1969 in Australian literature
This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1969.
Books
- Mena Calthorpe – The Defectors
- Jon Cleary – Remember Jack Hoxie
- Dymphna Cusack – The Half-Burnt Tree
- Sumner Locke Elliott – Edens Lost
- George Johnston – Clean Straw for Nothing
- Thomas Keneally – The Survivor
- D'Arcy Niland – Dead Men Running
- F. J. Thwaites – ''No Love to Give''
Short stories
- Manning Clark – Disquiet and Other Stories
- Lyndall Hadow – Full Cycle and Other Stories
- Lee Harding – "Dancing Gerontius"
- T. A. G. Hungerford – "Wong Chu and the Queen's Letterbox"
- Frank Moorhouse – Futility and Other Animals
- Dal Stivens – ''Selected Stories 1936-1968''
Children's and young adult fiction
- Hesba Brinsmead – Isle of the Sea Horse
- Annette Macarthur-Onslow – Uhu
- Joan Phipson – Peter and Butch
- Ivan Southall – Finn's Folly
- Eleanor Spence – Jamberoo Road
- Colin Thiele – ''Blue Fin''
Poetry
- Bruce Beaver – Letters to Live Poets
- Gwen Harwood
- * "Barn Owl"
- * "Father and Child"
- A. D. Hope – New Poems, 1956-1969
- James McAuley – Surprises of the Sun
- David Malouf – "The Year of the Foxes"
- Les Murray – The Weatherboard Cathedral
- Thomas Shapcott – Inwards to the Sun : Poems
- Randolph Stow – ''A Counterfeit Silence: Selected Poems''
Drama
- Dorothy Hewett – Mrs Porter and the Angel
- Morris West – ''The Heretic''
Awards and honours
Poetry
| Award | Author | Title | Publisher |
| Grace Leven Prize for Poetry | Randolph Stow | A Counterfeit Silence: Selected Poems | Angus and Robertson |
Births
A list, ordered by date of birth of births in 1969 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of death.- 1 April – Larissa Behrendt, novelist and academic
- 23 October – Trudi Canavan, novelist
- Tegan Bennett Daylight, novelist
Deaths
A list, ordered by date of death of deaths in 1969 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of birth.- 2 February — William Hatfield, novelist
- 8 July – Charmian Clift, novelist
- 12 July — Henry George Lamond, novelist
- 4 September – Emily Bulcock, poet and journalist
- 2 October – Katharine Susannah Prichard, novelist
- 11 October – Marie Bjelke Petersen, novelist
- 21 November – Norman Lindsay, novelist and artist
- 27 November – May Gibbs, writer for children
- Kathleen Dalziel, poet