1950 in Australian literature

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1950.

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In poetry 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953
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For an overview of world literature see 1950 in literature.

See also: 1949 in Australian literature, 1950 in Australia, 1951 in Australian literature.

Books

• James Aldridge – The Hunter
• Jon Cleary – Just Let Me Be
• Miles Franklin – Prelude to Waking
• Catherine Gaskin
  • All Else is Folly
  • Dust in the Sunlight
• Frank Hardy – Power Without Glory
• Ion Idriess – The Wild White Man of Badu : A Story of the Coral Sea
• Norman Lindsay – Dust or Polish?
• Philip Lindsay – There is No Escape
• Katharine Susannah Prichard – Winged Seeds
• Nevil Shute – A Town Like Alice
• E. V. Timms – The Beckoning Shore
• Arthur Upfield
  • The Bachelors of Broken Hill
  • The Widows of Broome

Short stories

• Nancy Cato – "The Trap"
• Alan Marshall – "Street Scene at Midday"
• John Morrison – "The Children"
• Dal Stivens – "The Batting Wizard from the City"
• Judah Waten
  • "Mother"
  • "Uncle Isaac"

Children's and Young Adult fiction

• Ivan Southall – Meet Simon Black
• Ruth C. Williams – Verity of Sydney Town

Poetry

Main article: 1950 in poetry

• David Campbell
  • "Ariel"
  • "Night Sowing"
  • "Who Points the Swallow"
• Nancy Cato
  • The Darkened Window : Poems
  • "Mallee Farmer"
• C.J. Dennis & Alec H. Chisholm – Selected Verse of C. J. Dennis
• Rosemary Dobson
  • "The Bystander"
  • "The Raising of the Dead"
• Dorothy Hewett
  • "Go Down Red Roses"
  • "In Midland Where the Trains Go By"
  • "Once I Rode With Clancy..."
• Jack Lindsay – Peace is Our Answer
• Vance Palmer & Margaret Sutherland – Old Australian Bush Ballads
• Roland Robinson
  • "The Coal"
  • "Deserted Homestead"
• Douglas Stewart – "Helmet Orchid"
• Francis Webb – "Morgan's Country"
• Judith Wright
  • "The Cedars"
  • "The Cicadas"
  • "To a Child"

Drama

• Kylie Tennant – Tether a Dragon

Biography

• Don Bradman – Farewell to Cricket
• Nettie Palmer – Henry Handel Richardson : A Study

Non-fiction

• Arthur Groom – I Saw A Strange Land: Journeys in Central Australia

Awards and honours

Literary

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
ALS Gold Medal[1]	Jon Cleary	Just Let Me Be	Werner Laurie

Children's and Young Adult

Award	Category	Author	Title	Publisher
Children's Book of the Year Award[2]	Older Readers	Alan J. Villiers, illustrated by Charles Pont	Whalers of the Midnight Sun	Angus and Robertson

Poetry

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
Grace Leven Prize for Poetry	Not awarded

Births

A list, ordered by date of birth (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of births in 1950 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of death.

• 16 January – Brian Castro, novelist
• 24 March – Andrea Goldsmith, novelist
• 8 August – Philip Salom, poet and novelist
• 1 September – John Forbes, poet (died 1998)
• 6 September – Robyn Davidson, travel writer
• 27 September – John Marsden, writer and teacher
• 14 October – Kate Grenville, novelist
• 25 November – Alexis Wright, novelist
• 12 December – Louis Nowra, playwright
• 22 December – Nick Enright, playwright (died 2003)

Unknown date

• Terry Denton, writer and illustrator
• Ian Irvine, novelist
• Peter Pierce, academic, editor and critic
• Andrew Sant, poet
• Carole Wilkinson, writer for children

Deaths

A list, ordered by date of death (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of deaths in 1950 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of birth.

• 10 August – Peter Airey, poet and politician (born 1865)
• 20 November – Erle Cox, novelist (born 1873)

See also

• 1950 in poetry
• List of years in literature
• List of years in Australian literature

References

1. The Cambridge Companion to Australian Literature p129
2. "New Book Wins Council Award", Truth, 30 June 1950, p44