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Williams wins 2021 MUD Literary Prize

Tuesday, 23 February 2021
The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams (Affirm Press) has won the fourth annual MUD Literary Prize. Presented annually for the best debut literary novel by an Australian writer,...

Scribner acquires Haigh Evatt history 

Tuesday, 23 February 2021
Under its Scribner imprint Simon & Schuster Australia has acquired world rights to The Brilliant Boy: Doc Evatt and the great Australian dissent, a new work of history by Gideon...

S&S acquires historical fiction debut 

Tuesday, 23 February 2021
Simon & Schuster (S&S) has acquired world rights to The Understudy, a historical fiction debut by Julie Bennett. ‘The Understudy is set in 1973, the year the Opera House opened....

Text announces Steph Bowe Mentorship for Young Writers

Tuesday, 23 February 2021
Text Publishing has announced the Steph Bowe Mentorship for Young Writers, a new initiative designed to nurture and encourage a new Australian children’s writer under the age of 25. The...

Australian Book Design Awards 2021 longlists announced

Monday, 22 February 2021
The longlists for the Australian Book Design Awards, presented by the Australian Book Designers Association (ABDA), have been announced. Longlisted titles in some of the categories are: Best Designed Commercial...

ABIA 2021 longlists announced

Monday, 22 February 2021
The longlists for the 2021 Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIAs) have been announced. The titles in each category are: General fiction book of the year The Bluffs (Kyle Perry, Michael...

Publisher, bookseller Facebook pages wiped of content 

Friday, 19 February 2021
Many book publishers, literary journals and booksellers have had their Facebook pages wiped of content after the social media platform banned the sharing of all Australian news content in response...

Kelly departs HarperCollins 

Friday, 19 February 2021
HarperCollins Australia has announced the departure of sales director Darren Kelly, after nine years in the role. HarperCollins ANZ CEO Jim Demetriou said, ‘Darren has been an amazing advocate for...

WAYRBA 2021 shortlists announced

Thursday, 18 February 2021
The shortlists for the 2021 West Australian Young Readers’ Book Awards (WAYRBA) have been announced. The shortlisted titles in each category are: Picture books Pig the Blob (Aaron Blabey, Scholastic) Twelve...

Inaugural Little Hare Illustration Prize winner announced

Wednesday, 17 February 2021
Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing (HGCP) has announced Meg Rennie as the winner of the inaugural 2020 Little Hare Illustration Prize. ‘Meg’s artwork enchanted the judging panel with her vivacious character...

HarperCollins acquires two Foster novels 

Wednesday, 17 February 2021
HarperCollins Australia has acquired ANZ rights to two new novels by Sara Foster, via Tara Wynne at Curtis Brown in a ‘fiercely contested’ auction. The first title, The Hush, ‘is...

HarperCollins acquires Cowell novel ‘Plum’ 

Tuesday, 16 February 2021
HarperCollins Australia has acquired ANZ rights to Plum, a new novel by writer, actor and director Brendan Cowell. Plum tells the story of Peter ‘The Plum’ Lum, a 48-year-old ex-NRL...

Avid Reader fundraising for shop mural 

Monday, 15 February 2021
Brisbane's Avid Reader has partnered with arts organisation Chrysalis Projects 4101 and Aboriginal artist Vernon Ah Kee to create a proposed mural on the side of the bookshop's West End...

A&U acquires Agnew science debut 

Friday, 12 February 2021
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired ANZ rights to a debut nonfiction book by Bachelor star Matt Agnew. Agnew, an astrophysicist, will explore the search for life in the solar...

S&S acquires Zonfrillo memoir 

Friday, 12 February 2021
Simon & Schuster Australia (S&S) has acquired the autobiography of chef and MasterChef Australia judge, Jock Zonfrillo. Zonfrillo’s memoir will tell the story of his troubled adolescence growing up in...

Au wins inaugural Novel Prize

Thursday, 11 February 2021
Melbourne-based writer Jessica Au has won the inaugural Novel Prize for her work Cold Enough for Snow. Au, whose novel was selected from an international field of almost 1500 submissions and...

Wilson appointed ACT Writers Centre CEO

Thursday, 11 February 2021
The ACT Writers Centre (ACTW) has appointed arts and writing advocate Meg Wilson as CEO. Wilson has been acting as interim director since February 2020, following the departure of former...

HarperCollins launches new illustrated imprint 

Wednesday, 10 February 2021
HarperCollins Australia has announced it will launch a new illustrated imprint, Harper by Design. HarperCollins said the ‘design-led' imprint, to be overseen by current head of design Mark Campbell in...

‘Sorrow and Bliss’ to be adapted for screen 

Wednesday, 10 February 2021
US production company New Regency has acquired the film and television rights to Meg Mason’s 2020 novel Sorrow and Bliss in a deal brokered by Casarotto Ramsay and HarperCollins Australia....

Giggs wins ALA Andrew Carnegie Medal

Tuesday, 9 February 2021
In the US, Australian writer Rebecca Giggs has won the American Library Association’s (ALA) 2021 Andrew Carnegie Medal for nonfiction for Fathoms: The world in the whale (Scribe). The Andrew Carnegie...

Hachette acquires Williams autobiography 

Tuesday, 9 February 2021
Hachette Australia has acquired the autobiography of All Blacks star Sonny Bill Williams via Nick Fordham of The Fordham Company, as part of a worldwide deal that will also see...

Ultimo announces poetry, short fiction prize

Tuesday, 9 February 2021
Ultimo Press has announced a new annual prize for poetry and short fiction, the Ultimo Prize. Open to writers under the age of the 30, the prize will be awarded...