Australian literature includes a distinct number of female voices promoting their country and having a huge impact on its culture. Since the first books were published in this part of the world, the most popular Australian female authors have explored themes such as women's rights, feminism, and the challenges women in Australian society face.
Miles Franklin (1879-1954)
Despite the name, Miles Franklin wasn't one of the greatest male Australian writers but rather. Full name Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin, Miles Franklin was one of the earliest female authors to contribute to Australian literature.
Her most famous work, "My Brilliant Career", is considered a classic and was written while Franklin was a teen. The 1901 book is considered to be semi-biographical as it features a young protagonist who dreams of becoming a writer to escape rural Australia in the 1890s.
"My Brilliant Career" was followed up by the sequel "My Career Goes Bung" (1946) and made into a movie and various stage productions. Franklin and her work are still celebrated today for having championed women's voices in Australian literature.
Christina Stead (1902-1983)
Christina Stead was an author from Sydney, New South Wales, who is often considered one of the most influential 20th-century Australian novelists.
Her works often covered psychological and social themes, and while Stead was never a member of the Communist Party in Australia, she was certainly a Marxist and married to fellow Marxist William James Blake.
Her most famous work is "The Man Who Loved Children" which is a semi-autobiographical novel about a dysfunctional family.
Though not originally successful when first published in 1940, the later 1965 reissue made it a huge success. Her social and political interests, including class, gender, and power, regularly featured in her work.
Elizabeth Jolley (1923-2007)
Though born in Birmingham, UK, Elizabeth Jolley moved to Australia in the 1950s (later becoming an Australian citizen), and her entire literary career took place following the move.
It wasn't until Jolley was in her 40s that she really began her writing career, and she was in her 50s when her first book was published. Her most famous works include "Mr. Scobie's Riddle" (1983), "The Well" (1986), and "The Sugar Mother" (1988).
Jolley received many awards and accolades for her work including the Miles Franklin Award for "The Well" and the Western Australian Premier's Book Award for "Mr Scobie's Riddle".
She had a significant influence on Australian literature, and even after she died in 2007, her work continues to be enjoyed and is an important part of the Australian literary canon. If you're looking to explore more, contact a tutor English online. Find your perfect match on Superprof!
Alexis Wright (1950- )
Alexis Wright is most famous for her works that explore Aboriginal culture, identity, and the impact colonialism has had on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Her most famous work is likely her novel "Carpentaria" (2006), which won the Miles Franklin Literary Award in 2007 (more on Miles Franklin later in this article).
The novel is praised as a complex and visionary piece looking at the lives of Aboriginal Australian characters in the area by the Gulf of Carpentaria.
Wright is of Waanyi Aboriginal descent and naturally, her essays and non-fiction works also often focus on indigenous issues, including rights and representation. In addition to the aforementioned Miles Franklin Literary Award, Wright also won the 2018 Stella Prize for "Tracker" (2017), a Leigh Bruce "Tracker" Tilmouth biography.
Outside of literature, Wright is also committed to indigenous activism, even though you could say that her works are also acts of activism. She's definitely one of the best female Australian authors and one of the best indigenous authors.
Colleen McCullough (1937-2015)
Colleen McCullough is famous for her novels "The Thorn Birds" and "The Ladies of Missalonghi" (1987). The former was published in 1977 and was an international bestseller. McCullough's work was predominantly historical fiction, with many of the stories she wrote taking place in historical settings and being meticulously researched.
Speaking of research, McCullough was a qualified neuroscientist and conducted research and taught at the Department of Neurology at Yale University in the US.
It was actually during her time at Yale that she wrote "The Thorn Birds" and "Tim", her first novel. An impressive feat to be both a respected academic and an accomplished writer.
"The Thorn Birds" was made into a TV miniseries in the US in 1983 and became one of the country's most successful miniseries ever! Learn more about these authors with a superprof. Simply search "English tutoring near me" to get started.
Geraldine Brooks (1955- )
Geraldine Brooks often writes about historical events, different cultures, and the human condition. Before becoming an author, Brooks was a successful journalist and a foreign correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, where she covered many important events, including conflicts in the Middle East, Bosnia, and Africa.
This experience clearly marked her literary work, which is praised for the high level of historical research and strong independent female protagonists.
Her most famous works include "Years of Wonders" (2001), "March" (2005), "People of the Book" (2008), and "Caleb's Crossing" (2011), with "March" winning the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2006.
Brooks also writes non-fiction books, including "Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women" (1994) and "Foreign Correspondence" (1997).
Gail Jones (1955-)
Born in the small town of Harvey near the Perth coast, Gail Jones is a well-renowned university professor and one of today's most popular Australian female authors. Her works, which include novels, two short-story collections, and a critical monograph, have been translated into more than 10 languages.
