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Smith, Yaffa win 2021 Orwell Prizes

Monday, 28 June 2021
UK novelist Ali Smith and US journalist Joshua Yaffa have won this year’s Orwell Prizes for political fiction and political writing respectively, reports the Bookseller. Smith was awarded the political...

Reynolds, Smith win 2021 Carnegie, Greenaway medals

Thursday, 17 June 2021
The UK Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) has announced the winners of the 2021 Carnegie and Kate Greenaway medals. Jason Reynolds won the Carnegie Medal for children’s...

Pulitzer Prize winners announced

Wednesday, 16 June 2021
In the US, the winners of the Pulitzer Prizes were announced at a virtual ceremony on 11 June, reports Publishers Weekly. Louise Erdrich won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for...

Waterstones profit down 8.4% in 2020

Tuesday, 15 June 2021
UK bookselling chain Waterstones’ after-tax profit fell 8.4% to £20.8 million (A$38m) in the year to 25 April 2020, reports the Bookseller. Revenue was down 4.3% on 2019 to £376...

Frankfurt plans for in-person event

Friday, 11 June 2021
Frankfurt Book Fair organisers are planning on hosting an in-person fair this year from October 20–24, reports Publishers Weekly. Fair director Juergen Boos told Publishers Weekly the fair ‘will be...

Hazareesingh wins £40,000 Wolfson History Prize

Thursday, 10 June 2021
In the UK, Sudhir Hazareesingh has won the £40,000 (A$73,045) Wolfson History Prize for Black Spartacus: The epic life of Toussaint Louverture (Allen Lane), reports the Bookseller. Black Spartacus is...

Bloomsbury records ‘outstanding’ results in 2020

Tuesday, 8 June 2021
In the UK, Bloomsbury recorded an ‘outstanding’ financial year, as shown in its 2020 preliminary results, with sales up 14% to £185.1 million (A$338.2m) and profit up 22% to £19.2 million...

UK backlist titles up during lockdowns

Monday, 7 June 2021
In the UK, Nielsen BookScan data has found demand for backlist titles increased over lockdown, reports the Bookseller. A report from Enders Analysis covers the shift in demand from frontlist...

US audiobook sales grows 12%

Friday, 4 June 2021
In the US, an Audio Publishers Association report found audiobook revenue grew 12% to US$1.3 billion (A$1.7 billion) last year, reports Publishing Perspectives. The result is the ninth year in...

French author Diop wins International Booker Prize

Thursday, 3 June 2021
French author David Diop has won the £50,000 (A$91,400) International Booker Prize for his novel At Night All Blood is Black (trans by Anna Moschovakis, Pushkin). The judges described At...

Makumbi, Lawrence win 2021 Jhalak prizes

Thursday, 27 May 2021
In the UK, the winners of the 2021 Jhalak prizes, which recognise ‘authors who feel that their work is often marginalised unless it fulfils a romantic fetishisation of their cultural...

Barjas wins US$50k International Prize for Arabic Fiction

Wednesday, 26 May 2021
Jordanian poet and novelist Jalal Barjas has won the International Prize for Arabic Fiction for his novel Notebooks of the Bookseller (Arabic Institute for Research and Publishing). Barjas receives US$50,000...

Beijing Book Fair to run as hybrid event

Tuesday, 18 May 2021
This year’s Beijing International Book Fair (BIBF), which runs from 25­–29 August, will be held as a hybrid fair, with physical presence limited to Chinese and China-based publishers. International publishers...

Leilani wins Dylan Thomas prize for ‘Luster’

Monday, 17 May 2021
In the UK, American writer Raven Leilani has won the £20,000 (A$36,240) Dylan Thomas Prize for her debut novel Luster (Picador). Luster follows Edie, a young Black woman who begins...

UK’s CMA clears Bertelsmann’s S&S acquisition

Thursday, 13 May 2021
In the UK, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has cleared Penguin Random House (PRH) owner Bertelsmann’s acquisition of Simon & Schuster (S&S) following an investigation, reports the Bookseller. Bertelsmann...

Gilligan wins Ondaatje Prize for ‘The Butchers’

Wednesday, 12 May 2021
In the UK, Ruth Gilligan has won the £10,000 (A$18,000) Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize for The Butchers (Atlantic), a literary thriller set in the Irish Borderlands during the 1996...

Oseman wins YA Book Prize for ‘Loveless’

Friday, 7 May 2021
Alice Oseman has won the Bookseller’s 2021 YA Book Prize for Loveless (HarperCollins), a ‘joyful’ coming out story about a romance-obsessed teenager who realises she is aromantic and asexual. Loveless tells the...