1944 in Australian literature

Literature-related events in Australia during the year of 1944

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1944.

Events

The Ern Malley literary hoax is conceived when Angry Penguins editor Max Harris publishes the poems of the fictitious poet Ern Malley in the Autumn 1944 edition of his magazine. The poems had been concocted in 1943 by Australian writers James McAuley and Harold Stewart.

Books

Bernard Cronin – The Shadows Mystery
Zora Cross – This Hectic Age
Zane Grey – Wilderness Trek: A Novel of Australia
Nevil Shute – Pastoral
Christina Stead – For Love Alone

Short stories

Alan Marshall – "Trees Can Speak"
Katharine Susannah Prichard – Potch and Colour

Children's and Young Adult fiction

Peg Maltby
- Peg's Fairy Book
- Introducing Pip and Pepita

Poetry

Rosemary Dobson – In a Convex Mirror: Poems
Geoffrey Dutton – Night Flight and Sunrise
E. M. England – Queensland Days : Poems
R. D. Fitzgerald – "The Face of the Waters"
Nora Kelly – 1940–1942
Will Lawson – Bill the Whaler and Other Verse
James McAuley – "The Blue Horses"
Ern Malley – The Darkening Ecliptic
Ian Mudie – Poets at War: An Anthology of Verse by Australian Servicemen
Kenneth Slessor
- "Beach Burial"
- One Hundred Poems: 1919–1939
Judith Wright
- "Bora Ring"
- "Brother and Sisters"
- "Bullocky"

Biography

James Devaney – Shaw Neilson
Miles Franklin and Kate Baker – Joseph Furphy: The Legend of a Man and His Book
Alan Marshall – These are My People

Awards and honours

Literary

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
ALS Gold Medal^[1]	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 1944 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of death.

3 January – Blanche d'Alpuget, novelist and biographer
20 January – Caroline Caddy, poet
17 February – Robert Dessaix, novelist and journalist
25 March – Tim Thorne, poet (died 2021)^[2]
22 April – Damien Broderick, novelist and journalist
15 May – David Foster, novelist
22 May – John Flanagan, novelist
23 July – Alex Buzo, playwright (died 2006)^[3]
27 July – Andrew Burke, poet (died 2023)^[4]
25 December – Ross Fitzgerald, novelist and historian
29 December – Gerard Windsor, novelist

Unknown date

Bruce Elder, journalist
Morag Fraser, journalist and critic

Deaths

A list, ordered by date of death (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of deaths in 1944 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of birth.

11 April — James Picot, poet and critic (born 1906)^[5]
13 April – Ambrose Pratt, novelist (born 1874)^[6]
5 June – Capel Boake, novelist (born 1889)^[7]
20 August — C. H. Souter, poet (born 1864)^[8]
27 December – Agnes Littlejohn, poet and short story writer (born 1865)^[9]

References

^ "ALS Gold Medal — Previous Winners". Association for the Study of Australian Literature. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
^ "Timothy Colin THORNE Death Notice". The Advocate. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
^ "Alex Buzo (1944-2006)". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
^ "Andrew Burke (1944-2023)". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
^ "James Picot (1906-1944)". Austlit. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
^ "Pratt, Ambrose Goddard Hesketh (1874–1944) by Diane Langmore". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
^ "Kerr, Doris Boake (1889–1944) by John Arnold". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
^ "Souter, Charles Henry (1864–1944) by Vivian Smith". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
^ "Agnes Littlejohn (1865-1944)". Austlit. Retrieved 19 July 2023.