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Represent – award-winning writing by Australian queer/LGBTIQ writers

by nike, December 9, 2014
Dorothy Porter

Dorothy Porter

So, over on FaceBook I recently got involved in a conversation about which queer-identified (LGBTIQ) Australian writers had received book awards, and whether those awards were for books with queer content/characters. Jess White has already compiled a great resource list of leso/queer Australian women writers, over at the Australian Women Writer’s Challenge site.

So, let’s do some mapping! I thought I’d kick off with a couple I can think of, and keep coming back to add to the list as I go.

What are we listing?

The list includes writers who publicly identify as queer (that is, as lesbian, homosexual, queer, trans, bisexual or intersex). Writers who are in the closet, or for which there is no evidence of their gender identity have not been included at this stage. [This is partly because I am an anti-outer :)]

In the future, I may compile a separate list (after being prompted to consider whether to include them in a list of award-winning queer works by Michelle Dicinoski) of award-winning works that include queer characters but are not written by queer-identified writers.

Format of the list

The titles of works that feature queer characters are marked with an asterisk (*) and VERY BRIEFLY annotated. If I haven’t read the work in question, I haven’t asterisked the work or annotated it; please feel free to suggest an annotation or work, or author!

Authors are listed in alphabetical order, by surname.

But you forgot …

PLEASE feel free to contribute to this ongoing list of queer awesomeness by including any other writers/works I have not yet included, and who should be included, in the comments – I’ll add them to the list ASAP, and acknowledge your contribution.

Blackadder, Jesse

The Raven’s Heart (2011)* [cross-dressing (FTM) main character. Lesbian-ish?]

Cleven, Vivienne

Bitin’ Back (2001)* [MTF trans main character]

  • Joint winner, The Kate Challis RAKA Award (Awarded jointly to Cleven’s two novels Bitin’ Back and Her Sister’s Eye)
  • Winner, The Dymocks Booksellers National Award for Fiction
  • Winner, David Unaipon Award (pre-publication title: Just Call Me Jean)

Her Sister’s Eye (2002)

Dicinoski, Michelle

Electricity for Beginners (2011)* [I read at least some of these poems as queer, esp. those that are directed from the female poet/narrator to her lover]

  • Highly Commended, Anne Elder Award

Jessen, Rebecca

Gap (2014)* [lesbian main and secondary characters]

Kent, Hannah

Burial Rites (2013)

Lucashenko, Melissa

Mullumbimby (2013)* [lesbian main character]

Hard Yards (1999)

Steam Pigs (1997)

Killing Darcy (1998)

Other Awards

Malouf, David

Fly Away Peter (1982)

  • Winner, The Age Book of the Year

The Great World (1990)

Remembering Babylon (1993)

Every Move You Make (2007)

Earth Hour (2014)

  • Winner, Queensland Literary Awards (poetry)

Other Awards:

McGregor, Fiona

Indelible Ink (2010)* [minor queer character]

Suck My Toes (1999)* [some stories include queer characters]

Porter, Dorothy

The Monkey’s Mask (1994)* [lesbian main character, bisexual secondary character/s]

  • Winner, The Age Book of the Year for poetry
  • Winner, National Book Council Award Banjo Award
  • Winner, Turnbull Fox Phillips Poetry Prize
  • Winner, Dinny O’Hearn Poetry Prize

What A Piece of Work (1999)

  • Shortlisted, Miles Franklin Literary Award

Wild Surmise (2002)

  • Winner, John Bray Poetry AwardWinner, South Austrlian Premier’s Award for Best Overall Published work
  • Shortlisted, Miles Franklin Literary Award

Other Awards:

Tsiolkas, Christos

Dead Europe (2005)* [gay male main characters, and secondary characters]

  • Winner, 2006 Age Fiction Prize
  • Winner, Melbourne Best Writing Award

The Slap (2009)* [secondary character Richie, Year Twelve student Connie’s best friend, is a gay male character]

  • Winner, Overall Best Book the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize 2009
  • Winner, ABIA Literary Fiction Book of the Year 2009 and Overall Book of the Year
  • Winner, ABA Book of the Year
  • Winner, ALS Gold Medal
  • Winner, Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards, Vance Palmer Award for Fiction
  • Shortlist, Miles Franklin Prize
  • Shortlist, Colin Roderick Award
  • Longlist, The International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, 2010

White, Patrick

Voss (1957)

  • Winner, Miles Franklin Literary Award

Riders in the Chariot (1961)

  • Winner, Miles Franklin Literary Award

Other Awards:

  • Nobel Prize for Literature (1973)
  • Australian of the Year (1974)

Walker, Yvette

Letters to the End of Love (2013)* [three narrative threads feature one lesbian, one homosexual and one str8 couple]

1 Comment

    • nike
      Replay Cancel Replay
    • December 9, 2014

    Note to self: Add Ben Law, Ronnie Scott, Dallas Baker ... ALL THE BOYS!

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