This Australian female writer has made her name thanks to her 10 novels: Black Mirror (her first novel, published in 2002), Sixty Lights, Sorry, Five Bells, and One Another (her most recent), some of the most recognised.
Gail Jones's books have been nominated for influential distinctions such as the Miles Franklin Award. Her works have a philosophical note and touch on themes such as tragedy and memory, personal history, grief, and cultural differences between people who may come from complicated environments and opposite backgrounds or nationalities.
Such is the case in Dreams of Speaking, in which she recounts the friendship between a Hiroshima survivor and an Australian woman, or in A Guide to Berlin, where she once again blends an interesting group of nationalities, consisting of Italians, Japanese, Americans, and, of course, one Australian, to discuss their lives and tragedies.
Having lived among the Australian Indigenous community and coming from a faraway village, this famous Australian female author attempts to build ideological bridges between seemingly distant cultures, but with a constant and detailed dialogue sufficient to awaken interest in understanding the other.
Fiona McFarlane (1978- )
Fiona McFarlane is most famous for her 2013 novel "The Night Guest", which was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award. The novel is about an elderly and widowed woman named Ruth Field and blends reality and imagination as Ruth is likely going through the early stages of dementia.
"The Night Guest" won the Voss Literary Prize and was also shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award and the Stella Prize. McFarlane also writes short stories, with many of them dealing with the themes of human relationships and the human psyche.
Hannah Kent (1985- )
Hannah Kent (1985–) is a prominent voice among the younger generation of Australian authors, best known for her critically acclaimed debut novel, Burial Rites. The novel is inspired by the harrowing true story of Agnes Magnúsdóttir, the last woman to be executed in Iceland in 1830.
Kent's powerful storytelling and meticulous research earned her international recognition and numerous literary accolades, including a nomination for the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction. Burial Rites was praised for its haunting atmosphere, lyrical prose, and empathetic portrayal of its central character.
Kent's second novel, The Good People, delves into the world of 19th-century Irish folklore, exploring themes of superstition, belief, and the fine line between myth and reality. The story centres on a tragic incident involving a young boy believed to be a changeling—a supernatural being left in place of a human child—and the villagers' desperate attempts to "cure" him.
Through this novel, Kent examines the psychological and cultural forces that shaped rural Irish life, while continuing to blend historical fact with fiction in a compelling, emotionally resonant narrative.
Helen Garner (1942- )
Helen Garner is a short-story writer, novelist, screenwriter as well as a journalist. Her most famous works include "Monkey Grip" (1977), "The First Stone" (1995), "Joe Cinque's Consolation" (2004), "The Children's Bach" (1984), and "Everywhere I Look" (2016).
"Monkey Grip" is her first and most famous work and is considered a hugely important piece of Australian literature. The 1977 novel tells the story of a group of people sharing a house in 1970s Melbourne and their struggles with addiction, artistic ambition, and personal relationships.
The novel wasn't an instant success, but over time, it's come to be considered one of the most important contributions to the Australian literary canon.
Garner's writing, celebrated for its keen observational skill and unflinching honesty, has earned her numerous awards, including the prestigious Windham-Campbell Literature Prize in 2016 for her non-fiction work.
Kate Grenville (1950- )
Kate Grenville is an acclaimed Australian author whose body of work has significantly shaped contemporary Australian literature. She is best known for her historical novels The Secret River (2005), The Lieutenant (2008), and Sarah Thornhill (2011), which together form a powerful trilogy exploring early colonial Australia.
The Secret River, in particular, received widespread critical acclaim, was shortlisted for the prestigious Booker Prize, and is often regarded as one of the most important Australian novels ever written. Grenville’s compelling storytelling and attention to historical detail have earned her numerous awards and a global readership.
Her writing frequently explores themes such as colonialism, identity, and the ethical complexities of Australia's past, especially the encounters between European settlers and Indigenous Australians.
In addition to fiction, Grenville has authored several non-fiction works, including essays and memoirs, where she reflects on writing, history, and personal experience. Her ability to blend rigorous research with emotional depth makes her a distinctive voice in both literary and historical discourse.
Kerry Greenwood (1954 - 2025)
The recently deceased Kerry Greenwood was one of Australia's most prolific authors. Using her formative knowledge as a criminal defence lawyer, she brought a wave of freshness to the mystery genre, giving female protagonists a new place in contemporary Female Australian literature through novels with adventure and entertainment but also with a strong social justice focus.
