Local news | Books+Publishing

Magabala Books acquires van Neerven’s middle-grade novel

Thursday, 16 October 2025
Magabala Books has acquired world rights to Ruby’s Web, a middle-grade novel by Ellen van Neerven. Beginning year 7, Ruby finds herself facing online bullying every day. Even her former...

A&U acquires Legge’s memoir

Thursday, 16 October 2025
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired world English rights to Delicious, a memoir “celebrating food and friendship” by author and journalist Kate Legge. According to the publisher, Delicious: Stories of Cooking, Love...

Murray awarded 2025 ASA Medal

Wednesday, 15 October 2025
The Australian Society of Authors (ASA) has announced Kirsty Murray is the recipient of the 2025 ASA Medal. The ASA board noted Murray’s contribution to young people’s literature, including “her...

Bowen named incoming BookPeople CEO

Wednesday, 15 October 2025
BookPeople, the Australian booksellers association, has announced Susannah Bowen as incoming CEO, starting “in the coming weeks”. Bowen takes over from current CEO Robbie Egan, who began the role in...

Australian library visits surge

Wednesday, 15 October 2025
Australians are turning to their local libraries in record numbers, according to a new industry report. The Australian Public Libraries Statistical Report 2023–2024, released this week by the National and State...

O’Malley wins 2025 CLNZ/NZSA Writers’ Award

Wednesday, 15 October 2025
Vincent O’Malley has won the 2025 Copyright Licensing New Zealand (CLNZ) and the New Zealand Society of Authors (NZSA) Te Puni Kaituhi O Aotearoa (PEN NZ Inc) Writers’ Award, worth...

Tse named 2025 Malouf poet-in-residence

Wednesday, 15 October 2025
Aotearoa New Zealand poet and editor Chris Tse has been named the 2025 Arts Queensland Malouf poet-in-residence. Based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington), Tse was Aotearoa New Zealand’s Poet Laureate from...

‘17 Years Later’ to be adapted for TV

Wednesday, 15 October 2025
Bruna Papandera and Made Up Stories have acquired television rights to JP Pomare’s novel 17 Years Later (Hachette, 2024). The adaptation will be directed and executive-produced by John Polson (Elementary),...

Voss Literary Prize 2025 longlist announced

Wednesday, 15 October 2025
The longlist for the 2025 Voss Literary Prize, awarded to the best novel published in Australia in the previous year, has been announced. The longlisted titles are: The Burrow (Melanie...

Transit Lounge acquires Hawthorn’s next novel

Wednesday, 15 October 2025
Transit Lounge has acquired world rights to High Land, a novel by Sarah Hawthorn, via Sally Bird at Calidris Literary Agency. According to the publisher, High Land follows Annie, who...

Scribe acquires Woollett nonfiction debut

Wednesday, 15 October 2025
Scribe has acquired world rights to Hell Days, Laura Elizabeth Woollett’s nonfiction debut. Blending memoir, true crime, medical research, interviews, and cultural analysis, Hell Days investigates premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), a hormonal...

Riveted Press acquires Hargreaves’s middle-grade fantasy trilogy

Tuesday, 14 October 2025
Riveted Press has acquired world rights to middle-grade fantasy trilogy The Sterling Brothers by debut author Cody Hargreaves. The first instalment, The Ostrich Dilemma, features estranged twin brothers who must overcome their lifelong...

Wilderness Society announces Karajia, environment award winners

Tuesday, 14 October 2025
The Wilderness Society has announced the winners for the 2025 Environment Award for Children’s Literature and Karajia Award for Children’s Literature. Chosen from shortlists announced in June, the winners are:...

PRH acquires Timms’s debut crime novel

Tuesday, 14 October 2025
Penguin Random House Australia (PRH) has acquired ANZ rights to The Lineup, a crime fiction debut by Nicholas Timms. PRH commercial fiction publisher Beverley Cousins acquired the novel via Daniel...

Bragg science writing prize shortlist announced

Tuesday, 14 October 2025
The shortlist for this year’s UNSW Press Bragg Prize for Science Writing has been announced. Shortlisted pieces are: “The Unexpected Poetry of PhD Acknowledgements” by Tabitha Carvan “The Night I...

Chidgey named Aotearoa New Zealand public’s favourite woman writer

Monday, 13 October 2025
Waikato author Catherine Chidgey (The Book of Guilt, Penguin, 2025) has taken out the number-one spot in The Women’s Bookshop's Top 50 Women Writers of the Last 50 Years survey....

Barnes wins inaugural Bundyi Writing Prize

Monday, 13 October 2025
Bundyi Publishing has announced Shannon Barnes as the winner of the inaugural Bundyi Writing Prize for her mixed-genre novel Strangelands. Barnes wins a $10,000 cash prize, manuscript development, and a...

Affirm acquires Lewis’s debut nonfiction

Monday, 13 October 2025
Affirm Press has acquired world rights to I’m Not Mad (Anymore), a debut piece of nonfiction from Bron Lewis, in a deal brokered by Bec Sutherland of Jubilee St Management....

Melbourne Books acquires Buckrich history

Monday, 13 October 2025
Melbourne Books has acquired world rights to Fitzroy North: People, Place, Protest by Judith Buckrich. “[Beginning with] the local Aboriginal communities prior to European colonisation, Fitzroy North: People, Place and Protest reveals...

Cleary wins A&U NZ Fiction Prize

Thursday, 9 October 2025
Allen & Unwin Aotearoa New Zealand (A&U NZ) has announced Tauranga writer Anne Cleary as the winner of the 2025 Fiction Prize for her entry Apple Man. According to the...

Gillard to judge Women’s Prize for Fiction

Thursday, 9 October 2025
In the UK, the Women’s Prize Trust has announced former prime minister of Australia Julia Gillard will chair the 2026 Women’s Prize for Fiction judging panel. Gillard will be joined...

Bakers Lane Books acquires McLean’s nonfiction

Thursday, 9 October 2025
Bakers Lane Books has acquired world rights to The Town Like No Other by Robert McLean. The Town Like No Other tells the story of Broken Hill, a ‘world-class mining centre that...

Windeyer awarded 2025 Writing NSW Varuna Fellowship

Wednesday, 8 October 2025
Writing NSW has announced Kirsty Windeyer as the winner of its 2025 Varuna fellowship for her novel manuscript ‘You Fix It’. Judges praised Windeyer's work for its ‘compelling synopsis, gripping...

A&U acquires Bailey’s sixth novel

Wednesday, 8 October 2025
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired world rights to Click, the sixth novel from Sarah Bailey, in a deal brokered by Lyn Tranter at Australian Literary Management. ‘Click is a taut...

Nature Writing Prize shortlist revealed

Wednesday, 8 October 2025
Literary journal Island has announced the shortlist for the 2025 Nature Writing Prize. Shortlisted writers and their pieces are: Frankey Chung-Kok-Lun for ‘Menura Novahollandiae’ Rosalee Kiely for ‘Habitat’ Bridget Webster for ‘Like...