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Sydney Writers Festival 2015 program launched

Friday, 27 March 2015
The 2015 Sydney Writers’ Festival (SWF) program has been launched and is now available on the website.Forty-five international authors will attend this year’s festival, which will be held from 18-24 May,...

‘The Bush’ wins Indie Book of the Year 2015

Thursday, 26 March 2015
The Bush by Don Watson (Hamish Hamilton) has been named Indie Book of the Year at the 2015 Indie Awards, presented by Leading Edge Books in Sydney on 25 March.Watson also won...

NLA announces new fellowships

Thursday, 26 March 2015
The National Library of Australia (NLA) has announced a new program of fellowships funded by more than $500,000 in private donations, reports PSnewsonline.The program is divided into four categories: National...

Black Inc. announces ‘Best Australian’ editors

Thursday, 26 March 2015
Black Inc. has announced the editors for this year’s ‘Best Australian’ series of anthologies.Amanda Lohrey and Geoff Page return as editors of The Best Australian Stories 2015 and The Best Australian Poems 2015 respectively....

Carroll to present Miles Franklin Award Oration

Thursday, 26 March 2015
Author Steven Carroll will present the Miles Franklin Literary Award Oration at the State Library of Victoria on 18 May.As previously reported by Books+Publishing, the Australian Bookseller’s Association (ABA) will...

Adsett takes over management of Book Harvest Literary Agency 

Thursday, 26 March 2015
Brisbane-based literary agency Alex Adsett Publishing Services (AAPS) has taken over management of Ineke Prochazka’s Book Harvest Literary Agency (BHLA).  Prochazka will continue to manage BHLA’s existing authors and subsidiary rights, but will...

Second My Bookshop to open in Melbourne 

Wednesday, 25 March 2015
Bookseller Corrie Perkin will open a second My Bookshop store in the Melbourne suburb of Toorak in April.Perkin opened the first store in the nearby suburb of Hawksburn in 2009....

Rights round-up 

Wednesday, 25 March 2015
SalesFiction—Jenny Darling & Associates has sold the following rights to The Dressmaker (Rosalie Ham): US rights to Penguin; UK rights to Serpent’s Tail; world English-language audio rights to Bolinda; Czech...

Quote of the week

Wednesday, 25 March 2015
‘It seems that in cities like Sydney and Melbourne, wherever a bookshop closes, another opens. However, could it be that in the ACT bookshops will only end up existing in...

LIANZA Children’s Book Awards 2015 finalists announced

Wednesday, 25 March 2015
The finalists in the 2015 Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa (LIANZA) Children’s Book Awards have been announced.The shortlisted titles are: Russell Clark Illustration Award Marmaduke Duck on the Wide...

SA retail workers union makes deal to cut penalty rates

Tuesday, 24 March 2015
In South Australia, the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association (SDA) union and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Business SA have struck a deal to abolish some penalty rates...

New NZ publisher to focus on debut minority authors 

Tuesday, 24 March 2015
A new publisher specialising in titles by debut minority authors has launched in New Zealand.Connect the Dots Press founder and managing editor Catarina Gutierrez told Books+Publishing that she started the small...

‘The Hoopla’ closes citing competitive online market

Tuesday, 24 March 2015
Online women’s magazine the Hoopla has announced it is to close, citing an increasingly competitive online market as the cause. The Hoopla was launched in 2011 by Wendy Harmer and Jane Waterhouse,...

Electric Shadows bookstore to close

Tuesday, 24 March 2015
Canberra independent bookstore Electric Shadows will close before June as the store’s building has been sold for redevelopment and will be demolished.The store first opened in 1987 under owner Andrew Pike and named after the...

New award, rebranding for Tasmanian Literary Prizes

Tuesday, 24 March 2015
The biennial Tasmanian Literary Prizes have been rebranded as the Premier’s Literary Prizes and expanded to include an award for young Tasmanian writers.The Young Writer’s Prize, worth $5000, is open...

Bestsellers this week

Monday, 23 March 2015
Easter-themed children’s books have taken over this week’s fastest movers chart, with Peppa Pig: Peppa’s Easter Egg Hunt (Ladybird Books) sitting in top spot. Also in the fastest movers chart...

Readings Children’s Book Prize 2015 shortlist announced

Monday, 23 March 2015
Independent Melbourne bookseller Readings has announced the shortlist for its 2015 Readings Children’s Book Prize.The shortlisted titles are: Rivertime (Trace Balla, A&U) The Mapmakers Chronicles: Race to the End of...

Canongate acquires rights to Nick Cave title

Monday, 23 March 2015
Canongate has acquired the rights to a new book by musician Nick Cave The Sick Bag Song will be published on 8 April and will be sold online-only from a dedicated...

Roberts to retire as SLV CEO and state librarian

Thursday, 19 March 2015
The State Library of Victoria (SLV) has announced that Sue Roberts will retire from her role as CEO and state librarian.Roberts will step down from the position in mid-April but...

‘Owls Do Cry’ voted Great Kiwi Classic

Thursday, 19 March 2015
Janet Frame’s 1957 debut novel Owls Do Cry has topped the second annual Great Kiwi Classic poll run by the New Zealand Book Council and Auckland Writers Festival. The initiative, first...

Inky Awards 2015 longlists announced

Thursday, 19 March 2015
The longlists for the 2015 Inky Awards have been announced. The awards are presented by the Centre for Youth Literature at the State Library of Victoria for local and international...

Tan shortlisted for 2015 Kate Greenaway medal

Wednesday, 18 March 2015
Shaun Tan’s Rules of Summer (Lothian) is one of eight titles shortlisted for this year’s Kate Greenaway Medal for distinguished illustration in children’s books.The shortlists for the Kate Greenaway Medal...

Murakami to headline 2015 Auckland Writers Festival

Wednesday, 18 March 2015
Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami will headline the 2015 Auckland Writers Festival, featuring in just one session on 16 May at the Aotea Centre.Joining Murakami will be more than 150 authors in...

Booksellers NZ conference program released

Wednesday, 18 March 2015
The theme of this year’s Booksellers NZ Conference is ‘Changing Hearts and Minds: Future Proofing Your Business’, to be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Auckland on 21 June.Confirmed sessions...

Rights round-up 

Wednesday, 18 March 2015
SalesFiction—HarperCollins has sold North American volume rights to The Fallen, By Any Means and Only the Dead (all Ben Sanders). Lacuna Publishing has sold Indian rights to The Last Candles...

Quote of the week

Wednesday, 18 March 2015
‘With interest rates low, a weak Australian dollar and a waning interest in e-reading, conditions are perfect for bookstores to reclaim the ground lost since the GFC’—Robinson Bookshop chain co-owner...

Robinsons Bookshop to open new store in May 

Tuesday, 17 March 2015
Independent bookselling chain Robinsons Bookshop will open a new store at Northland Shopping Centre in Melbourne in mid-May. Co-owner Susanne Horman told Books+Publishing that the store will be fitted out ‘to...