This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1971.
For an overview of world literature see 1971 in literature.
See also: 1970 in Australian literature, 1971 in Australia, 1972 in Australian literature.
Jon Cleary – Mask of the AndesKenneth Cook – Piper in the Market-PlaceDymphna Cusack – A Bough in HellFrank Hardy – The Outcasts of FoolgarahDonald Horne – But What If There Are No Pelicans?David Ireland – The Unknown Industrial PrisonerGeorge Johnston – A Cartload of ClayThomas Keneally – A Dutiful DaughterHal Porter – The Right ThingJudah Waten – So Far No FurtherMorris West – Summer of the Red WolfElizabeth Jolley – "Bill Sprockett's Land"Hal Porter"Brett"Selected StoriesChildren's and Young Adult fiction
Hesba Brinsmead – Longtime PassingDavid Martin – HughieChristobel Mattingley – Windmill at Magpie CreekElyne Mitchell – Light Horse to DamascusIvan Southall – JoshP. L. Travers – Friend MonkeyScience fiction and fantasy
John Baxter – The Second Pacific Book of Science FictionA. Bertram ChandlerAlternate OrbitsTo Prime the PumpLindsay Gutteridge – Cold War in a Country GardenLee Harding – "Fallen Spaceman"Jack Wodhams – The Authentic TouchRobert Adamson – The RumourBruce Dawe – Condolences of the Season : Selected PoemsGwen Harwood – "Oyster Cove"A. D. Hope – "Inscription for a War"James McAuley – Collected Poems 1936-1970Dorothea Mackellar – The Poems of Dorothea MackellarGeoff Page – "Smalltown Memorials"David Rowbotham – The Pen of Feathers : PoemsT. G. H. Strehlow – Songs of Central Australia (edited)Chris Wallace-Crabbe"Other People"Where the Wind Came : poemsJudith Wright – Collected Poems, 1942-1970Alex Buzo – Macquarie : A PlayRay Lawler – The Man Who Shot the AlbatrossDavid WilliamsonDon's PartyThe RemovalistsA list, ordered by date of birth (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of births in 1971 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of death.
Unknown date
Helen Darville, novelistLibby Hart, poetJohn Mateer, poet and authorLeigh Redhead, novelistA list, ordered by date of death (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of deaths in 1971 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of birth.
30 June – Kenneth Slessor, poet (born 1901) 