Australian literature includes the literary work written by the citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia, as well as its previous colonies. Since Australia was settled by British colonies in the late 1700′s, much of Australia’s literary tradition is heavily connected to English literature. However, modern Indigenous Australians and the growing multicultural population in the country have influenced recent Australian literature. This cultural shift has led to a literary community that is interested in Aboriginality, democracy, national and personal identity, urban living and racial equality.

There have been a few Australian authors who have achieved international fame. These writers include the Nobel prize-winning Patrick White, as well as other various authors, such as Peter Carey, Nevil Shute, Morris West, Thomas Keneally and Colleen McCullough. There are also several expatriate writers who have since made it big in the literary community, including Germaine Greer, a well known feminist writer, the art historian Robert Hughes and the humor writers Barry Humphries and Clive James.

Australia’s early and classic works include many patriotic memoirs and tales of the new Australian frontier. The first known book written by an Australian was penned by William Wentworth in 1819. The name of the book was “A Statistical, Historical, and Political Description of the Colony of New South Wales and Its Dependent Settlements in Van Diemen’s Land, With a Particular Enumeration of the Advantages Which These Colonies Offer for Emigration and Their Superiority in Many Respects Over Those Possessed by the United States of America”. No doubt, this work is a frontrunner for the longest title in Australian literature as well!