Australian Books of the Year 1788-1950

This is a list of Australian books which would presumably have won a literary award at the time of publication, before such awards were given out. It represents a year by year 'best of'.
Some years have no books listed. In the very early days of colonisation, this was due to the lack of publication of books. In later years, it is the result of published books being unworthy recipients of ansuch an award.
The list is based on a number of sources including: popularity, book sales, significance, award lists, etc.
Categories include: Novel, Short Stories, Poetry, Children's Literature, and Non-Fiction.
From 1788-1849, only years with a 'winning' book are listed. From 1850, each year is listed.
If you are interested in purchasing any book in the first edition or later reprint, email: heathwoodbooks@bigpond.com

Year	Book Type	Author	Title

1788	Non-Fiction	George B. Worgan	Journal of a First Fleet Surgeon

1789	Non-Fiction	Watkin Tench	A Narrative of the Expedition to Botany Bay

1790	Non-Fiction	John White	Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales

1793	Non-Fiction	Watkin Tench	A Complete Account of the Settlement at Port Jackson

1794	Non-Fiction	Thomas Watling	Letters From an Exile at Botany Bay

1798	Non-Fiction	David Collins	An Account of the English Colony in NSW

1802	Non-Fiction	George Howe	New South Wales General Standing Orders: Selected From the General Orders Issued by Former Governors

1803	Non-Fiction	David Collins	An Account of the English Colony in NSW: Volume 2

1810	Poetry	Michael Massey Robinson	Royal Birthday Ode
	Non-Fiction	Robert Brown	Prodromus Florae New Hollandiae et Insulae Van-Diemen

1813	Non-Fiction	John William Lewin	Birds of New Holland with their Natural History

1818	Non-Fiction	Thomas Wells	Michael Howe: The Last and Worst of the Bushrangers of Van Diemen's Land

1819	Poetry	Barron Field	First Fruits of Australian Poetry
	Non-Fiction	James Hardy Vaux	Vocabulary of the Flash Language; Memoirs

1823	Poetry	William Charles Wentworth	Australasia: A Poem
	Non-Fiction	Gregory Blaxland	A Journal of a Tour of Discovery Across the Blue Mountains in New South Wales

1825	Non-Fiction	Joseph Lycett	Views in Australia

1826	Poetry	Charles Tompson	Wild Notes from the Lyre of a Native Minstrel

1829	Stories	Henry Savery ?	The Hermit of Van Diemen's Land: From the Colonial Times

1830	Novel	Henry Savery	Quintus Servinton - Volume 1

1832	Novel	Mary Leman Grimstone	Woman's Love

1833	Non-Fiction	Charles Sturt	Two Expeditions into the Interior of Southern Australia During the Years 1828, 1829, 1830 and 1831

1837	Non-Fiction	James Mudie	The Felonry of New South Wales

1838	Novel	Anna Maria Bunn	The Guardian
	Non-Fiction	James Martin	Australian Sketch Book

1840	Poetry	Fidelia S.T. Hill	Poems and Recollections of the Past
	Non-Fiction	George Arden	Latest Information with Regard to Australia Felix

1841	Childrens	Lady Gordon Bremer	A Mother's Offering to her Children
	Non-Fiction	John Gould	Birds of Australia - Volume 1

1842	Poetry	Louisa Anne Meredith	The Parterre, or Beauties of Flora

1843	Novel	Charles Rowcroft	Tales of the Colonies, or The Adventures of an Emigrant

1844	Non-Fiction	Louisa Anne Meredith	Notes and Sketches of New South Wales

1845	Novel	Giacomo di Rosenberg [James Tucker]	Adventures of Ralph Rashleigh: A Penal Exile in Australia, 1825-44
	Poetry	Charles Harpur	Thoughts: A Series of Sonnets
	Non-Fiction	Edward John Eyre	Journals of Expeditions of Discovery into Central Australia and Overland From Adelaide to King George's Sound...1840-1

1846	Novel	Charles Rowcroft	The Bushranger of Van Diemen's Land
	Non-Fiction	John Stokes	Discoveries in Australia

1847	Novel	Alexander Harris	Settlers and Convicts, or Recollections of Sixteen Years' Labour in the Australian Backwoods by an Emigrant Mechanic

