Famous Australian Non-Fiction Writers

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.

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.

David Unaipon was an Aboriginal Australian preacher, author, and inventor. He is best remembered for his significant contribution to Australian society, which helped break several stereotypes about Aboriginal Australians. Apart from establishing a couple of awards in his honor, the Australian government has also featured Unaipon on the Australian fifty-dollar note.

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. 

Miles Franklin was an Australian feminist and writer best remembered for her 1901 novel My Brilliant Career. Franklin, who made immense contributions to Australian literature, was honored with the prestigious S. H. Prior Memorial Prize twice during her illustrious career. The Miles Franklin Award and the Stella Prize were established in her honor.

Australian-born American author Shirley Hazzard is best known for her Lost Man Booker Prize-shortlisted book The Bay of Noon and the National Book Award-winning The Great Fire. She has also penned various non-fiction volumes on the United Nations, where she had worked as a typist for a decade.

Gilbert Murray was an Australian-born British intellectual and scholar who specialized in the culture and language of Ancient Greece. A well-known humanist, Murray served as the president of Humanists UK from 1929 to 1930. Gilbert Murray also played an important role in the establishment of Oxfam as well as the Institute of World Affairs.

Australian author Kate Grenville is best known for her Orange Prize-winning novel The Idea of Perfection and the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize-winning book The Secret River. She has previously also edited documentaries and taught creative writing. The Officer of the Order of Australia awardee has also earned several honorary doctorates.

Elizabeth Jolley was an English-born Australian author who wrote 15 novels, three non-fiction books, and four short story collections after beginning to write at the age of 53. Jolley, who achieved significant critical acclaim for her work, also taught at Curtin University where she mentored several writers like Tim Winton. She also won several awards like National Book Council Award.

Thomas Alexander Browne was an Australian author better known by his pseudonym Rolf Boldrewood. His 1882 bushranging novel Robbery Under Arms is considered his best-known work. Despite having a busy career as a police magistrate and gold commissioner, he always devoted ample time to his literary pursuits and published several novels and short stories. 

Vance Palmer was an Australian novelist, dramatist, essayist, and critic. He loved to write from a young age and studied contemporary writing at the School of Arts. Later on, he married Nettie Higgins and they began to publish short stories, poetry, and criticism together. Palmer’s best-known work is The Legend of the Nineties. 

Alice Henry was an Australian journalist, trade unionist, and suffragist. Henry was part of the Women's Trade Union League (WTUL) where she was an important member. A fierce feminist, Alice Henry worked towards establishing equal rights for women.

Author and critic Alfred Stephens was best known for his association with the Australian magazine The Bulletin. He mostly penned verse and later became a freelance journalist and a lecturer of literary topics. A pioneer of Australian periodical writing, he had also launched his own magazine, The Bookfellow.