This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1999.
Events
Murray Bail won the Miles Franklin Award for Eucalyptus
Jan Fullerton was appointed Director General of the National Library of Australia, being the first woman and first internal appointee
Major publications
Novels
Thea Astley — Drylands
Lily Brett — Too Many Men
Kate Grenville — The Idea of Perfection
Dorothy Hewett — Neap Tide
Julia Leigh — The Hunter
Bruce Pascoe — Shark
Dorothy Porter — What a Piece of Work
Matthew Reilly — Ice Station
Heather Rose — White Heart
Kim Scott — Benang
Children's and young adult fiction
Helen Barnes — Killing Aurora
Graeme Base — The Worst Band in the Universe
Kim Caraher — Goanna Anna
Nick Earls — 48 Shades of Brown
CVhristine Harris — Foreign Devil
Sonya Hartnett — Stripes of the Sidestep Wolf
Victor Kelleher — The Ivory Trail
Markus Zusak — The Underdog
Poetry
Jennifer Maiden — Mines
Drama
Van Badham — The Wilderness of Mirrors
Science fiction and fantasy
Sara Douglass — Crusader
Greg Egan — Teranesia
Crime
Marshall Browne — The Wooden Leg of Inspector Anders
Garry Disher — The Dragon Man
Chris Nyst — Cop This! Peter Temple — Shooting Star
Non-fiction
Ian McFarlane — Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop
Drusilla Modjeska — Stravinsky's Lunch
Les Murray (poet) — The Quality of Sprawl
Anne Summers — Ducks on the Pond: An Autobiography 1945–1976
David Walker — Anxious Nation: Australia and the Rise of Asia 1850–1939
Awards and honours
Michael Fitzgerald Page "for service to the book publishing industry and to literature as a writer, and through the encouragement and support of upcoming Australian authors" Frank John Ford "for service to the development of the performing arts in South Australia as a director, playwright, administrator and educator" Kay Saunders "for service to Australian history as a scholar, author and commentator on social issues" John Antill Millett "for service to literature as editor of Poetry Australia"
Lifetime achievement
Literary
Deaths
A list, ordered by date of death (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of deaths in 1999 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of birth.
15 February — Gordon Neil Stewart, writer (born 1912) 1 March — Richard Beynon, playwright, actor and television producer (born 1925) 20 April — Ric Throssell, diplomat and author whose writings included novels, plays, film and television scripts and memoirs (born 1922) 8 July — Mavis Thorpe Clark, novelist and writer for children (born 1909) 12 July — Mungo Ballardie MacCallum, journalist, broadcaster and poet (born 1913) 9 October — Morris West, novelist and playwright (born 1916) 16 November — Mal Morgan, poet (born 1936)