1849	Novel	Alexander Harris	The Emigrant Family, or The Story of an Australian Settler

1850	-	-	-

1851	-	-	-

1852	Non-Fiction	John West	The History of Tasmania

1853	Novel	John Lang	The Wetherbys, or Chapters of Indian Experience; Too Clever by Half, or The Harroways

1854	Novel	Catherine Helen Spence	Clara Morison: A Tale of South Australia During the Gold Fever
	Poetry	Richard H. Horne	Orion: An Epic Poem

1855	Novel (tie)	John Lang	The Forger's Wife, or Emily Orford
	Novel (tie)	Raffaello Carboni	The Eureka Stockade: The Consequences of Some Pirates wanting on Quarter-Deck a Rebellion

1856	-	-	-

1857	Novel	Caroline Atkinson	Gertrude the Emigrant: A Tale of Colonial Life, by an Australian Lady

1858	Non-Fiction	William Howitt	Land, Labour and Gold in Victoria

1859	Novel	Henry Kingsley	The Recollections of Geoffry Hamlyn
	Non-Fiction	James George Beaney	Original Contributions to the Practice of Conservative Surgery

1860	Poetry/Childrens	Louisa Anne Meredith	Some of My Bush Friends in Tasmania

1861	-	-	-

1862	Poetry	Charles Harpur	A Poet's Home
	Non-Fiction	Roderick Flanagan	History of New South Wales...and Other Australian Settlements
	Childrens	W.A. Cawthorne	Who Killed Cockatoo?

1863	-	-	-

1864	Non-Fiction	William Walker	Australian Literature: A Lecture Delivered at the Windsor School of Arts, July 20, 1864

1865	Novel	Catherine Helen Spence	Mr Hogarth's Will
	Non-Fiction	John Gould	Handbook of the Birds of Australia

1866	Novel	Bernard L. Farjeon	Grif: A Story of Colonial Life
	Non-Fiction	George B. Barton	Literature in New South Wales

1867	Poetry	Adam Lindsay Gordon	Sea Spray and Smoke Drift
	Non-Fiction	Samuel Bennett	The History of Australian Discovery and Colonization

1868	Novel	Catherine Helen Spence	The Author's Daughter

1869	Novel	Marcus Clarke	Long Odds
	Poetry	Henry Kendall	Leaves From Australian Forests

1870	Poetry	Adam Lindsay Gordon	Bush Ballads and Galloping Rhymes
	Childrens	Francis H. Grundy	The Demon McGuire

1871	Novel	Marcus Clarke	Old Tales of a Young Country
	Stories	Mrs Fortune ('W.W.')	The Detective's Album: Recollections of an Australian Police Officer
	Poetry	James Brunton Stephens	Convict Once: A Poem
	Childrens	Cyrus Mason	The Australian Christmas Story Book

1872	-	-	-

1873	-	-	-

1874	Novel	Marcus Clarke	His Natural Life [For the Term of His Natural Life]

1875	Poetry	Ada Cambridge	The Manor House and Other Poems

1876	Childrens	E.W. Cole	Cole's Funny Picture Book (No. 1)

1877	Novel	Marcus Clarke	Four Stories High

1878	Childrens	Louisa Anne Meredith	Grandmamma's Verse Book for Young Australia

1879	Non-Fiction	Richard Birnie	Essays: Social, Moral, and Political

1880	Novel	Louisa Anne Meredith	Tasmanian Friends and Foes, Feathered, Furred and Finned: A Family Chronicle of Country Life
	Poetry	Henry Kendall	Songs From the Mountains
	Non-Fiction	Alexander Forrest	Journal of an Expedition from De Grey to Port Darwin

1881	Novel	Mrs Campbell Praed	Policy and Passion: A Novel of Australian Life [Longleat of Kooralbyn]

1882	-	-	-

1883	-	-	-

1884	-	-	-

1885	Non-Fiction	Harry Emmet	Our Own Authors and Their Productions
	Poetry	Mary Hannay Foote	Where the Pelican Builds and Other Poems

1886	Novel	Fergus Hume	The Mystery of a Hansom Cab: A Story of Melbourne Social Life
	Childrens	B. L. Farjeon	The Golden Land, or Links from Shore to Shore
	Non-Fiction	Edward Curr	The Australian Race: Its Origins, Languages, Customs

