1965 in Australian literature
This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1965.
Major publications
Books
- Thea Astley – The Slow Natives
- Clive Barry – Crumb Borne
- Nancy Cato – North West by South
- Don Charlwood – All the Green Year
- Catherine Gaskin – The File on Devlin
- Donald Horne – The Permit
- Thomas Keneally – The Fear
- Christopher Koch – Across the Sea Wall
- Eric Lambert – The Long White Night
- D'Arcy Niland – The Apprentices
- Randolph Stow – The Merry-Go-Round in the Sea
- George Turner – A Waste of Shame
- Morris West – ''The Ambassador''
Short stories
- Mena Kasmiri Abdullah and Ray Mathew – The Time of the Peacock: Stories
- Damien Broderick – A Man Returned
- Peter Cowan – The Empty Street: Stories
- John K. Ewers – Modern Australian Short Stories
- Thelma Forshaw – "The Mateship Syndrome"
- Frank Hardy – The Yarns of Billy Borker
- Hal Porter – ''The Cats of Venice''
Children's and Young Adult fiction
- Nan Chauncy
- * Panic at the Garage
- * The Skewbald Pony
- Ruth Park
- * The Muddle-Headed Wombat in the Treetops
- * Ring for the Sorcerer
- Joan Phipson – Birkin
- Ivan Southall – Ash Road
- Eleanor Spence – The Year of the Currawong
- Kylie Tennant – Trail Blazers of the Air
- Colin Thiele – February Dragon
- Patricia Wrightson – ''Down to Earth''
Poetry
- Bruce Dawe – A Need of Similar Name
- Rosemary Dobson – Cock Crow : Poems
- Robert D. Fitzgerald – Forty Years' Poems
- A. D. Hope – "Ode on the Death of Pius the Twelfth"
- Geoffrey Lehmann & Les Murray – The Ilex Tree
- Les Murray – "Noonday Axeman"
- Vivian Smith – "At an Exhibition of Historical Paintings, Hobart"
Biography
- Martin Boyd – Day of My Delight
- Norman Lindsay – ''Bohemians of the Bulletin''
Drama
Awards and honours
Literary
| Award | Author | Title | Publisher |
| ALS Gold Medal | Patrick White | The Burnt Ones | Penguin Books Australia |
| Miles Franklin Award | Thea Astley | The Slow Natives | Angus and Robertson |
Children and Young Adult
| Award | Category | Author | Title | Publisher |
| Children's Book of the Year Award | Older Readers | H. F. Brinsmead | Pastures of the Blue Crane | Oxford University Press |
| Children's Book of the Year Award | Picture Book | Elisabeth MacIntyre | Hugh's Zoo | Constable Young Books |
Poetry
| Award | Author | Title | Publisher |
| Grace Leven Prize for Poetry | Geoffrey Lehmann & Les Murray | The Ilex Tree | Australian National University Press |
Births
A list, ordered by date of birth of births in 1965 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of death.- 25 March – Melina Marchetta, novelist
- 11 September — Cat Sparks, science fiction writer
- 29 December – Gideon Haigh, journalist and author
- Michael Farrell, poet
- Fiona McGregor, novelist
- Carrie Tiffany, novelist
- Christos Tsiolkas, novelist
- Charlotte Wood, novelist
Deaths
A list, ordered by date of death of deaths in 1965 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of birth.- 28 January – Gertrude Hart, novelist
- 29 January – T. Harri Jones, Welsh poet who emigrated to Australia
- 17 May – Duke Tritton, poet and folksinger
- 28 May – P. R. Stephensen, writer, publisher and political activist
- 3 September – Brian Fitzpatrick, author, historian and journalist
- 2 November –
- *Lex Banning, poet
- *H.V. Evatt, judge, parliamentarian and writer