1953 in Australian literature

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1953.

Books

 * Charmian Clift and George Johnston – The Big Chariot
 * Dymphna Cusack – Southern Steel
 * Eleanor Dark – No Barrier
 * Helen Heney – Dark Moon
 * T. A. G. Hungerford – Riverslake
 * Eve Langley – Wild Australia
 * Jack Lindsay – Betrayed Spring : A Novel of the British Way
 * Ruth Park – A Power of Roses
 * Nevil Shute – In the Wet
 * Kylie Tennant – The Joyful Condemned
 * F. J. Thwaites – Roof Over Heaven
 * E. V. Timms – The Scarlet Frontier
 * Arthur Upfield – Murder Must Wait

Short stories

 * A. Bertram Chandler – "Jetsam"
 * T. Inglis Moore – Australia Writes: An Anthology (edited)
 * Stephen Murray-Smith – The Tracks We Travel : Australian Short Stories (edited)
 * Colin Roderick – Australian Round-Up : Stories from 1790 to 1950 (edited)
 * Dal Stivens – The Gambling Ghost and Other Tales
 * Judith Wright – "The Weeping Fig"

Children's and Young Adult fiction

 * K. Langloh Parker – Australian Legendary Tales, edited by Henrietta Drake-Brockman, illustrated by Elizabeth Durack
 * Joan Phipson – Good Luck to the Rider, illustrated by Margaret Horder

Poetry

 * John Blight
 * "Cormorants"
 * "Crab"
 * "Mangrove"
 * "Stonefish and Starfish"
 * Dulcie Deamer – The Blue Centaur
 * Rosemary Dobson – "The Birth"
 * Mary Gilmore – "Old Botany Bay"
 * A. D. Hope – "Imperial Adam"
 * James McAuley – "Late Winter"
 * David Martin – "Bush Christmas"
 * T. Inglis Moore – Australia Writes : An Anthology (edited)
 * Marjorie Pizer – Freedom on the Wallaby (edited)
 * Elizabeth Riddell – "Country Tune"
 * Roland Robinson – Tumult of the Swans
 * Douglas Stewart – "Christmas Bells"
 * Francis Webb – Birthday
 * Judith Wright
 * "The Harp and the King"
 * "Request to a Year"
 * The Gateway

Biography

 * Catherine Beatrice Edmonds – Caddie, A Sydney Barmaid
 * Frank Hardy – Ambrose Dyson : Man and Artist of the People
 * Margaret Herron – Down the Years

Non-Fiction

 * James H. Martin & W. D. Martin – Aircraft of Today and Tomorrow

Births
A list, ordered by date of birth (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of births in 1953 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of death.


 * 9 January – Morris Gleitzman, writer for children
 * 12 January – David Brooks, novelist and poet
 * 5 February – Rod Jones, novelist
 * 13 March – Stephen Sewell, playwright
 * 18 April – Leigh Hobbs, artist and writer for children
 * 14 May – Kerryn Goldsworthy, academic, editor and critic
 * 30 August – Ross Clark, poet
 * 29 November – Jackie French, writer for children

Unknown date
 * Marion Lennox, novelist
 * Ian McBryde, poet
 * Shane Maloney, novelist
 * Chris Mansell, poet and publisher

Deaths
A list, ordered by date of death (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of deaths in 1953 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of birth.


 * 9 April – Albert Dorrington, novelist (born 1874)
 * 11 May – Leonora Polkinghorne, novelist and poet (born 1873)
 * 22 May — Louis Lavater, composer and author (born 1867)
 * 30 June – Beatrice Grimshaw, novelist and travel writer (born 1870)
 * 12 August – J. H. M. Abbott, novelist and poet (born 1874)
 * 1 September – Bernard O'Dowd, poet (born 1866)
 * 14 December – Dora Wilcox, poet and playwright (born 1873)

Unknown Date
 * Guy Innes, journalist (born 1879)