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PA to aggregate diversity statistics

Wednesday, 25 November 2020
In the UK, the Publishers Association (PA) will aggregate publisher statistics on the diversity make-up of their books, reports the Bookseller. After a number of big publishers confirmed they were...

National Book Award winners announced  

Monday, 23 November 2020
In the US, the winners of this year’s National Book Awards have been announced. The winning titles in each category are: Fiction Interior Chinatown (Charles Yu, Europa Editions) Nonfiction The...

Pan Mac, Nosy Crow among FutureBook Awards winners

Monday, 23 November 2020
In the UK, the winners of the FutureBook Awards: Best of Lockdown have been announced, reports the Bookseller. The winners include publishers Nosy Crow and Pan Macmillan, Bath-based bookshop Mr...

Stuart wins Booker Prize for ‘Shuggie Bain’

Friday, 20 November 2020
Scottish author Douglas Stuart has won the £50,000 (A$91,100) Booker Prize for his debut novel Shuggie Bain (Picador), reports the Bookseller. Stuart’s novel, based on his own childhood, tells the...

Pearson creates direct-to-consumer division

Thursday, 19 November 2020
Pearson has announced the creation of a new direct-to-consumer division, focused on direct-to-consumer products and channels. 'With the accelerating interest in digital learning across the globe, we need to meet...

UK book sales down 11% for first half

Monday, 16 November 2020
In the UK, stats from the Publishers Association (PA) show that total book sales across the industry fell 11% in the first six months of the year, reports the Bookseller....

WHSmith posts £69 million loss

Friday, 13 November 2020
UK book chain WHSmith has recorded a £69 million (A$125m) headline loss in preliminary results announced for the year ended 31 August. The company made a £31 million (A$56m) group...

Thammavongsa wins Canada’s $100k Giller Prize

Wednesday, 11 November 2020
In Canada, Souvankham Thammavongsa has won this year’s C$100,000 (A$106,150) Giller Prize for her short story collection How to Pronounce Knife (Bloomsbury). Of Thammavongsa’s collection, the prize jury said: ‘How...

FutureBook Conference to run as virtual event

Tuesday, 10 November 2020
This year’s FutureBook Conference, run by the UK’s Bookseller, will run as a virtual event from 16–20 November. The program includes more than 40 sessions and 100 speakers, including the...

UK audiobook sales surge in lockdown

Monday, 9 November 2020
In the UK, audiobook sales are expected to show 15.8% growth in volume by the end of the year according to Nielsen, reports the Bookseller. Nielsen projected UK audiobook sales...

LBF moved to June 2021; new director named

Thursday, 5 November 2020
In the UK, the London Book Fair (LBF) has announced next year’s event will take place from 29 June to 1 July, according to the Bookseller. The fair was originally scheduled...

Bookshop.org makes £65,000 in UK launch

Wednesday, 4 November 2020
In the UK, online retailer Bookshop.org made sales of around £65,000 (A$119,000) in its first day of trade on 2 November, reports the Bookseller. Around 150 independent bookshops have signed...

French bookshops to re-enter lockdown

Friday, 30 October 2020
French bookshops and libraries will close for at least 15 days from 30 October, as the country enters a second lockdown to curb the rise in Covid-19 cases, reports the...

Bird’s ‘The Air Year’ wins Forward Poetry Prize

Monday, 26 October 2020
In the UK, Caroline Bird’s poetry collection The Air Year (Carcanet) has won the £10,000 (A$18,320) Forward Prize for best poetry collection, reports the Bookseller. Judging panel chair Alexandra Harris described...

US$75k Cundill History Prize 2020 finalists announced

Wednesday, 21 October 2020
The three finalists for the Cundill History Prize have been announced. Chosen from a shortlist of 10, the finalists are: Tacky’s Revolt: The story of an Atlantic slave war (Vincent Brown,...

Davies, Al-Kadhi win 2020 Polari Prizes

Friday, 16 October 2020
In the UK, writers Kate Davies and Amrou Al-Kadhi have won the 2020 Polari Prizes for work that explores the LGBT experience, reports the Bookseller. Davies won the £2000 (A$3640) Polari...

Glück awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize for Literature

Friday, 9 October 2020
American poet Louise Glück has been awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize for Literature, reports Publishers Weekly. Glück was named winner at a ceremony at the Swedish Academy in Stockholm on...

National Book Awards 2020 shortlists announced

Wednesday, 7 October 2020
In the US, the shortlists for the 2020 National Book Awards have been announced. The shortlisted titles in each category are: Fiction Leave the World Behind  (Rumaan Alam, Bloomsbury) A...

Children’s nonfiction sales boom in UK

Friday, 25 September 2020
In the UK, Nielsen data shows sales of children’s books have boomed during 2020 due to nonfiction sales, reports the Bookseller. According to Nielsen media manager Philip Stone, children’s nonfiction...

HarperCollins, S&S add diversity-focused directors

Monday, 21 September 2020
In the US, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster (S&S) have both announced new diversity-focused directorial positions, reports Publishing Perspectives. HarperCollins has appointed Gisselda Nuñez to the role of vice-president for diversity,...