Her legacy in Australian culture is not only limited to the mystery genre (where her work has been highly successful, even adapted for film and television), but she also ventured into children's literature and non-fiction. She was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia en 2020.
Like several Australian women writers on this list, Kerry won various awards during her career. Her "Corinna Chapman" series, comprising seven books published between 2004 and 2018, garnered a large fan base with a highly original story where a divorced professional changes accounting for owning a bakery and becomes an investigator. As a neighbourhood business owner, this female protagonist becomes deeply involved with her community—and their secrets—through plots ranging from kidnappings to secret societies.
Born in 1954 in Footscray, Melbourne, Greenwood worked as a criminal defence lawyer for Victoria Legal Aid before launching her writing career. Drawing on her legal background, the author consistently addressed political, historical, and feminist issues in great detail.
Although Greenwood is known for the mischievousness of some of her stories and is an author who reached a wider audience through the popularity of the television and film adaptations of her "Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries" books (about a detective in Melbourne—the author's hometown—in the 1920s), her plots are recognised for their intrigue, the development of characters within a community, and especially the historical role of women in Australia, always portraying the injustices against women and their battles to succeed in the country.
Charlotte Wood (1965- )
An award-winning author—and even host of a podcast, "The Writer's Room"—since the release of her first publication in 1999 ("Pieces of a Girl"), this New South Wales-born writer began to make her mark on Australian literature for her clarity and openness in her prose.
Winner of awards such as the Stella Prize (in 2015 for her novel "The Natural Way of Things", one of her most successful), the author's work has managed to encapsulate and touch essential chords in her readers through themes such as human relationships, our vulnerabilities, and challenges like grief, resilience, ageing, or friendship, all delivered through fiction and non-fiction.
A writer constantly on the move, with more than 10 published works and always offering advice to younger writers via talks on literary creativity and the construction of a good narrative, Charlotte Wood developed her writing career from a personal crisis deriving from the death of her mother when she was 29, placing writing at the centre of her life.
This famous Australian writer has made her work transcend beyond the recognition of the literary community. Her novel, "The Weekend", was even adapted into a theatre in 2023. In the story, a group of friends in their 70s reframes their friendship through the death of one of their own and the emotions it evokes.
Although Charlotte Wood is known for her deep themes and realistic characters, who sometimes seem overly frank, her work is admired precisely for inspiring her readers to explore other types of fiction. If you're inspired by the works of this author, you may want to get into learning more about Australian literature or studying creative writing; remember a private tutor could certainly help.
Liane Moriarty (1966- )
Liane Moriarty is the author of "Big Little Lies", the 2014 novel that was also adapted into a hugely successful TV series in the US. Her other famous works include "The Husband's Secret" (2013), "Nine Perfect Strangers" (2018), "Truly Madly Guilty" (2016), and "The Last Anniversary" (2005).
Her work often features engaging storytelling and explores everyday life and relationships, and is often classed as contemporary women's fiction or domestic suspense. Combining drama, mystery, and humour, her novels have a broad appeal to many different kinds of readers, which has made them successful both inside and outside of Australia.
Kate Morton (1976- )
Kate Morton is an internationally bestselling Australian author known for her richly layered novels that blend historical fiction with contemporary mystery. Born in 1976 in Queensland, she studied speech and drama before completing degrees in English literature and a Master's thesis on tragedy in Victorian literature.
Her most celebrated works include The House at Riverton (also published as The Shifting Fog, 2006), The Forgotten Garden (2008), The Distant Hours (2010), The Lake House (2015), and The Clockmaker’s Daughter (2018). Morton's novels have sold millions of copies worldwide and been translated into more than 40 languages, making her one of Australia’s most commercially successful authors.
Morton’s writing is known for its dual timelines, atmospheric settings, and intricate plots that intertwine past and present. She meticulously crafts stories that often explore memory, family secrets, and the passage of time, with a particular talent for evoking historical detail. Her novels offer readers a deeply immersive experience, rich in mood and emotion.
While Morton is a significant figure in contemporary Australian literature, it’s also important to acknowledge the many remarkable female Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors, whose contributions deserve dedicated recognition in their own right.
Looking to improve your writing skills? Learning from a writer or tutor is one of the best ways to grow. If you're searching for a Victorian Curriculum English tutor, simply type "vce english tutors" on Superprof to explore experienced literature tutors near you. You can browse their profiles, compare rates, read reviews, and see if they offer a free first session.
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Gail Jones!!!!!!
Hi Lekkie! Great suggestion! We’ll be sure to add Gail Jones to our list when we update the article!
Charlotte Wood !!
Hi Adele! Thanks for the great suggestion! We’ll definitely make sure to include Charlotte Wood in our next update to the article.