1961 in Australian literature

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1961.

Events
The Australian Book Review was founded in 1961 by Max Harris and Rosemary Wighton.

Books

 * James Aldridge – The Last Exile
 * Mena Calthorpe – The Dyehouse
 * A. Bertram Chandler – The Rim of Space
 * Kenneth Cook – Wake in Fright
 * Dymphna Cusack – Heatwave in Berlin
 * Nene Gare – The Fringe Dwellers
 * Xavier Herbert – Soldiers' Women
 * Elizabeth Kata – Be Ready with Bells and Drums
 * John O'Grady – No Kava for Johnny
 * Ruth Park – The Good Looking Women (aka Serpent's Delight)
 * Hal Porter – The Tilted Cross
 * F. J. Thwaites – Beyond the Rainbow
 * George Turner – A Stranger and Afraid
 * Judah Waten – Time of Conflict
 * Morris West – Daughter of Silence
 * Patrick White – Riders in the Chariot

Short stories

 * Thea Astley – "Cubby"
 * A. Bertram Chandler – "All Laced Up"
 * Shirley Hazzard – "Woollahra Road"
 * Ray Mathew – A Bohemian Affair : Short Stories
 * D'Arcy Niland
 * The Ballad of the Fat Bushranger : And Other Stories
 * Dadda Jumped Over Two Elephants
 * Logan's Girl and Other Stories
 * Desmond O'Grady – "Barbecue"
 * Charles Osborne – Australian Stories of Today (edited)
 * Hal Porter – "Say to Me Ronald!"

Children's and Young Adult fiction

 * L. H. Evers – The Racketty Street Gang
 * John Gunn – Dangerous Enemies
 * Ruth Park – The Hole in the Hill
 * Betty Roland – Forbidden Bridge
 * Colin Thiele – Sun on the Stubble
 * Joan Woodberry – Rafferty Rides a Winner

Poetry

 * Vincent Buckley – Masters in Israel
 * Emily Bulcock – From Australia to Britain
 * Gwen Harwood – "Nightfall"
 * A. D. Hope – "The Double Looking Glass"
 * David Malouf – "At My Grandmother's"
 * Peter Porter – Once Bitten, Twice Bitten
 * Elizabeth Riddell – Forbears
 * Thomas Shapcott – Time on Fire
 * Randolph Stow
 * "Dust"
 * "Ruins of the City of Hay"
 * Chris Wallace-Crabbe – "Melbourne"
 * Francis Webb – Socrates and Other Poems

Biography

 * Frank Hardy – The Hard Way : The Story Behind Power Without Glory

Drama

 * Ray Lawler – The Piccadilly Bushman

Births
A list, ordered by date of birth (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of births in 1961 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of death.


 * 29 June — Peter FitzSimons, writer
 * 20 August – Greg Egan, novelist and short story writer
 * 3 September — Andy Griffiths, writer for children
 * 30 September — Jordie Albiston, poet and academic (died 2022)
 * 29 October — Michael Gurr, playwright, author, speech writer and screenwriter (died 2017)

Unknown date
 * Richard Flanagan, novelist

Deaths
A list, ordered by date of death (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of deaths in 1961 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of birth.


 * 6 February — Rupert Atkinson, poet (born 1881)
 * 22 May — Lionel Lindsay, artist and essayist (born 1874)
 * 9 June – Jeannie Gunn, novelist (born 1870)
 * 27 June – Harry Hooton, poet and social commentator (born 1908)
 * 24 July – William Fleming, novelist and poet (born 1874)
 * 26 July — Alice Gore-Jones, poet (born 1887)
 * 30 July — James Robert Tyrrell, bookseller, art dealer, publisher and author (born 1875)
 * 20 August — Alice Grant Rosman, novelist (born 1882)
 * 6 October – Mary Montgomerie Bennett, biographer and nonfiction author (born 1881)