This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1977.
Events
Ruth Park won the 1977 Miles Franklin Award for Swords and Crowns and Rings
Major publications
Books
Jon Cleary – High Road to China
Helen Garner – Monkey Grip
Thomas Keneally – A Victim of the Aurora
Colleen McCullough – The Thorn Birds
Ruth Park – Swords and Crowns and Rings
Short stories
Frank Moorhouse – Tales of Mystery and Romance
Science fiction and fantasy
A. Bertram Chandler: The Far Traveller Star Courier Lee Harding — The Weeping Sky David Lake: The Right Hand of Dextra The Wildings of Westron
Children's and young adult fiction
Joan Phipson – Fly into Danger
Eleanor Spence – A Candle for St. Antony
Patricia Wrightson – The Ice Is Coming
Poetry
Robert Adamson – Cross The Border
Nancy Keesing – Hails and Farewells
Jennifer Maiden – Mortal Details
Les Murray – Ethnic Radio
John Tranter – Crying in Early Infancy: 100 Sonnets
Chris Wallace-Crabbe – The Emotions Are Not Skilled Workers
Drama
Dorothy Hewett – The Golden Oldies
Peter Kenna
Mates
Trespassers Will Be Prosecuted
Louis Nowra – Inner Voices
Patrick White – Big Toys
David Williamson – The Club
Non-fiction
Blanche d'Alpuget – Mediator: A biography of Sir Richard Kirby
Zelda D'Aprano – Zelda: The becoming of a woman
Fred Daly – From Curtin to Kerr
John Edwards – Life Wasn't Meant to Be Easy: A political profile of Malcolm Fraser Paul Hasluck – Mucking About: An Autobiography
Awards and honours
Order of Australia
Eleanor Dark appointed Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) Colin Thiele appointed Companion of the Order of Australia (AC)
Lifetime achievement
Literary
Fiction
Children and Young Adult
Poetry
Non-fiction
Births
A list, ordered by date of birth (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of births in 1977 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of death.
7 August — Patrick Holland, novelist and short story writer
Unknown date
Jennifer Mills — novelist, short story writer and poet
Deaths
A list, ordered by date of death (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of deaths in 1977 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of birth.
10 July – Alec Chisholm, journalist, ornithologist and encyclopaedist (born 1890) 22 August – Leon Gellert, poet (born 1892) 2 September – Pat Flower, playwright, television scriptwriter and crime novelist (born 1914) 12 September – Les Haylen, politician, playwright, novelist and journalist (born 1898)