Australia has produced many great literary writers and poets that continue today. In the early history of colonial Australia, much of its literary tradition is linked to the British colonies, that in itself is based on the tradition of English literature.

Since 1788, that point which was to change the continent of Australia, the narratives that have arisen from the pen, typewriter and mouth of the Australian writer and poet have achieved international renown and an enduring impression.

Today, we can look back at some of these remarkable writers and poets, from those who writings are studies in the Australian educational system and those who are in all sorts of best of list of writers and poets.

One of the great tools today, for researching Australian writers and poets, is the ability to use the internet.

For your interest, following are some links to well known Australian writers, poets and their writing (more to be added over time).

Check back with us as we add more information over time.

Poets of renowned poetry and prose include:

  • A. D. Hope
  • Banjo Paterson
  • Bruce Dawe
  • C. J. Dennis
  • Dame Mary Gilmore
  • Dorothea Mackellar
  • Henry Lawson
  • Judith Wright
  • Kenneth Slessor
  • Les Murray

Novelists of classic Australian works include:

  • Henry Handel Richardson — The Fortunes of Richard Mahony
  • Joseph Furphy — Such Is Life
  • Marcus Clarke — For the Term of His Natural Life
  • Miles Franklin — My Brilliant Career
  • Rolf Boldrewood — Robbery Under Arms
  • Ruth Park — The Harp in the South

Other renowned Australian writers include:

  • Barry Humphries — My Life as Me
  • Bradley Trevor Greive — The Blue Day Book
  • Christina Stead — The Man Who Loved Children
  • Clive James — Unreliable Memoirs
  • Colleen McCullough — The Thorn Birds
  • David Malouf — The Great World
  • Morris West — The Devil’s Advocate
  • Nevil Shute — A Town Like Alice
  • Patrick White — The Tree of Man
  • Peter Carey — Oscar and Lucinda
  • Robert Hughes — The Fatal Shore
  • Thomas Keneally — Schindler’s List

Writers of children and young adult literature include:

  • Mem Fox — Possum Magic
  • May Gibbs — Snugglepot and Cuddlepie
  • Melina Marchetta— (Looking for Alibrandi
  • Norman Lindsay — The Magic Pudding

Eminent Australian playwrights include:

  • Alan Seymour
  • David Williamson
  • Nick Enright
  • Steele Rudd

Footnote & References

  1. Australian literature, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_literature (last visited Oct. 15, 2021).