Wilson resigns from UQP in protest at “Bila” cancellation
Thursday, 4 June 2026
University of Queensland Press (UQP) sales and distribution manager Kirsty Wilson has resigned from the role in protest at the decision of the University of Queensland (UQ) to cancel the...
A&U acquires Split Enz history
Thursday, 4 June 2026
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired world rights to Split Enz: An Adventure in Music and Design, the official history of the band Split Enz by Noel Crombie and Michael...
ACT Literary Awards 2026 shortlists announced
Thursday, 4 June 2026
MARION has announced the shortlists for the 2026 ACT Literary Awards. The shortlisted titles are: Children’s literature Creature Corridors (Billie Rooney, illustrated by Anke Noack, CSIRO Publishing) The Drought Kangaroo...
Mossop steps down at SWF
Thursday, 4 June 2026
Sydney Writers’ Festival (SWF) has announced that artistic director Ann Mossop will step down from her role. In a statement, SWF CEO Brooke Webb said Mossop would remain in the...
Arts participation survey 2025: More people reading at least once a week across all formats
Wednesday, 3 June 2026
Creative Australia has released the results of the most recent National Arts Participation Survey, which shows that more people are engaging with reading at least once a week across all formats,...
Big Day of Books Perth 2026 program announced
Wednesday, 3 June 2026
At Big Day of Books Perth on 20 June, Western Australian radio presenters will chat to Australian authors about their new books during a live broadcast literary show. Hosted by...
Willy Lit Fest 2026 program announced
Wednesday, 3 June 2026
Willy Lit Fest will run in the Williamstown Town Hall, Melbourne, from 12 to 14 June under the theme of “reflections”. The event will feature 40 sessions and almost 80...
Robinson wins 2026 UQP Quentin Bryce Award
Wednesday, 3 June 2026
University of Queensland Press (UQP) has announced Lenny Robinson as the winner of the 2026 UQP Quentin Bryce Award, worth $5000, for her debut novel And in the Morning. The...
NZSA Ngā Kaituhi Māori Mentorship recipients announced
Wednesday, 3 June 2026
Ngā Kaituhi Māori and the New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa (NZSA) have announced the recipients of the 2026 NZSA Ngā Kaituhi Māori Mentorship program, and...
Annie’s Books on Peregian relocates
Wednesday, 3 June 2026
Annie’s Books on Peregian, on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, has relocated. The bookshop has moved just a few doors from its original store, according to the Australian Booksellers Association (ABA). Co-owner...
S&S acquires Kieran Kennedy’s “This Explains Everything”
Wednesday, 3 June 2026
Simon & Schuster Australia (S&S) has acquired This Explains Everything: A Psychiatrist’s Guide to Navigating Adult ADHD by psychiatrist Kieran Kennedy. According to the publisher, the book draws on the...
Bacon fiction and nonfiction shortlisted for British Fantasy Awards
Tuesday, 2 June 2026
African Australian author Eugen Bacon is among those whose works have been shortlisted in the 2026 British Fantasy Awards. “Spec Fic and the Politics of Identity: Finding the Self in...
“Gather Up Your World in One Long Breath” sells to France
Tuesday, 2 June 2026
French language rights for S Shakthidharan’s memoir, Gather Up Your World in One Long Breath (Powerhouse Publishing), have been sold to Le Bruit du Monde. Le Bruit du Monde CEO Marie-Pierre...
Allen & Unwin acquires Evonne Goolagong Cawley memoir
Tuesday, 2 June 2026
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired world rights to Only Ever Evonne by Evonne Goolagong Cawley. In the memoir, Goolagong Cawley shares memories of her childhood in Barellan, where she grew...
Thames & Hudson moves Aotearoa distribution to Bookreps NZ
Tuesday, 2 June 2026
Thames & Hudson Australia (T&H) has announced it will move its Aotearoa New Zealand distribution to Bookreps NZ, effective 1 August. Distribution of T&H titles in the country is currently...
