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English and Creative Writing Guide: Australian Literature

Find targeted resources for research and referencing

eTropic / LiNQ @JCU

LiNQ (Literature in North Queensland) publishes fiction and poetry, as well as peer-reviewed papers and reviews of regional, national, and international interest in the areas of literature, media/cinema, and culture.

From 2017, LiNQ partnered with Etropic journal to produce a special issue that publishes academic and creative works.

(Some) Australian literary prizes

The Miles Franklin Literary Award was established in 1957 through the will of writer Stella Miles Franklin. Her will stipulates that ‘[the] prize shall be awarded for the Novel for the year which is of the highest literary merit and which must present Australian Life in any of its phases …’.
The Stella Prize seeks to recognise and celebrate Australian women writers’ contribution to literature, and has been running since 2013.
The Prime Minister's Literary Awards celebrate outstanding literary talent in Australia and the valuable contribution Australian writing makes to the nation's cultural and intellectual life.

Searching AustLit - the Australian Literary database

Note: AustLit provides citation details only - it does not provide full text. Getting full text from Austlit will be a 2 step process. This database will provide details of:

  • Works by an author
  • Works about an author
  • Works about a published literary work (play, novel, poetry, short story) including
    • Journal articles including reviews and criticism
    • Newspaper articles including reviews and criticism
    If you find Journal articles use the library catalogue to see if JCU subscribes to that journal and find the full text - it may be available electronically or in paper.
Search by author Search by title (novel, play)
  • Results include:
    • Number of works by the author 
    • A brief biography 
    • Awards nominated for or received
  • At the bottom is a check box list of the types of works by and about the author
  • Results include all titles with your search words
  • Choose the title you want by clicking on the title. Information includes:
    • General subject headings
    • An abstract
    • Where, when and who produced the play
  • Links to works about (the publication) are at the bottom of the record

Searching AustLit

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Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International License. Content from this Guide should be attributed to James Cook University Library. This does not apply to images, third party material (seek permission from the original owner) or any logos or insignia belonging to JCU or other bodies, which remain All Rights Reserved.

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