In case you don’t recognise it, ‘A wilful, lavish land’ is a quote from Dorothea McKellar’s iconic Australian poem My Country, I thought it a fitting description for this list of author’s whose works mostly fit under the umbrella of general fiction though they can differ wildly from each other. Click on the author’s name or book image for more details at Goodreads.com
Tim Winton is one of Australia’s best known authors, he has been named a Living Treasure by the National Trust, and awarded the Centenary Medal for service to literature and the community. He has written seven novels for adults but has also published a handful or children’s books and non fiction. Cloudstreet , his widely acclaimed novel published in 1992, has been adapted for a television series (trailer) to start next month. I confess I haven’t read it yet – but I plan to soon!
Monica McInerney publishes both in Australia and overseas. Her work is often labeled as women’s fiction, usually her novels concentrate on family and relationships. Quite often her books are set partly in Australia and partly overseas, usually Ireland.
David Malouf tends to set his novels in the early 19th century of Australia, about the bonds between male friends whether at war or in childhood . His latest is quite a departure though, Ransom is a twist on Homer’s Iliad.
Judy Nunn is better known as Ailsa, a character in the long running Australian soap Home and Away. She has published ten adult fiction novels and two YA books.
Kylie Ladd‘s debut novel, After the Fall is a tale of love and infidelity from the perspective two married couples. As a neuropsychologist, Ladd has also co authored Living with Alzheimer’s and Other Dementias andNaked: Confessions of Adultery and Infidelity.
Peter Carey was born in Australia and published several books including prize winners Illywhacker and Oscar and Lucinda before moving to New York where he has written several more books including the True History of the Kelly Gang.
Want more to choose from?
Who is your favourite?
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Aussie Author Month is also raising funds for the Indigenous Literacy Project. You can learn more about this cause HERE and donate HERE
Did you see my recommendations for crime/mystery and chic lit?
Book’d Out 
I love Monica McInerney’s novels, they are such great reads. I agree that they fit under general fiction as her work is definately not chic lit. I just finished reading Upside Down Inside Out and i love how most of her stories feature Australia and Ireland- i get the familiarity of home and a bit of a travel fix from the one novel!
Loving these Aussie genre highlights,
Jayne
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