Allen & Unwin acquires Zoe Foster Blake’s “Group Chat”
Monday, 1 June 2026
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired ANZ rights to Group Chat by Zoë Foster Blake, in a deal brokered by Tara Wynne at Curtis Brown. Described by the publisher as “part...
Wright leaves Leading Edge as part of restructure
Monday, 1 June 2026
Leading Edge member services manager Kaye Wright has left the business and will not be replaced in the role. Leading Edge head of books Leanne Kadareanu told Books+Publishing that Wright’s...
The Dick and Joan Green Family Award for Tasmanian History 2026 shortlist announced
Monday, 1 June 2026
The shortlist for the biennial Dick and Joan Green Family Award for Tasmanian History, worth $25,000, has been announced. The works shortlisted for the award are: Umarrah & George: Friendship...
Pantera Press acquires “The Curator” by Jonathan Butler
Monday, 1 June 2026
Pantera Press has acquired world rights to “gripping true crime investigation” The Curator by Jonathan Butler. Part murder mystery, part queer history, and part portrait of Melbourne’s art world, the...
Local authors shortlisted for UK Dagger crime writing awards
Monday, 1 June 2026
Local authors Sam Guthrie, Laura McCluskey, and Zoë Rankin are among those whose works have been shortlisted for the UK Crime Writers’ Association’s (CWA) 2026 Dagger Awards. The authors were...
Aotearoa New Zealand 2026 Book Industry Awards finalists announced
Monday, 1 June 2026
The finalists in Aotearoa New Zealand’s 2026 Book Industry Awards, presented by Booksellers Aotearoa NZ and the Publishers Association of New Zealand Te Rau o Tākupu (PANZ), have been announced....
DANZ Children’s Book Award 2026 shortlists announced
Monday, 1 June 2026
The 2026 shortlists for the DANZ (Diversity in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand) Children’s Book Award have been announced by the Australian School Library Association (ASLA). Chosen from previously announced longlists,...
Ractliffe joins The Pilkington Agency, expanded role for Cottrell
Monday, 1 June 2026
The Pilkington Agency has announced that former Hachette Australia managing director Justin Ractliffe has joined the business as a literary agent, while rights agent Alice Cottrell’s role “will be expanded”....
Simon & Schuster acquires Vasiliou’s “Better Man”
Thursday, 28 May 2026
Simon & Schuster Australia (S&S) has acquired world rights to Better Man by Ben Vasiliou, in a deal negotiated by Daniel Pilkington of The Pilkington Agency. The “practical guide to...
ABC Radio National countdown to focus on Australian books
Thursday, 28 May 2026
This year, ABC Radio National’s annual Top 100 Books Countdown will focus on the theme “Australian books”, both fiction and nonfiction. The ABC said the countdown’s definition of Australian was...
NT Writers Festival 2026 festival opens
Thursday, 28 May 2026
The NT Writers Festival will return to Garramilla/Darwin today, running from 28 to 31 May under the theme “Navigating”. Panels, workshops and conversations will include appearances by writers Omar Musa,...
Pink Shorts Press acquires Ball’s “A Map and Other Parts”
Thursday, 28 May 2026
Pink Shorts Press has acquired world rights to Timmah Ball’s A Map and Other Parts. The publisher described the work as “a poetic interrogation of Australia’s relationship with the built...
Simon & Schuster acquires three Hammer novels
Thursday, 28 May 2026
Simon & Schuster Australia (S&S) imprint Summit Books has acquired ANZ rights to 3 novels by Chris Hammer from Grace Heifetz at a4 Literary, with UK rights sold to Rachel...
Hachette launches new Letterwing imprint
Thursday, 28 May 2026
Hachette Australia has announced the launch of a new imprint, Letterwing, that “brings together its local publishing under a distinct new identity”. The new imprint will be led by publishing...
Bancroft receives 2026 Red Ochre Award for lifetime achievement
Thursday, 28 May 2026
Bundjalung writer and artist Bronwyn Bancroft is one of the recipients of the 2026 Red Ochre Award for Lifetime Achievement in Artistic Excellence in the First Nations Arts and Culture...
