Local news | Books+Publishing

HarperCollins acquires new Holly Ringland novels in six-figure deal

Wednesday, 4 March 2020
HarperCollins Australia has acquired ANZ rights to two new novels by Holly Ringland in a six-figure deal, via Benython Oldfield at Zeitgeist Agency. The first book in Ringland’s new deal,...

Book industry figures create climate action group

Tuesday, 3 March 2020
Writer Sophie Cunningham, children's author Lorna Hendry and Berbay sales and marketing manager Kirsty Wilson have founded an industry action group to address climate change. The Book Industry for Climate...

Giramondo, Fitzcarraldo, New Directions establish award for lit fic

Tuesday, 3 March 2020
Giramondo Publishing has partnered with Fitzcarraldo Editions in the UK and New Directions in the US on a new award for literary fiction. Awarded biennially, the Novel Prize will be...

New $30,000 historical fiction prize

Tuesday, 3 March 2020
The Historical Novel Society Australasia (HNSA) and infrastructure and facilities service provider ARA Group have announced a new $30,000 award for an outstanding historical novelist. The award is open to...

ABIA 2020 longlists announced

Monday, 2 March 2020
The longlists for the 2020 Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIAs) have been announced. The titles in each category are: General fiction book of the year Bruny (Heather Rose, A&U) Call...

Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature winners announced

Monday, 2 March 2020
The winners of the 2020 Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature, presented biennially by the South Australian government, have been announced. The winning titles are: Premier’s Award for best overall published...

Clunes Booktown Festival 2020 program announced

Monday, 2 March 2020
The program has been announced for this year’s Clunes Booktown Festival, to be held from 2–3 May. Over 30 authors will appear at the festival, including Andy Griffiths, Garry Disher,...

Around 15,000 attend Perth Festival’s Literature & Ideas Weekend; Hill tops bestsellers

Monday, 2 March 2020
Around 15,000 people attended Perth Festival’s Literature & Ideas Weekend, which ran from 21–23 February. Perth Festival producer Anna Kosky said the audience was receptive to the new three-day format....

Lightning Source to remove books from catalogue for ‘content integrity’

Friday, 28 February 2020
Ingram’s print-on-demand service Lightning Source will remove from its catalogue print content that ‘does harm’ to buyers’ and affects the reputations of its retail and publishing partners. In a notice...

Azar longlisted for International Booker Prize 2020

Friday, 28 February 2020
Iranian-Australian writer Shokoofeh Azar has been longlisted for the 2020 International Booker Prize for her novel The Englightenment of the Greengage Tree (trans by Anonymous, Wild Dingo Press). Azar is...

BookUp announces first keynotes

Friday, 28 February 2020
The Australian Publishers Association has announced the first keynote speakers for its inaugural book industry conference BookUp. Demographer Claire Madden will present ‘Generational change: where is Australia going?’, a look...

UQP acquires Next Chapter fellow Thompson’s short story collection

Friday, 28 February 2020
The University of Queensland Press (UQP) has acquired world rights to Adam Thompson’s debut short story collection Born into this. Set in Tasmania, Thompson's stories deal with Aboriginal identity and...

Affirm acquires picture book by Godwin, Lester

Thursday, 27 February 2020
Affirm Press has acquired the rights to Sing me the Summer, a picture book written by publisher and author Jane Godwin and illustrated by Alison Lester. The book, which ‘celebrates...

Booktopia appoints Rowe national sales manager

Thursday, 27 February 2020
Booktopia has appointed Michelle Rowe in the newly created role of national sales manager. Rowe was previously the state manager for Western Australia and South Australia at the University Co-operative...

Godfrey awarded 2020 Kat Muscat Fellowship

Thursday, 27 February 2020
Perth-based writer Maddie Godfrey has been awarded the 2020 Kat Muscat Fellowship. Godfrey plans to use the fellowship to develop a hybrid manuscript of poetry and personal essays called ‘Womanhood...

Overland announces Judith Wright Poetry Prize shortlist

Thursday, 27 February 2020
The shortlist for the 2019 Overland Judith Wright Poetry Prize for new and emerging poets has been announced. The nine shortlisted poems are: ‘Chinny chin chin’ (Grace Yee) ‘Eulogy for...

Affirm to publish speculative fiction anthology by diverse writers

Wednesday, 26 February 2020
Affirm Press will publish a speculative fiction anthology by writers from Indigenous and culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, as part of a partnership with Diversity Arts Australia and the Western...

TV adaptations of Cheng, Clarke books receive development funding

Wednesday, 26 February 2020
TV adaptions of Melanie Cheng's short story collection Australia Day (Text) and Maxine Beneba Clarke's Foreign Soil (Hachette) have received funding from Screen Australia in its latest development funding announcement. The...