1887	Poetry	John Farrell	How He Died and Other Poems

1888	Novel	Rolf Boldrewood	Robbery Under Arms: A Story of Life and Adventure in the Bush and in the Goldfields of Australia
	Childrens	Gordon Stables	From Squire to Squatter
	Non-Fiction	Oceanic Publishing Co.	The History of Capital and Labour in All Lands and Ages

1889	Novel	Tasma (Jessie Couvreur)	Uncle Piper of Piper's Hill: An Australian Novel
	Childrens	Mary Anne Fitzgerald	Australian Furs and Feathers
	Non-Fiction	Ernest Giles	Australia Twice Traversed, the Romance of Exploration: Being a Narrative Compiled from the Journals of Five Exploring Expeditions into and through Central South Australia and Western Australia, from 1872 to 1876

1890	Novel	Ada Cambridge	A Marked Man: Some Episodes in His Life
	Stories	Tasma (Jessie Couvreur)	A Sydney Sovereign and Other Tales
	Childrens	E. Davenport	The White Kangaroo: A Tale of Colonial Life Founded by Fact

1891	Novel	Ada Cambridge	The Three Miss Kings
	Stories	Mrs Patchett Martin (Hariet)(ed.)	Coo-ee: Tales of Australian Life by Australian Ladies
	Non-Fiction	Edward Kinglake	The Australian at Home
	Poetry/Childrens	Louisa Anne Meredith	Bush Friends in Tasmania: Last Series

1892	Novel	Price Warung	Tales of the Convict System
	Childrens	George Manville Fenn	The Dingo Boys: Or, The Squatters of Wallaby Range

1893	Non-Fiction	F.W.L. Adams	The Australians

1894	Novel	Louis Becke	By Reef and Palm
	Poetry/Stories	Henry Lawson	Short Stories in Prose and Verse
	Childrens	Ethel Turner	Seven Little Australians

1895	Novel	Ernest Favenc	The Secret of the Australian Desert
	Poetry	A.B. ‘Banjo’ Paterson	The Man From Snowy River and Other Verses
	Childrens	Ethel Turner	The Family at Misrule

1896	Novel	Ernest Favenc	Marooned on Australia
	Stories	Henry Lawson	While the Billy Boils
	Poetry	Henry Lawson	In the Days When the World Was Wide and other Verses
	Childrens	Ethel Turner	The Little Larrikin

1897	Poetry	Barcroft Boake	Where the Dead Men Lie, and Other Poems
	Childrens	Louise Mack	Teens: A Story of Australian Schoolgirls

1898	Stories	Edward Dyson	Below and On Top
	Poetry	Victor Daley	At Dawn and Dusk
	Childrens	Louise Mack	Girls Together
	Non-Fiction	David W. Carnegie	Spinifex and Sand: A Narrative of Five Years' Pioneering and Exploration in Western Australia

1899	Novel	Steele Rudd	On Our Selection
	Poetry	E.J. Brady	The Ways of Many Waters
	Childrens	Ethel Pedley	Dot and the Kangaroo
	Non-Fiction	Walter Baldwin Spencer & Francis Gillen	The Native Tribes of Central Australia

1900	Stories	Henry Lawson	On the Track and Over the Sliprails
	Poetry	Henry Lawson	Verses Popular and Humorous
	Childrens	Ernest Favenc	Tales for Young Australia

1901	Novel	Miles Franklin	My Brilliant Career
	Stories	Henry Lawson	Joe Wilson and His Mates
	Poetry	Matilda Ann Aston	Maiden Verses

1902	Stories	Barbara Baynton	Bush Studies
	Poetry/Stories	Henry Lawson	Children of the Bush
	Childrens	Ethel Turner	Little Mother Meg

1903	Novel	Tom Collins (Joseph Furphy)	Such is Life
	Poetry	Will H. Ogilvie	Hearts of Gold and Other Verses

1904	Non-Fiction	Walter Baldwin Spencer & Francis Gillen	The Northern Tribes of Central Australia

1905	Poetry	Henry Lawson	When I Was King and Other Verses
	Childrens	Jeannie Gunn	The Little Black Princess: A True Story of Life in the Never-Never Land

1906	Novel	A.B. ‘Banjo’ Paterson	An Outback Marriage
	Poetry	Thomas Edward Spencer	How McDougall Topped the Score and Other Verses and Sketches

