Famous 20th Century Australian Writers

Australian author and feminist Germaine Greer made headlines with her first book, The Female Eunuch, which focused on female sexuality. Greer’s career boasts of a PhD in literature, and she has also taught at the University of Warwick and other institutes. She was later named an Australian National Living Treasure.

Australian actress Isla Fisher attained widespread fame in 2005 when she starred in the commercially successful Hollywood film Wedding Crashers. Some of her other notable films are The Great Gatsby, Now You See Me, I Heart Huckabees, Bachelorette, Rango and Rise of the Guardians. She has also acted in television series and is an author of children’s books.

Tim Minchin is an Australian musician, comedian, writer, actor, and songwriter. He is best known for combining music and comedy in his shows, which have been received well by the audience. Tim Minchin is also known for writing lyrics and composing the critically acclaimed show, Matilda the Musical, which won several awards including Tony Award and an Olivier Award.

Clive James was an Australian critic, journalist, and writer who worked mainly in the United Kingdom. He had a difficult life as a young man and faced many challenges on his way to building a successful career. He began his career as a TV critic and proceeded to establish himself as a writer and poet as well. 

Indian-born Australian entrepreneur and author Saroo Brierley was separated from his mother at 5, when he accidentally boarded a train to Howrah station from Burhanpur. He ended up being adopted by an Australian couple. He later found his mother via Google Earth. His autobiography was adapted into the film Lion.

Andrew Upton is an Australian playwright, screenwriter, and director known for creating an adaptation of Maxim Gorky's The Philistines for the Royal National Theatre in London. He has also written critically-acclaimed original plays. He is married to actress Cate Blanchett, with whom he runs a film production company. Upton was honored with the Rotary Professional Excellence Award in 2014. 

Nobel Prize- and two-time Booker Prize-winning author J. M. Coetzee had started his career as a Fulbright scholar. After teaching English in the U.S. and South Africa, he now lives and teaches in Australia. He is best known for his colonial settings in novels such as Waiting for the Barbarians.

Leigh Whannell is an Australian screenwriter, actor, producer, and director. He often collaborates with his friend James Wan, and the two have worked together on the movies Saw, Dead Silence, and Insidious. He also wrote the Saw video game. He worked as a reporter and film critic for TV shows before entering the film industry. 

Multiple BAFTA award-winning Australian journalist and documentary filmmaker John Pilger had begun his career working for media houses such as Daily Telegraph and Daily Mirror. He is vocal about social issues, such as the treatment of the indigenous community in Australia and the US and UK foreign policies.

Part of the comedy duo Hamish and Andy, Hamish Blake has entertained audiences on various TV and radio shows, such as the Logie Award-winning Hamish and Andy's Gap Year. Not known to many, Hamish had dropped out of a double university degree in science and commerce, to step into comedy.

Brendan Cowell was 8 when, while waiting for his sister outside her dance rehearsal venue, he was spotted and cast in a commercial. After acting for a while, he found success as a playwright with award-winning plays such as Bed. He was also seen as Harrag in Game of Thrones.

Australian author Colleen McCullough soared to fame with her bestselling novel The Thorn Birds, which was also made into a hit miniseries. Fans also lover her Masters of Rome and Carmine Delmonico series of novels. A former neuropsychologist, she has previously taught at the Yale School of Medicine.

Gregory David Roberts is an Australian author. A former heroin addict and bank robber, he was incarcerated in Pentridge Prison, from where he escaped and fled to India. He was later captured again and imprisoned. During this time, he began writing his novel Shantaram, which went on to become a huge success. He has also released an album. 

Four-time Miles Franklin Award-winning Australian author Tim Winton excels in both adult and children’s books. Having written international bestsellers, such as the Booker Prize-shortlisted The Riders, he has been declared a Living Treasure in Australia. He is devoted to marine conservation and often describes coastal Western Australia in his novels.

Rhonda Byrne, noted Australian television writer-producer, was introduced to the New Thought Movement when she read The Science of Getting Rich. It resulted in the production of a pseudoscientific documentary film called The Secret, which was followed in the same year by a bestselling eponymous book. Today she has six titles her credit, which together forms The Secret Book Series.

Robyn Davidson is an Australian writer best known for her book Tracks, in which she wrote about her 2,700 km (1,700 miles) trek across the deserts of Western Australia using camels. As a teenager, she lived a bohemian life and has since traveled across the world. Her book Tracks won the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award in 1980. 

Initially a Catholic deacon, Thomas Keneally quit the Church later and stepped into writing. Best known for his historical novels such as The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith and Gossip from the Forest, he also won a Booker Prize for Schindler's Ark, which was inspired by the Holocaust.

Henry Lawson was an Australian bush poet and writer. Often referred to as Australia's greatest short story writer, Lawson is one of the best-known Australian fiction writers and poets of the colonial period. Also a nationalist, Henry Lawson contributed immensely to a popular Australian magazine named The Bulletin. In 1949, he was featured in an Australian postage stamp.

Susan Powter moved from Australia to the U.S. with her parents at 10. While coping with her first divorce, she had gained weight, which eventually motivated her to become a fitness enthusiast. Now a prominent nutritionist, fitness blogger, and talk-show host, she is known for her catchphrase "Stop the Insanity!"

