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

Explore the decades-long, remarkable efforts of the Papunya community to record language and culture and keep it alive. 

A special excursion opportunity for school groups, featuring inspiring activities and workshops celebrating Australian poetry.

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

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.

Michael Richards

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.

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

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

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.

A guide to finding Australian literature resources

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.