1907	Childrens	Tarella Quin & Ida Rentoul Outhwaite	Gum Tree Brownie

1908	Novel	Mrs Aeneas Gunn (Jeannie)	We of the Never Never
	Non-Fiction	E. J. Banfield	The Confessions of a Beachcomber

1909	Novel	Steele Rudd	From Selection to City
	Poetry	Hugh McCrae	Satyrs and Sunlight: Silvarum Libri

1910	Novel	Henry Handel Richardson	The Getting of Wisdom
	Poetry	Mary Gilmore	Marri’d and Other Verses
	Childrens	Mary Grant Bruce	A Little Bush Maid
	Non-Fiction	C.E.W. Bean	On the Wool Track

1911	Novel	Louis Stone	Jonah
	Stories	Henry Lawson	Mateship: A Discursive Yarn
	Poetry	Dorothea Mackellar	The Closed Door and Other Verses
	Childrens	Mary Grant Bruce	Mates at Billabong

1912	Non-Fiction	Walter Baldwin Spencer & Francis Gillen	Across Australia

1913	Novel	Norman Lindsay	A Curate in Bohemia
	Poetry	C.J. Dennis	Backblock Ballads and Other Verses
	Childrens	Mary Grant Bruce	Norah of Billabong

1914	Poetry	Christopher J. Brennan	Poems 1913
	Childrens	Mary Grant Bruce	From Billabong to London
	Non-Fiction	Walter Baldwin Spencer & Francis Gillen	The Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia

1915	Novel	Katherine Susannah Prichard	The Pioneers
	Stories	Vance Palmer	The World of Men
	Poetry	C.J. Dennis	The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke
	Non-Fiction	Douglas Mawson	The Home of the Blizzard

1916	Novel	Steele Rudd	Grandpa’s Selection
	Poetry	C.J. Dennis	The Moods of Ginger Mick
	Childrens	Annie R. Rentoul & Ida R. Outhwaithe	Elves and Fairies
	Non-Fiction	Frederick McCubbin & James MacDonald	The Art of Frederick McCubbin

1917	Novel	Henry Handel Richardson	The Fortunes of Richard Mahony (Australia Felix I)
	Poetry	A.B. ‘Banjo’ Paterson	Saltbush Bill, J.P., and Other Verses

1918	Poetry	C.J. Dennis	Digger Smith
	Childrens (tie)	May Gibbs	Tales of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie: Their Adventures Wonderful
	Childrens (tie)	Norman Lindsay	The Magic Pudding: Being the Adventures of Bunyip Bluegum, and His Friends Bill Barnacle & Sam Sawnoff
	Non-Fiction	Timothy Augustine Coghlan	Labor and Industry in Australia 1788-1901

1919	Novel	William Hay	The Escape of the Notorious Sir William Heans: And the Mystery of Mr Daunt
	Poetry	John Shaw Neilson	Heart of Spring

1920	Poetry	Furnley Maurice	Ways and Means: A Poem and an Argument
	Childrens	May Gibbs	Little Ragged Blossom and More About Snugglepot and Cuddlepie
	Non-Fiction	Meredith Atkinson	Australian Economic and Political Studies

1921	Novel	Katherine Susannah Prichard	Black Opal
	Poetry	John O’Brien	Around the Boree Log and Other Verses
	Childrens	C.J. Dennis	A Book for Kids
	Non-Fiction	C.E.W. Bean	The Story of ANZAC: The Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918 - Volume 1

1922	Childrens	Ida Rentoul Outhwaite	The Little Green Road to Fairyland

1923	Novel	D.H. Lawrence	Kangaroo
	Poetry/Stories	John Moses (Jack Moses)	Beyond the City Gates: Australian Story and Verse

1924	Poetry	Kenneth Slessor	Thief of the Moon

1925	Novel	Chester Cobb	Mr Moffatt
	Childrens	Pixie O'Harris	The Pixie O'Harris Fairy Book

1926	Novel	Jack McLaren	My Crowded Solitude
	Poetry	Kenneth Slessor	Earth Visitors
	Childrens	Ida Rentoul Outhwaite	Fairyland

1927	Novel	Ion Idriess	Madman's Island
	Poetry	Robert D. Fitzgerald	The Greater Apollo
	Non-Fiction	(Walter) Baldwin Spencer	The Arunta: A Story of a Stone Age People

