Hour.
• Fox, Mem
  Australian author of children’s stories that include Possum Magic, Koala Lou.
• Gleitzman, Morris
  Australian author of popular books for children including Misery Guts, Two Weeks with the Queen. Now writing jointly with Paul Jennings.
• Jennings, Paul
  Very popular Australian children’s author of titles such as Unreal, The Gizmo, Unbelievable. Now writing jointly with Morris Gleitzman.
• Klein, Robin
  Author of children’s books such as Hating Alison Ashley, Penny Pollard’s Diary.
• Marsden, John
  Mostly for teenagers. Titles include Out of Time, The Other Side of Dawn.
• Park, Ruth
  ‘This site has been created to celebrate the life and works of author Ruth Park’. Author of books including The Harp in The South, Playing Beattie Bow.
• Rodda, Emily
  Author of such diverse books as Something Special, Deltora Quest series.
• Thiele, Colin
  Author of Australian books such as Blue Fin, Storm Boy.
• Vivas, Julie
  Author or illustrator of such classics as Possum Magic, The Nativity.
• Wild, Margaret
  Author of books for young and old, including Woolvs in the Sitee, Jinx.

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Other Authors

Australian authors of various genres, fiction and non-fiction.

Fiction

• Carey, Peter
  Australian author of The Illywhacker, Bliss, A True History of the Kelly Gang, Oscar and Lucinda. Dual Booker Prize Winner.
• Clancy, Anne
  Author of historical, romance novels some of which are set in outback Australia.
• Courtenay, Bryce
  Australian based author of The Power of One, The Potato Factory, Tandia, Brother Fish, Tommo & Hawk, The Story of Danny Dunn.
• Douglass, Sara
  Australian author of fantasy books, highly regarded worldwide. Includes CThe Axis Trilogy, The Wayfarer Redemption.
• Keneally, Thomas
  Australian author of novels such as Schindler’s List, The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, and non-fiction such as The Commonwealth of Thieves. Miles Franklin Award Winner twice, short listed for the Booker Prize.
• Lawson, Henry
  Also find information at Henry Lawson. Quintessential writer of novels and short stories about Australian life such as The Loaded Dog, While the Billy Boils as well as Poetry : Henry Lawson.
• Malouf, David
  Australian author of novels such as Harland’s Half Acre, An Imaginary Life, Johnno.
• Moorhouse, Frank
  Australian author, Miles Franklin Award winner. Author of Dark Palace, Grand Days, short stories such as Room Service [collected stories].
• Paterson, A.B.
  Primarily a poet. Some of his best known works being icons of Australian literature. The Man from Snowy River being one.
• Reilly, Matthew
  Young Australian author of action novels such as Contest, Ice Station, Temple, Five Greatest Warriors.
• West, Morris
  Australian author of such novels as The Shoes of the Fisherman, The Devil’s Advocate.
• White, Patrick
  Australian Nobel Prize winner, Miles Franklin Award winner, short listed for The Booker Prize. Best known as the author of The Tree of Man, also Voss, The Solid Mandala.
• Winton, Tim
  Novelist of titles such as The Riders, Cloudstreet, Dirt Music, In the Winter Dark, Breath. Four time Miles Franklin Award winner.

General Sites

• Australian Author
  Journal. ‘The most up-to-date source of information about writing and publishing in Australia’.
• Australian Authors and Illustrators
  Extensive listing, links to further details and lists.
• Author Search
  ‘Looking for an author ? Check out the Members’ links pages’. From the Australian Society of Authors. Listed alphabetically.
• Australian Literature, Authors
  Links to information on listed authors. Some have pages at other sites.
• Authors, Fremantle Press
  Featured authors. Authors in alphabetical groupings. Annotated lists. Indigenous authors included.
• Australian Writers
  Links in various genre.
• Black Words
  ‘Access to both general and specific information about Indigenous literary cultures and traditions, providing definitions and articulations of what Black writing and Indigenous literatures are’.
• Indigenous Australian Writers
  Literature, non-fiction, journalism, links. From Wikipedia.
• Penguin Author Profiles
  ‘More than 1 000 biographical profiles of authors and illustrators, published by Penguin Books Australia. Browse the alphabetical list of all profiles, search for a specific author by name’.
• Puffin Author Profiles
  ‘Biographical profiles of authors and illustrators, Puffin Books Australia. Browse the alphabetical list, search for a specific author by name’.
• The Australian Society of Authors
  ‘The professional association for Australia’s literary creators’. Use their Author Search to access the authors who belong to the association.

