Literature and writing

1975: Living in the Seventies

Look back on life in the 70s including politics, feminism, pop culture, news of the day, and more.

Exhibition

Christos Tsiolkas wearing a blue shirt standing in front of the ocean by a rock pool

Image credit: Zoe Ali

2025 Ray Mathew Lecture: Christos Tsiolkas

Award-winning author Christos Tsiolkas delivered the 2025 Ray Mathew Lecture, exploring the idea of 'Fence-sitting', and its place in the modern world.

Video

On the left is a smiling woman with brown hair. In the middle is the cover of the book 'A Good Kind of Trouble' by Brooke Blurton and Melanie Saward with a drawing of a teenage girl carrying a football under her arm and a backpack on her back. On the right is a smiling woman with pink hair.

A Good Kind of Trouble with Brooke Blurton and Melanie Saward

Brooke Blurton and Dr Melanie Saward yarned about their new young adult novel, A Good Kind of Trouble, and what it means to write Indigenous-led stories for today’s young people.

Event

Video

A Maker of Books: Alec Bolton and His Brindabella Press

Michael Richards

Book

NLA Publishing book

Alston Collection

The Alston Collection is a treasure trove of over 1,800 works on philology and linguistics. From rare books and manuscripts to Robin Alston’s personal drafts and correspondence, this collection is a must for anyone exploring the history of language and early bibliographical studies.

Collection guide

interior - stacks legal deposit crime magnifying glass

Arresting scenery: Capturing time and place in crime fiction writing

Explore some of the crime-fiction reads in the collection and how they can help readers learn more about Australian culture, history and place.

Blog

Pile of colourful books of different sizes by authors Kylie Tennant, Doris Pilkington, Christina Stead, Colin Thiele, Norman Lindsay and Gabrielle Wang

Australian authors in the oral history collection

Hear from Colin Thiele, Kylie Tennant, Gabrielle Wang, Doris Pilkington, Norman Lindsay and Christina Stead as they share their thoughts, memories and creative journeys.

Blog

A collage of green and purple plant matter, aluminium and perspex, lit from above by a warm, yellow internal light.

Jeannie Baker, Hidden Forest, Endpapers, 2000, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-971313378

Australian children’s literature

Module

This resource is aligned with the Australian Curriculum: English for Year 4 students. It has been developed to use National Library collection material as the basis for an exploration of children’s literature as part of the literature strand of the English learning area.

Digital Classroom

Two men, one on a ladder, looking at books on large bookshelf at the State Library of Victoria

Mark Strizic, Searching for books at the State Library of Victoria, January 1967, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-140508667

Australian literature research guide

A guide to finding Australian literature resources

Research guide

Australian Literature Society Collection

Explore Australia's literary heritage with the Australian Literature Society Collection. Home to over 500 works, including novels, verse, and essays, it showcases iconic authors like Patrick White, Joseph Furphy, and Kylie Tennant. Founded in 1899, this collection highlights the society's crucial role in shaping Australia’s vibrant literary tradition.

Collection guide