General News
7 June, 2026
'A great honour': Goroke's Gerald Murnane honoured with AO
Goroke-based author Gerald Murnane says receiving an Order of Australia award is a proud and unexpected honour, but the greatest recognition of his life remains readers' response to his books. Mr Murnane, 87, received the honour in the King’s Birthday 2026 Honours List for distinguished service to literature as an author and novelist, and to tertiary education.
“Well, it’s a great honour,” he said.
“The best things that ever happened to me were the people’s reaction to my books and also the fact that every year, they talk about me as a possible winner of the Nobel Prize.”
Mr Murnane has published a long list of acclaimed works, including Tamarisk Row, A Lifetime on Clouds, The Plains, Inland, Barley Patch, A Million Windows, A Season on Earth and Last Letter to a Reader.
His awards include the Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Fiction, the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Non-Fiction, the Melbourne Prize for Literature and the Patrick White Award.
He said he first heard about the Order of Australia nomination earlier this year through a letter from the Governor-General’s office.
“I don’t use emails,” he said.
“I’m an old man who can’t use much technology.”
He said the process was simple but confidential.
“They say you’ve been nominated, and do you want to accept? And I accept it, and then they tell you, don’t tell anybody till the day,” he said.
Mr Murnane said the honour came as a pleasant surprise.
“I thought a few years ago maybe it would happen to me, but I had to wait my turn,” he said.
“It was a bit of a pleasant surprise.”
Although many readers associate him most strongly with The Plains, first published in 1982 and later translated and published internationally, Mr Murnane said his first novel, Tamarisk Row, remains closest to his heart.
“The book that I’m proudest of is the very first one,” he said.
“I didn’t know if anybody would publish me. After a bit of struggle, Tamarisk Row was published, and I was proud to call myself a writer.”
Mr Murnane said his books were never written to entertain.
Instead, he wanted them to stay with readers and make them return.
“My books are not books of entertainment,” he said.
“They make you wonder, they make you imagine.
“They are stories of what happens inside people more than what happens in the outside world.”
He said his favourite readers were those who wrote to him saying they had read his books more than once.
“You don’t just read them and put them away and forget about them,” he said.
“My favourite readers are those who say they come back next year and read them again.”
Before becoming known as one of Australia’s most distinctive writers, Mr Murnane worked as a primary school teacher, a public servant in publishing, a househusband, and, later, a lecturer in English at Deakin University from 1981 to 1996.
He said teaching writing was one of the most meaningful parts of his career.
“I was famous for that,” he said, referring to the detailed feedback he gave students.
“I read every word of it, and I made comments on every page.”
Mr Murnane said he retired early in 1996 after growing frustrated with university administration, but he remained proud of his work with students.
“I was happy teaching, but I didn’t get on well with the administration,” he said.
“I was there to teach people.”
The Patrick White Award in 1999 changed the direction of his literary career.
At the time, several of his books were out of print, but the award renewed interest in his work.
“That was the one that changed my life and turned things around,” he said.
He said publishers began approaching him after the award, rather than the other way around.
He later received strong attention in the United States, where his work attracted a new readership.
“I’ve got more praise from Americans than from Australians, which was a big surprise to me,” he said.
Mr Murnane moved to Goroke after years of visiting the town through a family connection.
He said he had long imagined living in a peaceful country town.
“All my life, I dreamed of living somewhere like Goroke, some peaceful little town full of paddocks and without mountains,” he said.
He said he values Goroke for the way its residents are treated.
“The people here know that I’m a writer, but hardly anybody reads my books, and that’s all right,” he said.
“I’m just another person, another citizen of Goroke.”
Although he has stopped writing books for publication, Mr Murnane continues to write for his personal archive, which he says contains drafts, letters and private writings that may one day interest scholars and readers.
“People say, ‘Aren’t you writing anymore?’ I say, not for publication, for the archives, for the future,” he said.
His current routine includes golf, horse racing, the Goroke Men’s Shed, time with friends and family, and work on his archives.
He said he has no plans to leave the town.
“This is where I’ll live my life,” he said.
Reflecting on the Order of Australia honour, Mr Murnane said it felt different from his literary awards, as it recognised not only his books, but also his broader contribution.
“All my other awards came simply because of what was in the books,” he said.
“This is because they see me as someone who served the Australian community, and that makes me quite proud.”
When asked about what he is looking forward to, he said that receiving a Nobel Prize would be the icing on the cake.