Australian-British writer Kathy Lette initially gained fame with the book Puberty Blues, which was made into a movie and a series. She then became a sitcom writer. Known for her bestsellers such as The Boy Who Fell to Earth and How to Kill Your Husband, Kathy is a true-blue feminist.

Ken Ham is an Australian Christian fundamentalist, apologist, and young-Earth creationist. He is the founder of Answers in Genesis (AiG), a Christian apologetics organization. Ham advocates accepting the Book of Genesis creation narrative as a historical fact and has been criticized for his unscientific views. He views homosexuality as a sin and is against same-sex marriage. 

Bestselling Australian author Peter FitzSimons has had an illustrious career as a journalist with The Sydney Morning Herald and The Sun-Herald for over three decades. Apart from penning biographies, he has written books such as Burke and Wills. He has also played national-level rugby for the Wallabies.

Australian actor Timothy Conigrave began his career performing on stage and later wrote plays such as The Blitz Kids. He is remembered for his United Nations Award for Non-Fiction award-winning memoir, Holding the Man, which documented his 15-year love affair with John Caleo. Conigrave later died of AIDS.

Bryce Courtenay was a South African-Australian novelist and advertising director. Best remembered for his novel The Power of One, Courtenay remains one of Australia's best-selling writers several years after his death. Bryce Courtenay's relationship with his readers played an important role in his success; he often gave away free books to gain a loyal fan base.

While she initially pursued a degree in education, Julie Goodwin later quit and focused on youth work. The celebrity chef later won the first season of Masterchef Australia and has since penned cookbooks too. She is also a columnist and a singer, and has had her own cooking show, Home Cooked!

Matthew Reilly is an Australian writer who specializes in the action thriller genre. He enjoyed writing from a young age and started his literary career by self-publishing his debut novel. After a few years of struggle, he caught the notice of reputed publishers and has since built a successful writing career. He hopes to direct a movie in the future. 

After working in an ad agency for two decades, John Flanagan began writing stories to motivate his son to read and eventually ended up writing what later came to be known as the bestselling book series Ranger’s Apprentice. He has also penned the Brotherband Chronicles series and other books.

Best known as pirate Calico Jack Rackham from the series Black Sails, Australian actor Toby Schmitz has also penned award-winning plays such as Lucky. Initially aspiring to be a lawyer, he later switched to theater and appeared on stage in many Sydney Theatre Company productions.

Swedish-born Australian Karl Kruszelnicki, better known as Dr. Karl, was born to Holocaust survivors. The internationally renowned science commentator is a well-known radio and TV personality, who has won the Ig Nobel Prize and has been named a Living Treasure. He has also penned scores of books.

One of Australia’s best novelists, Richard Flanagan is known for his Booker Prize-winning book The Narrow Road to the Deep North. He was one of the screen writers of Baz Luhrmann’s Australia and has also written for publications such as Le Monde and The Daily Telegraph. He supports indigenous literacy.

Patrick White was an Australian writer whose fictional works incorporated stream of consciousness techniques, shifting narrative vantage points, florid prose, and humor. In 1973, he became the first Australian to receive the prestigious Nobel Prize in Literature. Over the course of his illustrious career, White published 12 novels, eight plays, and three short-story collections.

Judith Wright was an Australian environmentalist, poet, and campaigner for Indigenous land rights. Wright is credited with founding one of the earliest environmental conservation movements in Australia. Best remembered for her poetry skills, Judith Wright won the prestigious Christopher Brennan Award in 1976. In 1991, she was honored with the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry.

Kerry Greenwood is an Australian author and lawyer who writes children’s books, mystery, science fiction, and historical fiction. She is best known for her series of historical detective novels about the fictional character Phryne Fisher. She has a law degree and worked full-time as a criminal defense lawyer before becoming a professional writer. She has won a Davitt Award.

Australian Aboriginal activist Burnum Burnum was separated from his family as an infant and grew up in a mission home. The Churchill Scholarship winner was a law graduate and also excelled in rugby. He is best remembered for erecting the aboriginal flag in Dover during the Australian bicentenary celebrations.

Austin Stevens is a South African-born Australian herpetologist, television personality, naturalist, wildlife photographer, author, and documentarian. Stevens is renowned for hosting the popular TV series Austin Stevens: Snakemaster on Animal Planet from 2004 to 2009. Apart from showcasing snakes, the show also focused on other wild animals like rhinos and hyenas.

After leaving home at an early age, Australian author Garth Nix had moved around Europe in an old Austin. He later worked in a book shop and became an editor, before becoming a full-time fantasy novelist. He is best known for his novel series such as The Seventh Tower.

Australian musical comedian and satirist Samuel Jonathan McMillan, better known as Sammy J, dropped out of a law course to focus on comedy. Best known for his man-puppet show Sammy J & Randy, he has also penned a novel and hosts satirical sketches on ABC TV.

Although he had initially aspired to study law and architecture, Robert Hughes later dropped out of university and began drawing cartoons for various newspapers. After establishing himself as an art critic, he wrote bestsellers such as The Fatal Shore and created shows such as The Shock of the New.

Steve Kilbey is an English-Australian singer-songwriter and bass guitarist best known for his association with the rock band The Church. He performs as a solo artist as well and has 14 solo albums to his name. A multi-talented personality, he is also a poet, painter, and music producer. As an artist, he has had at least two exhibits in US.