1991 in Australian literature

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1991.

Events

 * David Malouf won the Miles Franklin Award for The Great World

Novels

 * Peter Carey — The Tax Inspector
 * Brian Castro — Double-Wolf
 * Bryce Courtenay — Tandia
 * Robert Drewe — Our Sunshine
 * David Foster — Mates of Mars
 * Alan Gould — To the Burning City
 * Rodney Hall — The Second Bridegroom
 * Thomas Keneally
 * Chief of Staff (as by "William Coyle")
 * Flying Hero Class
 * Colleen McCullough — The Grass Crown
 * Gillian Mears — The Mint Lawn
 * Morris West — The Ringmaster
 * Tim Winton — Cloudstreet

Short stories

 * Lily Brett – What God Wants
 * Suzanne Edgar — Counting Backwards and Other Stories

Crime and mystery

 * Jon Cleary — Pride's Harvest
 * Peter Corris
 * Aftershock
 * Wet Graves
 * Garry Disher — Kickback
 * Kerry Greenwood — Murder on the Ballarat Train
 * Brenda Walker — Crush

Science fiction and fantasy

 * Keith Taylor – Felimid's Homecoming
 * George Turner – Brain Child

Children's and young adult fiction

 * Margaret Barbalet — The Wolf
 * Anna Fienberg — The Magnificent Nose and Other Marvels
 * Jackie French — Rain Stones (for children)
 * Robin Klein — Came Back to Show You I Could Fly
 * John Marsden — Letters from the Inside

Poetry

 * Alison Croggon — This is the Stone
 * A. D. Hope — Orpheus
 * Jean Kent — Practising Breathing

Drama

 * Michael Gow — Furious

Non-fiction

 * Bruce Bennett — Spirit in Exile, Peter Porter and His Poetry
 * Barry Hill — Sitting In
 * Julie Lewis — Olga Masters, A Lot of Living
 * David Marr — Patrick White: A Life

Awards and honours

 * Robert Hughes, for "service to art and to the promotion of Australian culture"
 * Bruce Beaver, for "service to literature, particularly in the field of poetry"
 * David Rowbotham, for "service to literature"
 * Patricia Scott, for "service to children's literature"

Deaths
A list, ordered by date of death (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of deaths in 1991 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of birth.


 * 21 February — Dorothy Auchterlonie Green, academic, literary critic and poet (born 1915)
 * 30 March — Joan Colebrook, journalist and writer (born 1910)
 * 3 April — Coral Lansbury, writer and academic (born 1929)
 * 7 April — Bob Brissenden, poet, novelist, critic and academic (born 1928)
 * 2 May — Ronald McKie, novelist (born 1909)
 * 23 May — Manning Clark, historian (born 1915)
 * 24 June — Sumner Locke Elliott, novelist and playwright (born 1917)
 * 17 November — Pixie O'Harris, children's book author and illustrator (born 1903)
 * 1 December — Barbara Hanrahan, novelist and artist (born 1939)