1941 in Australian literature

Literature-related events in Australia during the year of 1941

This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1941.

Books

Eleanor Dark – The Timeless Land
Arthur Gask – The Beachy Head Murder
Ernestine Hill – My Love Must Wait : The Story of Matthew Flinders
Michael Innes – Appleby on Ararat
Jack Lindsay
- Hannibal Takes a Hand
- The Stormy Violence
Jack McLaren – Their Isle of Desire
Katharine Susannah Prichard – Moon of Desire
Kylie Tennant – The Battlers
Patrick White – The Living and the Dead

Children's

Mary Durack – The Way of the Whirlwind
May Gibbs – Scotty in Gumnut Land
P. L. Travers – I Go By Sea, I Go By Land

Short stories

Marjorie Barnard – "Dry Spell"
Xavier Herbert – "Josie"
Lennie Lower – The Bachelors' Guide to the Care of the Young and Other Stories
Vance Palmer – "Kaijek the Songman"

Poetry

Kathleen Dalziel – Known and Not Held : Verses
James Devaney – "Bamba"
Mary Gilmore – The Disinherited
Lesbia Harford – The Poems of Lesbia Harford
Furnley Maurice – "Apples in the Moon"
Ian Mudie – This is Australia
John Shaw Neilson – "Say This For Love"
Bernard O'Dowd – The Poems of Bernard O'Dowd
Douglas Stewart – Sonnets to the Unknown Soldier

Drama

Douglas Stewart – The Fire on the Snow

Awards and honours

Literary

Award	Author	Title	Publisher
ALS Gold Medal^[1]	Patrick White	Happy Valley	Harrap

Births

A list, ordered by date of birth (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of births in 1941 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of death.

7 February – Beverley Farmer, novelist and short story writer (died 2018)^[2]
23 March – Bruce Bennett, literary academic (died 2012)^[3]
31 May – Julian Croft, poet
23 June
- Margaret Hamilton, children's literature publisher and author (died 2022)^[4]
- Roger McDonald, novelist
11 August – Rae Desmond Jones, poet, novelist, short story writer and politician (died 2017)^[5]
22 September – Murray Bail, novelist
28 November – Jennifer Rankin, poet and playwright (died 1979)^[6]
15 December – Richard Neville, author and editor (died 2016)^[7]
21 December – Mungo MacCallum, political journalist and commentator (died 2020)^[8]

Unknown date

Elaine Forrestal, novelist^[9]
Hilary McPhee, publisher and editor^[10]
Barry Maitland, novelist (b. in Scotland)^[11]

Deaths

A list, ordered by date of death (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of deaths in 1941 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of birth.

3 February – Thomas Welsby, businessman, politician and historian (born 1858)^[12]
5 February – A. B. Paterson, author and poet (born 1864)^[13]
27 April – Winifred Lewellin James, author (born 1876)^[14]
13 June — Alice Guerin Crist, poet, author and journalist (born 1876)^[15]
7 July – Randolph Bedford, poet and novelist (born 1868)^[16]
13 November — Enid Derham, poet and academic (born 1882)^[17]

References

^ "About People" The Age, 19 February 1941, p20
^ "Beverley Farmer". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
^ "Bruce Bennett". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
^ "Margaret Dawn Hamilton Death Notice". The Sydney Morning Herald. 3 December 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
^ "Rae Desmond Jones". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
^ "Jennifer Rankin". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
^ "Richard Neville". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
^ "Mungo MacCallum". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
^ "Elaine Forrestal". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
^ "Hilary McPhee". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
^ "Barry Maitland". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. The University of Queensland. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
^ Kerr, Ruth S., "Welsby, Thomas (1858–1941)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 27 August 2023
^ "Paterson, Andrew Barton (Banjo) (1864–1941) by Clement Semmler". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
^ "James, Winifred Llewellyn (1876–1941) by Sally O'Neill". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
^ "Crist, Alice Guerin (1876–1941) by Christopher Lee". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
^ "Bedford, George Randolph (1868–1941) by Rodney G. Boland". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
^ "Derham, Enid (1882–1941) by Imelda Palmer". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 11 August 2023.