1881 in Australian literature

• Ada Cambridge – Missed in the Crowd
• Rosa Praed – Policy and Passion : A Novel of Australian Life

• Mary Hannay Foott – "Where the Pelican Builds"
• George Herbert Gibson – "A Ballad of Queensland"
• Henry Kendall
  • "The Austral Months"
  • "How the Melbourne Cup Was Won"
  • "In Memoriam: Marcus Clarke"

• Marcus Clarke – The Mystery of Major Molineux / Human Repetends

A list, ordered by date of birth (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of births in 1881 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of death.

• 6 April – Furnley Maurice, poet (died 1942)
• 2 May – H. M. Green, poet and critic (died 1962)
• 23 May – Hilary Lofting, novelist (died 1939)
• 4 July – Sumner Locke, novelist (died 1917)
• 8 July – Mary Montgomerie Bennett, biographer and nonfiction author (died 1961)
• 16 November – Ernest O'Ferrall, poet and author (died 1925)

Unknown date

• Kathleen Dalziel, poet (died 1969)

A list, ordered by date of death (and, if the date is either unspecified or repeated, ordered alphabetically by surname) of deaths in 1881 of Australian literary figures, authors of written works or literature-related individuals follows, including year of birth.

• 12 July – Caroline Leakey, poet and author of The Broad Arrow (born 1827)
• 2 August – Marcus Clarke, novelist (born 1846)

• 1881 in poetry
• List of years in literature
• List of years in Australian literature