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Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards 2018 winners announced

Thursday, 1 February 2018
Melbourne-based writer Sarah Krasnostein has won the $100,000 Victorian Prize for Literature for her first book, The Trauma Cleaner: One Woman’s Extraordinary Life in Death, Decay & Disaster (Text Publishing)...

Clarke to present books segment on new ABC show

Thursday, 1 February 2018
Author Maxine Beneba Clarke will present a fortnightly books segment on a new ABC program hosted by journalist and commentator Stan Grant. The 45-minute program, Matter of Fact, will constitute...

ALIA members receive Australia Day 2018 honours

Wednesday, 31 January 2018
A number of ALIA members have been recognised in the annual Australia Day honours. Former ALIA president Margaret Allen was awarded a Public Service Medal ‘for outstanding public service to...

Will power: William Yeoman on curating PFWW 2018

Wednesday, 31 January 2018
William Yeoman is the West Australian literary editor and guest curator of the Perth Festival Writers Week (PFWW) 2018. Following the launch of the full program for this year’s festival,...

Rights round-up

Wednesday, 31 January 2018
Sales Fiction—Allen & Unwin has sold Turkish rights to the first two books in the ‘Phryne Fisher’s Murder Mysteries’ series, Cocaine Blues and Flying too High (both Kerry Greenwood); and...

Michael Mohammed Ahmad’s ‘The Lebs’

Wednesday, 31 January 2018
‘Punchbowl Boys High, often dubbed “NSW’s most troubled school”, was the subject of a 2016 autobiographical essay by Michael Mohammed Ahmad. Now, that reminiscence of his alma mater has become...

New ‘Books+Publishing’ reviews out now

Wednesday, 31 January 2018
Books+Publishing’s first Reviews newsletter for 2018 contains 13 reviews of books publishing in February and March. Tim Winton’s latest novel, The Shepherd’s Hut (Hamish Hamilton, March), received a five-star rating...

Copyright Agency introduces new nonfiction fellowship

Wednesday, 31 January 2018
The Copyright Agency has announced it has boosted the value of its annual fellowship program from $120,000 to $285,000, including a new $80,000 fellowship for a specific work of nonfiction....

US producer acquires screen rights to ‘Shantaram’

Wednesday, 31 January 2018
Producers Anonymous Content and Paramount TV have acquired screen rights to Gregory David Roberts’ Shantaram and its sequel, The Mountain Shadow. Deadline Hollywood reports that the producers plan to turn...

ABC Books congratulates Tracey Spicer

Wednesday, 31 January 2018
ABC Books and Harper Collins congratulate Tracey Spicer on being awarded an AM for her work in the media and as an ambassador for charitable and social welfare groups. ABC...

‘Sherlock Holmes’ tops 2017 Audible UK chart

Tuesday, 30 January 2018
In the UK, Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes: The Definitive Collection was Audible’s highest-selling title for 2017, reports the Bookseller. The nine-story collection, which is narrated by Stephen Fry, spent...

Lindgren joins BWF as guest artistic director

Tuesday, 30 January 2018
UPLIT has announced Carl Lindgren as the guest artistic director for the 2018 Brisbane Writers Festival. Lindgren will serve as guest artistic director until the end of 2018, while UPLIT’s...

PRH reveals shortlist for its inaugural literary prize

Tuesday, 30 January 2018
Penguin Random House (PRH) has announced the shortlist for its inaugural PRH Australia Literary Prize, worth $20,000. The prize aims to find and develop new Australian authors of literary fiction...

Shining a light: Laura Elvery on ‘Trick of the Light’

Thursday, 25 January 2018
Laura Elvery’s debut short-story collection Trick of the Light (UQP, March) comprises 24 ‘meticulously crafted’ short stories ranging in style from ‘stark realism to light speculative fiction’, writes reviewer Alan...

The Shepherd’s Hut (Tim Winton, Hamish Hamilton)

Thursday, 25 January 2018
Jaxie Clackton is a teenager on the run in the parched, unforgiving landscape bordering the salt lakes by the Western Australian desert. Convinced he’ll be held responsible for the accidental...

Echo acquires Morris, Evans and Jeffreys

Thursday, 25 January 2018
Bonnier Publishing’s Echo imprint has acquired three new novels, set for release in 2018 and 2019. Echo had acquired world rights to the second novel by Heather Morris, whose debut,...