Local news | Books+Publishing

HEDS hires 20 new warehouse staff to address delays

Thursday, 29 November 2018
Australian booksellers have been experiencing slower than usual order turnaround times from HarperCollins Entertainment Distribution Services (HEDS), as the Christmas retailing period gets underway. In an email dated 27 November,...

Copyright Agency awards record $240,000 in fellowships

Thursday, 29 November 2018
The Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund has awarded a total of $240,000 for three fellowships. Melbourne writer Jeff Sparrow was awarded the $80,000 author fellowship for his project 'Thinking Differently: Other...

The Next Chapter mentors announced

Thursday, 29 November 2018
The recipients of the 2018 Next Chapter grants for developing writers, each worth $15,000, have been matched with their mentors, who will work with them over 12 months to help...

Pasifika dual-language resources win NZ award

Wednesday, 28 November 2018
In New Zealand, a series of books published by the Ministry of Education (MoE) to help Pasifika children with literacy has won the Pacific Service Excellence Award, as part of...

Berbay acquires middle-grade series by Louise Park

Wednesday, 28 November 2018
Berbay Publishing has acquired world rights to a three-book middle-grade fiction series by Australian children's author Louise Park. The first book in the series, titled Grace's Castle, is a fast-paced time-slip adventure...

Scribe acquires Louise Omer memoir ‘Holy Woman’

Wednesday, 28 November 2018
Scribe has acquired world rights to a memoir about 'faith, feminist spirituality, and a search for meaning' by writer and critic Louise Omer, via Jane Novak of Jane Novak Literary...

Sisters in Crime Scarlet Stiletto Awards 2018 winners announced

Tuesday, 27 November 2018
The winners of the 2018 Scarlet Stiletto Awards, presented by Sisters in Crime, have been announced. Melbourne writer Philomena Horsley, a medical anthropologist who specialises in autopsies, won the $1500...

Serong wins inaugural Staunch Book Prize

Tuesday, 27 November 2018
Australian author Jock Serong has won the inaugural Staunch Book Prize for his novel On the Java Ridge (Text). The UK-based prize aims to 'make space for an alternative to...

Publishers, authors welcome NZ Copyright Act review

Tuesday, 27 November 2018
The New Zealand government’s Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment has released an issues paper on the review of the Copyright Act, which has been welcomed by both the Publishers...

Horne Prize 2018 shortlist announced

Monday, 26 November 2018
The Saturday Paper and skin care company Aesop have announced the shortlist for the $15,000 Horne Prize for narrative nonfiction. The shortlisted writers are: Melanie Cheng for 'All the Other Stories', on...

Collins Booksellers opens in Thirroul, NSW

Friday, 23 November 2018
Collins Booksellers has opened a store in the town of Thirroul in New South Wales. Located 70km south of Sydney, Collins Thirroul is the only bookstore in the Northern Illawarra...

Pitt wins 2018 Walkley Book Award for ‘The House’

Friday, 23 November 2018
Journalist and author Helen Pitt has won the 2018 Walkley Book Award for The House (A&U). Chosen from a shortlist of three, Pitt's book explores the history of the Sydney Opera...

‘Living in Hope’ wins 2018 Most Underrated Book Award

Friday, 23 November 2018
A memoir by a member of the Stolen Generations, Living in Hope (Frank Byrne with Gerard Waterford & Francis Coughlan, Ptilotus Press), has won the Small Press Network’s (SPN) Most Underrated Book...

‘The Dead Still Cry Out’ wins Nib Literary Award

Thursday, 22 November 2018
Helen Lewis' The Dead Still Cry Out (Text) has won the Waverley Council’s Mark and Evette Moran Nib Literary Award for 2018. The book tells the true story of Lewis’...

Amazon unblocks Oz shoppers from US store

Thursday, 22 November 2018
Australian consumers are now able to purchase and ship items from Amazon’s international website, according to a statement from Amazon. The retailer suspended shipping to Australian addresses from its international website...

Book-to-screen projects receive Screen Australian funding

Thursday, 22 November 2018
Two book-to-film adaptations feature among the projects receiving story development funding from Screen Australia. The projects, and their producers, are: A feature film adaptation of Finding Sanity: John Cade, Lithium and...

‘The Women in Black’ sells in multiple territories after translation rights made available after 12 years

Wednesday, 21 November 2018
Text Publishing has sold rights in multiple territories to Madeleine St John’s The Women in Black, alongside several other books by St John, after translation rights were made available for...

Riwoe sells third Heloise Chancey novel to UK’s Legend Press

Wednesday, 21 November 2018
Brisbane-based author Mirandi Riwoe has sold world rights to her historical crime fiction novel The Death of Me to UK publisher Legend Press. Rights were acquired by Legend commissioning editor Lauren...

‘Overland’ Fair Australia Prize 2018 winners announced

Wednesday, 21 November 2018
Literary journal Overland has announced the winners for this year’s Fair Australia Prize. The Fair Australia Prize asks writers and artists to engage with the topics ‘What does unionism mean...

Pascoe receives Person of the Year honour at 2018 National Dreamtime Awards

Wednesday, 21 November 2018
Bunurong and Yuin writer Bruce Pascoe has won the Person of the Year award at the 2018 National Dreamtime Awards. The Dreamtime Person of the Year is awarded to an...

Australian, NZ authors on 2019 Dublin Literary Award longlist

Wednesday, 21 November 2018
Fourteen books by Australian authors and six by New Zealand authors have been nominated for the 2019 International Dublin Literary Award. Longlisted books by Australian authors are: A Long Way...

Dymocks opens new store in Melbourne; regional WA store to close

Wednesday, 21 November 2018
Chain retailer Dymocks has opened a new store at Highpoint Shopping Centre, in Melbourne's inner west. The Highpoint store is the first Dymocks to open in a new location in...

Blake among 2019 Zev Birger Editorial Fellows to attend Jerusalem International Book Forum

Tuesday, 20 November 2018
Penguin Random House (PRH) publisher Cate Blake has been announced as one of 34 recipients of the Zev Birger Editorial Fellowship, a week-long professional seminar that focuses on ‘significant issues...

Tim’s Bookshop Canterbury to close

Tuesday, 20 November 2018
The Canterbury branch of family-owned independent bookstore Tim’s Bookshop, in Melbourne's eastern suburbs, will close in January 2019. Owner Tim Warmington told Books+Publishing: ‘It’s the usual story of ever-increasing costs...