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Shelf Lovers reopens “pocket-sized” store in Brisbane 

Shelf Lovers bookshop Thursday, 14 May 2026
Queensland LGBTQ+ bookseller Shelf Lovers has opened a new “pocket-sized” store, adding a bricks-and-mortar outlet to its existing online presence. Located in the Gender Health Australia clinic in the Brisbane...

Ockham 2026 winners announced

Thursday, 14 May 2026
In Aotearoa New Zealand, the winners of the 2026 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards have been announced. Poet, memoirist and scholar Ingrid Horrocks won the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for...

Fisher wins inaugural Libraro Prize

Donna Fisher Thursday, 14 May 2026
Donna Fisher, a UK author currently based in Queensland, is the inaugural winner of the £50,000 (A$93,000) Libraro Prize for her novel Sheep’s Clothing. Administered by the community digital platform...

Macdonald wins 2026 Ernest Scott Prize for History

Cover of "Garrison World" Thursday, 14 May 2026
Garrison World: Redcoat Soldiers in New Zealand and across the British Empire (Charlotte Macdonald, Bridget Williams Books) has won the 2026 Ernest Scott Prize for History. Awarded annually, the Ernest...

Howie Casey wins ASA/HQ Fiction Prize

Karen Howie Casey Wednesday, 13 May 2026
Karen Howie Casey has won the 2026 ASA/HQ Fiction Prize for unpublished manuscripts for her novel All the Little Wide Worlds, as announced by the Australian Society of Authors (ASA)...

Blake Poetry Prize 2026 winner announced

Chen Wang Wednesday, 13 May 2026
Chen Wang has won the 69th Blake Poetry Prize, worth $5000, for his poem “The Woman Who Refused the Kingdom of Forgetting”. Chen Wang is a Melbourne-based medical student whose...

Palka joins Better Reading 

Photograph of Natika Palka standing in front of a white brick wall Wednesday, 13 May 2026
Better Reading has appointed Natika Palka as head of marketing and growth. Palka was previously head of marketing and publicity at Thames & Hudson Australia. In the newly created role...

Allen & Unwin acquires Ryan’s “Eleven”

Photograph of Christian Ryan Wednesday, 13 May 2026
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired world rights to Eleven: We Burn Them in the Sun by Christian Ryan. The narrative nonfiction title about cricket is “a hugely creative work...

PRH acquires Leighton-Dore YA graphic novel

Illustration of a person in bed Tuesday, 12 May 2026
Penguin Random House Australia (PRH) has acquired “delightful new coming-of-age graphic novel” Willy by Samuel Leighton-Dore, illustrated by Jack Grayson. The title will also be developed as an animated series...

Nix awarded 2026 Janet Mackenzie Medal

Photograph of Linda Nix Tuesday, 12 May 2026
Linda Nix has been awarded the 2026 Institute of Professional Editors (IPEd) Janet Mackenzie Medal. The Janet Mackenzie Medal is IPEd’s highest honour and recognises “outstanding service to the editing...

Bakers Lane acquires Craig’s “Flying Hearts”

Tuesday, 12 May 2026
Bakers Lane Books has acquired world rights to YA verse novel Flying Hearts by Rico Craig. Flying Hearts “celebrates teen friendship and love, as four teenagers – Telly, Karr, Ahmad...

“Nobody’s Girl” among Fingerprint Awards shortlistees

Tuesday, 12 May 2026
In the UK, the posthumous memoir Nobody’s Girl (Doubleday) by the late Australia-based author Virginia Roberts Giuffre, co-written with Amy Wallace, has been shortlisted in the Fingerprint Awards. Nobody’s Girl...

Open Book 2026 interns announced

Paula Campos (upper left), Mabel Gibson (upper right), Charo Palenzuela (lower left) and Savi Ross (lower right, credit: Nisha Hunter). Tuesday, 12 May 2026
The successful interns for the 2026 Open Book: Australian Publishing Internship have been announced. Chosen from over 500 applicants, the 2026 interns and their placements are: Paula Campos – Giramondo Publishing and...

Local authors shortlisted for UK Indie Book Awards 

Monday, 11 May 2026
Local authors Charlotte McConaghy from Australia and Sarah Wynn-Williams from Aotearoa New Zealand are among those whose books have been shortlisted for the UK Indie Book Awards. Administered by the...

Australian Book Design Awards 2026 winners announced

Yoko Nakazawa and Michelle Mackintosh Monday, 11 May 2026
The winners of the 2026 Australian Book Design Awards, presented by the Australian Book Designers Association (ABDA), have been announced. Winning and highly commended works in each category are: OPUS...

UWA Publishing acquires Sniff Squad series

A border collie with author Nic Gill; and graphic novelist Jake Minton, credit Alexandra Phillips. Monday, 11 May 2026
UWA Publishing has acquired world rights to the 4-book series Sniff Squad by Tasmanian author Nic Gill, via Sarah McKenzie Literary Management. Inspired by real-life working dogs, the series will...

Transit Lounge acquires Myles’s “Hereafter”

Sarah Myles Thursday, 7 May 2026
Transit Lounge has acquired world rights to Sarah Myles’s third novel, Hereafter. Hereafter is “a remarkable novel that deftly explores themes of grief, trust, home and borders”, the publisher said....

Lantana launches locally with Greenwood debut 

Lantana logo Thursday, 7 May 2026
UK children’s publisher Lantana Publishing has announced its launch into the Australasian market, following a sales and distribution agreement made with Simon & Schuster Australia for its children’s list. The...

Berkelouw Books Leichhardt to close 

Berkelouw Books logo Thursday, 7 May 2026
Berkelouw Books Leichhardt will close this month after operating in the Sydney suburb for more than 25 years. An announcement on the store’s social media expressed gratitude for “everyone in...

New owners for Constant Reader 

constant reader Thursday, 7 May 2026
Ownership of Constant Reader bookshop in Crows Nest, New South Wales will transfer to Danica Beaudoin and Edward Federman, according to the Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) newsletter. Current Constant Reader...

Silvey pleads guilty, some charges dropped 

Wednesday, 6 May 2026
Author Craig Silvey has pleaded guilty to possessing and distributing child exploitation material, the ABC reported yesterday. Silvey appeared in Fremantle Magistrates Court on Tuesday, pleading guilty to two charges. Two...

Wakefield acquires Lenoir-Jourdan’s “Saltblood”

Wednesday, 6 May 2026
Wakefield Press has acquired ANZ rights to the debut YA novel Saltblood by Nicole Lenoir-Jourdan, via Martin Shaw of Shaw Literary. Described by the publisher as “Puberty Blues meets Looking...

 

 

 

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