1928	Novel	Martin Boyd	The Montforts
	Non-Fiction	(Walter) Baldwin Spencer	Wanderings in Wild Australia

1929	Novel (tie)	M. Barnard Eldershaw	A House is Built
	Novel (tie)	Katherine Susannah Prichard	Coonardoo

1930	Novel (tie)	Vance Palmer	The Passage
	Novel (tie)	Lennie Lower	Here's Luck
	Non-Fiction	W. K. Hancock	Australia

1931	Novel	Frank Dalby Davison	Man-Shy: A Story of Men and Cattle
	Non-Fiction	Ion Idriess	Lasseter's Last Ride: An Epic of Central Australian Gold Discovery

1932	Novel (tie)	Leonard Mann	Flesh in Armour
	Novel (tie)	Myrtle Rose White	No Roads Go By
	Poetry	Kenneth Slessor	Cuckooz Country
	Non-Fiction	Ion Idriess	Flynn of the Inland

1933	Novel	Eleanor Dark	Prelude to Christopher
	Childrens	Dorothy Wall	Blinky Bill: The Quaint Little Australian
	Non-Fiction	Frank Clune	Try Anything Once: The Autobiography of a Wanderer

1934	Novel	Brian Penton	Landtakers
	Poetry	Furnley Maurice	Melbourne Odes
	Childrens	Pamela Travers	Mary Poppins

1935	Novel	Eleanor Dark	Return to Coolami
	Childrens	Pixie O'Harris	Pearl Pinkie and Sea Greenie

1936	Novel	Miles Franklin	All That Swagger
	Childrens	Frank Dalby Davison	Children of the Dark
	Non-Fiction	P.R, Stephensen	The Foundations of Culture in Australia

1937	Novel	Seaforth Mackenzie (Kenneth)	The Young Desire It
	Childrens	Dorothy Wall	Blinky Bill and Nutsy: Two Little Australians

1938	Novel	Xavier Herbert	Capricornia
	Poetry	Robert D. Fitzgerald	Moonlight Acre
	Childrens	Gladys Lister	The Little Round Garden
	Non-Fiction (tie)	H.V. Evatt	Rum Rebellion
	Non-Fiction (tie)	Francis Ratcliffe	Flying Fox and Drifting Sand

1939	Novel	Patrick White	Happy Valley
	Poetry	Kenneth Slessor	Five Bells: XX Poems
	Childrens	Gladys Lister	The Little Round House

1940	Novel	Christina Stead	The Man Who Loved Children
	Poetry	Matilda Ann Aston	The Inner Garden
	Childrens	Pixie O'Harris	The Pixie O'Harris Story Book

1941	Novel (tie)	Kylie Tennant	The Battlers
	Novel (tie)	Eleanor Dark	The Timeless Land
	Childrens	Pixie O'Harris	The Fortunes of Poppy Treloar
	Non-Fiction	J.A. Ferguson	Bibliography of Australia

1942	Novel	Eve Langley	The Pea-Pickers
	Childrens	Leslie Rees	Digit Dick on the Barrier Reef

1943	Novel	Marjorie Barnard	The Persimmon Tree
	Poetry	Douglas Stewart	Ned Kelly

1944	Novel	Lawson Glassop	We Were the Rats
	Poetry	Kenneth Slessor	One Hundred Poems: 1919-1939
	Childrens	Peg Maltby	Peg's Fairy Book

1945	Novel	Morris West	Moon in my Pocket
	Non-Fiction	John Sidney Baker	Dictionary of Australian Slang

1946	Novel (tie)	Herz Bergner	Between Sky and Sea
	Novel (tie)	Martin Boyd	Lucinda Brayford
	Poetry	Judith Wright	The Moving Image
	Childrens	Leslie Rees	The Story of Karrawingi the Emu

1947	Novel	M. Barnard Eldershaw	Tomorrow and Tomorrow

1948	Novel	Ruth Park	The Harp in the South
	Poetry	Mary Gilmore	Selected Verse
	Childrens	Frank Hurley	Shackleton's Argonauts: A Saga of the Antarctic Icepacks

1949	Novel	Ruth Park	Poor Man's Orange
	Poetry	Judith Wright	Woman to Man

1950	Novel (tie)	Frank Hardy	Power Without Glory
	Novel (tie)	Jon Cleary	Just Let Me Be
	Childrens	Ivan Southall	Meet Simon Black

If you are interested in purchasing any book in the first edition or later reprint, email: heathwoodbooks@bigpond.com