Bologna: Local publishers report demand for ‘fun’ amid move away from ‘issues’
24 April 2024
Bologna Children’s Book Fair, held 8–11 April, was ‘the most upbeat fair for some time’, reported Scholastic senior rights manager Claire Pretyman. 'The mood was enthusiastic and joyful,' agreed Allen...
T&H celebrates 75-year anniversary
24 April 2024
Thames & Hudson (T&H) is celebrating its 75-year anniversary this year with a series of trade promotions and events. Walter and Eva Neurath founded T&H in 1949 with the ambition...
Upswell acquires Spirovski debut, ‘White Hibiscus’
24 April 2024
Upswell Publishing has acquired world rights for White Hibiscus: A portrait in words, the debut work of visual artist Loribelle Spirovski. Publisher Terri-ann White described the book as ‘a poetic...
Transit Lounge acquires Dombroski debut novel ‘Xenograft’
24 April 2024
Transit Lounge has acquired world rights to Xenograft, a debut novel by Western Sydney author Ann Dombroski. In the novel, 40-year-old Alice Kaczmarek wants a baby, but her husband, Daniel, is...
Hammer, Morton on Daggers longlist
23 April 2024
In the UK, the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) has announced the longlists for its Dagger Awards. Chris Hammer’s Dead Man’s Creek (published locally as The Tilt, A&U) and Kate Morton’s...
Pantera acquires Rai debut novel ‘An Onslaught of Light’
23 April 2024
Pantera Press has acquired world rights to An Onslaught of Light, a debut novel by Natasha Rai. In the novel, in 1990, Vijay and Indu depart India for Australia—a move...
Age Book of the Year 2024 shortlists announced
23 April 2024
The shortlists for the 2024 Age Book of the Year Award have been announced. The shortlisted works in each category are: Fiction Women & Children (Tony Birch, UQP) Anniversary (Stephanie...
New publisher Vitagraph launches literary journal
22 April 2024
New independent publishing house Vitagraph Publishing has launched Written Off, a new literary journal dedicated to Australian literature. Vitagraph said Written Off will highlight the work of writers with broad...
Ferris receives inaugural Meanjin InPlace residency
22 April 2024
Literary journal Meanjin has announced Ella Ferris as the inaugural recipient of the Meanjin InPlace residency. Ferris is a Taribelang writer, actor, theatre maker and poet, who now lives on...
Michael Gifkins Prize 2024 longlist announced
22 April 2024
Text Publishing and the New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi O Aotearoa (PEN NZ Inc) have announced the longlist for the 2024 Michael Gifkins Prize for an unpublished...
Hachette acquires Coburn YA verse novel ‘The Foal in the Wire’
18 April 2024
Hachette Australia has acquired world rights to The Foal in the Wire, a YA verse novel from poet Robbie Coburn, via Belinda Bolliger at Key People Literary Management. Described by...
Student-run Elephant Page Publishing launches at Curtin Uni
18 April 2024
A new student press, Elephant Page Publishing, has been established at Curtin University in Perth (Boorloo), Western Australia. Curtin University’s professional writing and publishing senior lecturer Per Henningsgaard is serving...
Pantera acquires Sursok memoir
17 April 2024
Pantera has acquired world rights to an as-yet-untitled memoir from Tammin Sursok. Among many other roles—including producing, directing, writing, music, media appearances, and entrepreneurship—Sursok is known as an actor who...
Local authors on Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2024 shortlist
17 April 2024
Three Aotearoa New Zealand authors and one Australian writer are among the finalists for the 2024 Commonwealth Short Story Prize. The authors shortlisted for the Pacific region are: M Donato...
BookPeople 2024 Book of the Year shortlists announced
17 April 2024
BookPeople has announced the shortlists for its Book of the Year awards. The shortlists for each category are: Adult fiction Lola in the Mirror (Trent Dalton, Fourth Estate) Green Dot (Madeleine Gray,...
black&write! Writing Fellowships shortlist announced
16 April 2024
The State Library of Queensland (SLQ) has announced the shortlist for this year’s black&write! Writing Fellowships. The six shortlisted writers are: Skye Cusack, for the young adult novel ‘The Dangers...
Affirm acquires Ferguson ‘feminist manifesto’
16 April 2024
Affirm Press has acquired world rights to an as-yet-untitled second nonfiction book from Hannah Ferguson. Described by the publisher as a ‘no-bullshit, no-frills guide to your twenties’, Ferguson’s 'new feminist...
ISBN data: Pandemic slow-down in number of new publishers, number of new titles stable
15 April 2024
ISBN data shows there has been a deceleration in the number of new publishing entities entering the Australian market since the start of the pandemic, but the number of new...
BookPeople 2024 conference program announced
11 April 2024
BookPeople has announced the program for its 100th anniversary conference and trade exhibition, to be held at Pullman Melbourne on the Park on 14 to 17 June. Yuwaalaraay storyteller and...
UQP acquires Bigna middle-grade verse novel
11 April 2024
The University of Queensland Press (UQP) has acquired world rights to debut author Sandy Bigna’s middle-grade verse novel Little Bones, in a two-book deal via Danielle Binks of Jacinta di...
Hazard to leave Hachette
11 April 2024
Hachette Australia and New Zealand has announced group publishing director Fiona Hazard is leaving the role ‘to pursue other opportunities’. Hazard joined Hodder Headline in 1999 as publishing manager before...
BookPeople Book of the Year longlists announced
11 April 2024
BookPeople has announced the longlists for its Book of the Year awards. The longlists for each category are: Adult fiction Lola in the Mirror (Trent Dalton, Fourth Estate) Green Dot...
PRH acquires Clark romantasy duology
11 April 2024
Penguin Random House (PRH) Australia has acquired rights to a romantasy duology from Tasmanian debut author Sophie Clark, as part of a global PRH co-publishing deal with Knopf in the...
Catton shortlisted for 2024 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction
10 April 2024
Eleanor Catton has been shortlisted for the 2024 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, worth US$150,000 (A$226,245). The full list of shortlisted titles includes: Birnam Wood (Eleanor Catton, Granta) Daughter (Claudia...
ARA Historical Novel Prize increases prize pool to $150,000
10 April 2024
The ARA Historical Novel Prize this year will have a prize pool of $150,000, with the winner of the adult category to receive $100,000—making this 'the richest individual literary prize...
Ambrose joins HarperCollins
10 April 2024
HarperCollins Australia has appointed Sophie Ambrose to the role of publisher, commissioning nonfiction for the ABC Books and HarperCollins imprints. Ambrose replaces Georgia Frances King, who will leave HarperCollins on...
Huia wins 2024 Bologna Prize, Oceania region
10 April 2024
Huia Publishers, based in Aotearoa New Zealand, is the 2024 Oceania winner of the Bologna Prize (BOP) for the Best Children’s Publisher of the Year. The Māori-owned independent publisher has...
ILF wins Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2024
10 April 2024
The Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF) has won the 2024 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (ALMA), worth five million Swedish kronor (A$710,000). The ILF was announced as the winner at a live...
Hachette acquires Farnham memoir
9 April 2024
Hachette Australia has acquired world rights to The Voice Inside, a memoir by John Farnham. The book is written in partnership with Poppy Stockell, director of 2023 Farnham biopic Finding...
Aotearoa New Zealand publishers represented at Bologna
9 April 2024
Eight publishers are exhibiting at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair as part of the Aotearoa New Zealand collective stand. The stand will be managed by Publishers Association of New Zealand...