Non-Fiction

• Blainey, Geoffrey
  Australian writer with titles such as Tyranny of Distance, Triumph of the Nomads, A Land Half Won, A Short History of The World.
• Clark, Manning
  Australian historian, best known for his 6 volume A History of Australia.
• Flannery, Tim
  Scientific and historical writer of titles such as The Future Eaters, The Weather Makers, Throwim Way Leg.
• James, Clive
  Expatriate broadcaster and writer with titles such as Unreliable Memoirs, Falling Towards England, several books of reviews.
• Reynolds, Henry
  Author of works about Indigenous Australians including The Other Side of The Frontier, Fate of a Free People.

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Awards & Prizes

Australian Awards & Prizes

Among the most prestigious awards & prizes are the following.

• Aurealis Awards
  ‘To recognise the achievements of Australian science fiction, fantasy and horror writers’.
• Australian and New Zealand Major Literary Awards
  Annotated links to these.
• Australian Literary Awards & Prizes
  Covers all areas of writing. Links connect to further information. From Wikipedia.
• Book Awards
  Western Australian Department of Education. Provides links for Australian, New Zealand, International Awards.

Childrens Book Awards

• Australia and New Zealand Children & Young Adult Book Award List
  Annotated links to these.
• Bilby Award Winners
  ‘Awarded annually by the Queensland Branch of the Children’s Book Council Awards’.
• Children’s Book Council of Australia Book Awards
  The CBCA awards, links to a range of other Children’s Book Awards both in Australia and overseas. Their Notable Books for the year is found here, as are previous listings back to 1949.
• COOL Awards
  ‘The COOL Awards are the children’s choice book awards voted for by the young people of the Canberra region. The COOL Awards stands for Canberra’s Own Outstanding List’.
• Environment Award for Children’s Literature
  ‘Open to fiction and non-fiction children’s books published in Australia. The award is intended to promote books that inspire a sense of wonder and a sense of caring for the natural world’.
• Euphemia “Pheme” Award
  ‘The Pheme Tanner Award is a biennial award presented as part of the La Trobe University, Bendigo Children’s Literature Conference. It is presented to recognize distinguished service to Children's Literature and the encouragement of the joys of reading in children’.
• Inky Awards
  ‘There is no other award in Australia that reflects what teenagers want to read. The Inkys are international awards for teenage literature, voted for online by the readers of insideadog.com.au’.
• Koala
  ‘Kids Own Australian Literature Awards are annual awards made by young readers in NSW to the Australian books they have most enjoyed reading during that year’.
• YABBA
  ‘The Children’s Choice Book Award in Victoria’.
• Young Australian Readers’ Award
  ‘The first national, online students choice award in Australia. Read our students’ reviews of the latest titles from the best Australian authors, read the books for yourself and then, in October, vote for your favourite !’

• Kathleen Mitchell Award for Young Writers
  ‘The Kathleen Mitchell Award is a biennial Award dedicated to encouraging young Australian authors to achieve their dreams’.
• Kiriyama Prize
  ‘Recognize outstanding books about the Pacific Rim and South Asia that encourage greater mutual understanding of and among the peoples and nations of this vast and culturally diverse region’.
• Literary Awards, Australia Gateway to 250+ Book Awards
  3 major indexes, the ‘Australian Literary Awards Index, Australian Children & YA Book Awards and the International Awards Index’, links to several other national book award sites.
  Highly Recommended !
• Miles Franklin Award
  Australian prize for writing, presented annually.
• NSW Premier’s Literary Awards
  About the awards, People’s Choice Award, shortlists, winners.
• Premier’s Book Awards WA
  Guidelines, categories, past winners.
• Prime Minister’s Literary Awards
  ‘A new initiative celebrating the contribution of Australian literature to the nation’s cultural and intellectual life. The awards recognise literature’s importance to our national identity, community and economy’.
• Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards
  ‘The Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards will not proceed in 2012’. Previous winners, photo gallery.
• The Australian/Vogel Award
  ‘The Australian/Vogel Literary Award is one of Australia’s richest and the most prestigious award for an unpublished manuscript by a writer under the age of thirty-five’.
• Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards
  About the awards, winners, individual prizes, more.
• Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards
  About the awards, winners, individual prizes, more.

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