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Steinem to headline SWF

Tuesday, 8 March 2016
Writer, activist and feminist Gloria Steinem will be one of the headline guests at this year’s Sydney Writers’ Festival (SWF). Appearing at an event at the Sydney Town Hall on...

New Zealand Book Awards 2016 shortlists announced

Tuesday, 8 March 2016
The shortlists for the New Zealand Book Awards have been announced. The shortlists in each category are: Fiction The Back of His Head (Patrick Evans, Victoria University Press) Chappy (Patricia...

‘SRB’ to offer Emerging Critics Fellowships

Tuesday, 8 March 2016
The Sydney Review of Books (SRB) is offering three fellowships to emerging Australian critics. The inaugural CA-SRB Emerging Critics Fellowships, which are supported by the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund, will...

Giovannoni wins inaugural Deborah Cass Prize

Monday, 7 March 2016
Moreno Giovannoni has won Writers Victoria’s inaugural Deborah Cass Prize for emerging writers from migrant backgrounds for his manuscript extract ‘Tales from San Ginese’. Giovannoni’s work was chosen from a...

‘Overland’ Poetry Prize 2015 winners announced

Monday, 7 March 2016
Ella O’Keefe has won the 2015 Overland Judith Wright Poetry Prize for new and emerging poets, worth $6000, for her poem ‘alkaway’. The first runner-up was Omar Sakr’s ‘Not so wild’...

Staff changes at Pages & Pages

Monday, 7 March 2016
Sydney independent bookseller Pages & Pages has announced a number of staff changes. Co-owner Kate Page has returned to the business as co-general manager and co-buyer, focussing on children’s books....

‘The Book Club’ moves to weekly timeslot

Friday, 4 March 2016
ABC TV’s The Book Club will return in May as a weekly show screening over 13 weeks at 10pm on Tuesday evenings. The show, now in its 10th year, will...

Black Inc. announces 2016 ‘Best Australian’ editors

Friday, 4 March 2016
Black Inc. has announced the editors for this year’s ‘Best Australian’ anthologies. Geordie Williamson will return as editor of The Best Australian Essays 2016. He will be joined by Charlotte...

HarperCollins acquires Jimmy Barnes autobiography

Thursday, 3 March 2016
HarperCollins has acquired world rights to Cold Chisel frontman Jimmy Barnes’ autobiography in a two-book deal. The two volumes of Barnes’ autobiography will span the singer’s childhood and career and...

Craig resigns as Picador publisher 

Wednesday, 2 March 2016
Alex Craig has resigned from Pan Macmillan after 12 years with the company, including the past five years as publisher of its Picador imprint. Craig will pursue her own creative...

Macdonald to leave HarperCollins NZ

Wednesday, 2 March 2016
HarperCollins New Zealand publisher Finlay Macdonald will leave the company in early April for a role outside of publishing. Macdonald, who previously worked as a journalist and editor, was appointed...

Garner wins $210k Windham-Campbell Prize

Tuesday, 1 March 2016
Helen Garner is one of nine winners of the Windham-Campbell Prizes, a US-based award that recognises English-language writers who ‘have left their mark on the world of literature or theatre’...

Readings to open two new stores 

Tuesday, 1 March 2016
Independent Melbourne bookseller Readings will open two new bookstores: a children’s and YA bookstore next door to its Lygon Street store in Carlton, and a store in the Westfield Doncaster...

Malouf wins OzCo Lifetime Achievement in Literature Award

Tuesday, 1 March 2016
David Malouf has won the 2016 Australia Council Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature. The award, formerly known as the Writers’ Emeritus Award, recognises ‘the achievements of eminent literary writers...

Australian, NZ publishers nominated for Bologna Prize

Monday, 29 February 2016
Australian publishers Wilkins Farago and Berbay Publishing and New Zealand publisher Book Island have been nominated in the Oceania region for the Bologna Prize for Best Children’s Publishers of the...

OzCo VIP guests announced for 2016 SWF

Friday, 26 February 2016
The Australia Council for the Arts has announced the guests attending the 2016 Visiting International Publishers (VIP) Program, to be held during the Sydney Writers’ Festival in May. The guests...

Stella Prize to examine diversity in reviews

Thursday, 25 February 2016
The Stella Prize is expanding its annual Stella Count to include a Diversity Survey to examine review coverage of authors from various backgrounds, especially marginalised groups. The Diversity Survey will...

Attendance up at PWF; Szubanski tops bestsellers 

Wednesday, 24 February 2016
Attendance was up again at this year’s Perth Writers Festival, with 47,000 attending the four-day event compared to 44,000 last year. Magda Szubanski’s two sold-out events were among the highlights...

Peter Porter Poetry Prize 2016 shortlist announced

Wednesday, 24 February 2016
The shortlist for the Australian Book Review (ABR) Peter Porter Poetry Prize has been announced. The shortlisted poems are: ‘...a passing shower?’ (Dan Disney) ‘Prelude to a Voice’ (Anne Elvey)...

Speakers announced for ABA, LEB conferences

Wednesday, 24 February 2016
The Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) and Leading Edge Books (LEB) have announced the keynote speakers for their 2016 conferences, which will be held in Canberra in May. US bookseller and...

Norma K Hemming Award 2016 shortlist announced

Wednesday, 24 February 2016
The shortlist for the 2016 Norma K Hemming Award has been announced. The award is presented by the Australian Science Fiction Foundation for a work of speculative fiction published in...

Lee awarded inaugural Kat Muscat Fellowship

Tuesday, 23 February 2016
Brisbane-based writer Bri Lee has been awarded the inaugural Kat Muscat Fellowship, which was set up by Express Media in honour of former Voiceworks editor Kat Muscat. Lee, a 25-year-old...