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Varuna 2021 First Nations Fellowships announced

Varuna, the National Writers House logo Monday, 12 April 2021
The recipients of the Varuna First Nations Fellowships for 2021 have been announced. The writers and their projects are: Krista Dunstan for her YA work ‘Noble Intentions’ Lisa Fuller for...

Clunes Booktown returns with month-long festival

Friday, 9 April 2021
The town of Clunes in regional Victoria has announced the program for Turn the Page, a new ‘month-long celebration of the book’ to take place over three weekends in May....

ABIA Rising Stars 2021 shortlist announced

Friday, 9 April 2021
The shortlist for the Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) 2021 Rising Star of the Year Award has been announced. The Rising Star Award is given to an emerging talent in...

Black Inc. acquires Plibersek biography 

Thursday, 8 April 2021
Black Inc. has acquired world rights to a biography of Tanya Plibersek to be written by Margaret Simons, via Lyn Tranter at Australian Literary Management. ‘This book will tell the...

Romei steps down as literary editor

Wednesday, 7 April 2021
The Australian newspaper’s literary editor Stephen Romei has left the role, with his last column published in the newspaper on Saturday, 3 April. ‘I have decided to step back from...

APA, writers festivals receive RISE funding 

Wednesday, 7 April 2021
The Australian Publishers Association (APA) will receive $566,000 in funding from the federal government’s Restart Investment to Sustain and Expand (RISE) fund, as announced in the latest round of RISE...

Australian Book Design Awards 2021 shortlists announced

Tuesday, 6 April 2021
The shortlists for the Australian Book Design Awards, presented by the Australian Book Designers Association (ABDA), have been announced. Shortlisted titles in some of the categories are: Best Designed Commercial...

Bridgeman’s ‘The Subjugate’ to be adapted for TV 

Tuesday, 6 April 2021
Perth science fiction author Amanda Bridgeman's novel The Subjugate (Watkins) will be adapted into a dystopian crime thriller series by independent production companies Aquarius Films and Anonymous Content. The development...

Aurealis Awards 2020 finalists announced

Tuesday, 6 April 2021
The finalists for the 2020 Aurealis Awards, presented for science fiction, fantasy and horror writing in Australia, have been announced. The finalists are: Best horror novel Soul Survivor (Daniel de...

NEWC awarded $50k Create NSW grant 

Thursday, 1 April 2021
The New England Writers’ Centre (NEWC) has been awarded a $50,000 grant from Create NSW under its Arts Restart program. The funding is for NEWC's The Inside Story project, which...

New writing prize for Western Sydney

Wednesday, 31 March 2021
WestWords and WestLit Libraries have announced a new writing competition for Western Sydney residents. With a prize pool of over $10,000, supported by Create NSW as part of Arts Restart,...

CBCA 2021 Book of the Year shortlists announced

Tuesday, 30 March 2021
The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) has announced its 2021 Book of the Year shortlists. The shortlisted books in each category are: Older readers The End of the World...

FWF announces closure

Tuesday, 30 March 2021
The biennial Feminist Writers Festival (FWF) has announced its closure due to lack of funding. The inaugural FWF was held during Melbourne Writers Festival in 2016 and in 2018 the...

SPN announces 2021 conference dates

Monday, 29 March 2021
The Small Press Network (SPN) has announced the dates for the 2021 Independent Publishing Conference, which is scheduled to run from 25–27 November. The conference will take place in-person at...

APA launches rights networking events 

Monday, 29 March 2021
The Australian Publishers Association (APA) has launched a series of rights networking events to help Australian publishers connect with international publishers. The series, which uses the online events platform Hopin,...

MidnightSun acquires Burge debut novel 

Friday, 26 March 2021
MidnightSun Publishing has acquired debut novel Tank Water by Michael Burge, a story of homophobic hate crimes and the dangers of growing up feeling different in rural Australia. Burge met...

StoryFest 2021 guests announced

Friday, 26 March 2021
The guests for the second StoryFest festival, which will run from 18 to 20 June in Milton, Mollymook and Ulladulla on the NSW South Coast, have been announced. Guests include...

Gardiner’s ‘Goddess’ optioned for screen

Thursday, 25 March 2021
Kelly Gardiner’s 2014 historical novel Goddess (HarperCollins) has been optioned for the screen by Deux Dames Entertainment and Black Magic, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Deux Dames Entertainment was founded...

Ultimo acquires latest Chandran novel

Thursday, 25 March 2021
Ultimo Press has acquired ANZ rights to Shankari Chandran's third novel Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens, via Tara Wynne at Curtis Brown. Chandran's novel is set in a nursing home...

Stella Prize 2021 shortlist announced

Thursday, 25 March 2021
The shortlist for the 2021 Stella Prize, worth $50,000, has been announced. The six shortlisted books are: Fathoms: The world in the whale (Rebecca Giggs, Scribe) Revenge: Murder in Three Parts (S...

NSW Premier’s Literary Awards 2021 shortlists announced

Wednesday, 24 March 2021
The shortlists for the 2020 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards have been announced. The shortlisted titles in each category are: Christina Stead Prize for Fiction ($40,000) A Room Made of Leaves  (Kate...