1940 in Australian literature

• Meanjin magazine publishes its first issue in Brisbane.[1]

• E.C. Allen – Old Eugowra
• Martin Boyd – Nuns in Jeopardy
• Roy Connolly – Southern Saga
• Frank Dalby Davison – The Woman at the Mill (short stories)
• Dulcie Deamer – Holiday
• Arthur Gask
  • The House on the Fens
  • The Tragedy of the Silver Moon
• Beatrice Grimshaw – Leaves in the wind
• Michael Innes
  • The Secret Vanguard
  • There Came Both Mist and Snow
• Josephine Knowles – Leaves in the Wind
• Will Lawson - Red Morgan Rides
• Eric Lowe - Framed in Hardwood
• Nevil Shute
  • Landfall: A Channel Story
  • An Old Captivity
• Helen Simpson – Maid No More
• Christina Stead – The Man Who Loved Children
• F.J. Thwaites – Whispers in Tahiti
• Arthur Upfield – Bushranger of the Skies
• Malcolm Uren – Sailormen's Ghosts (travel and history, not a novel)
• Rix Weaver – Behold New Holland

• Mary Grant Bruce – Peter & Co.
• May Gibbs – The Complete Adventures of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie
• P. L. Travers – Happy Ever After
• Dorothy Wall – Blinky Bill Joins the Army

• Mary Gilmore – "No Foe Shall Gather Our Harvest"
• Max Harris – The Gift of Blood
• Eve Langley – "Native-Born"
• Ian Mudie – Corroboree to the Sun
• Roderic Quinn – "Tyrrell's Bookshop"
• Kenneth Slessor – "Metempsychosis"
• Douglas Stewart – Elegy for an Airman

A list, ordered by date of birth (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of births in 1940 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of death.

• 9 February – J. M. Coetzee, novelist
• 19 March – Andrew Taylor, poet
• 12 April – Jack Hibberd, playwright and novelist
• 16 April – Marion Halligan, novelist
• 28 July – Geoffrey Lehmann, poet and writer for children
• 7 July – Geoff Page, poet
• 18 August – Jan Owen, poet
• 11 November – Jill Roe, historian (died 2017)
• 16 November – Craig Powell, poet (died 2022)

Unknown date

• Carmel Bird, novelist
• Rosaleen Love, critic and short story writer
• Ron Pretty, poet (died 2023)[3]

A list, ordered by date of death (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of deaths in 1940 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of birth.

• 27 March – K. Langloh Parker, author (born 1856)
• 3 May – S. Elliott Napier, poet and journalist (born 1870)[4]

• 1940 in Australia
• 1940 in literature
• 1940 in poetry
• List of years in Australian literature
• List of years in literature