This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1942.
For an overview of world literature see 1942 in literature.
See also: 1941 in Australian literature, 1942 in Australia, 1943 in Australian literature.
James Aldridge — Signed With Their Honour
Jean Devanny — The Killing of Jacqueline Love
Arthur Gask — His Prey Was Man
Michael Innes — The Daffodil Affair
Eve Langley — The Pea-Pickers
Will Lawson — Bound for Callao
Philip Lindsay
The Gentle Knight
Heart of a King
Nevil Shute
Most Secret
Pied Piper
Children's and Young Adult fiction
Mary Grant Bruce — Billabong Riders
Mary Durack & Elizabeth Durack — A Book of Picture Stories
Dorothy Wall — A Tiny Story of Blinky Bill
John K. Ewers — "Harvest"
Alan Marshall — "Blow Carson, I Say"
Harold Mercer — The Adventures of Mrs. Parsley
Ivan Southall — Out of the Dawn
Ethel Anderson — Squatter's Luck and Other Poems
Rosemary Dobson — "In a Convex Mirror"
Mary E. Fullerton
"Lovers"
"Unit"
Mary Gilmore — "Nationality"
James McAuley — "Terra Australis"
Leonard Mann — "The Earth"
Ian Mudie — "Retreat of a Pioneer"
Douglas Stewart — "Old Iron"
Judith Wright — "The Company of Lovers"
T. Inglis Moore — Six Australian Poets
A list, ordered by date of birth (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of births in 1942 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of death.
5 January — Michael Wilding, novelist and academic
8 May — Peter Corris, novelist
26 June — Humphrey McQueen, author
29 August — Gillian Rubinstein, writer for children
17 October — Nicholas Hasluck, novelist and jurist
20 October — Bob Graham, author and illustrator
7 November — Helen Garner, novelist
12 November — Janette Turner Hospital, novelist
Unknown date
Margaret Clark, writer for children
Bob Ellis, journalist
David Williamson, playwright
A list, ordered by date of death (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of deaths in 1942 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of birth.
19 January — Mary Gaunt, novelist (born 1861)
21 January — Dorothy Wall, writer for children (born 1894)
22 February — Furnley Maurice, poet (born 1881)
7 May — William Baylebridge, poet and short story writer (born 1883)
19 May — John Shaw Neilson, poet (born 1872)
