Monday, 26 May 2014
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has confirmed that the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards (PMLAs) will continue to be Australia’s richest literary prizes. Abbott made the announcement at the Australian Book Industry Awards...

Friday, 23 May 2014
Karen Harrland has won the 2014 Finch Memoir Prize for her entry Spinifex Baby.The memoir tells the story of Harrland’s year in the Simpson Desert with her husband ‘coping with...

Friday, 23 May 2014
The Victorian Government Bookshop in Melbourne will close on 30 June after 28 years due to ‘insufficient demand’ for physical stock.The Victorian Department of State Development, Business and Innovation announced...

Friday, 23 May 2014
Auckland mayor Len Brown has announced a new writers’ grant worth NZ$10,000 (A$9266) per year, reports Scoop. Speaking at the Auckland Writers Festival on 15 May, Brown announced that he will ‘convene...

Friday, 23 May 2014
The 2014 Pascall Prize for critical writing has been awarded to literary critic and Sydney Review of Books founding editor James Ley.Ley was awarded the $15,000 prize, which was judged by last year’s winner...

Thursday, 22 May 2014
The inaugural Death in July festival for Australian women’s crime writing will be held at the Museum of Australian Democracy in Ballarat, Victoria, from 4 to 5 July. Running in...

Wednesday, 21 May 2014
Over 70 independent booksellers from across Australia attended this year’s Leading Edge Book conference, which was held in Melbourne from 16-18 May.‘New bookshop owners, fresh young enthusiasts and industry stalwarts...

Wednesday, 21 May 2014
West Australian game developer Stirfire Studios has optioned Marianne de Pierres’ ‘Peacemaker’ series (Angry Robot) for adaptation as an interactive game. The series, which launched in May with Peacemaker and continues in...

Wednesday, 21 May 2014
‘It’s our objective and I believe it’s also our duty to instil confidence in our industry and see our physical bookseller footprint maintained for many years to come’—Leading Edge Group...

Tuesday, 20 May 2014
The Auckland Writers Festival has reported a ‘45% increase in ticket sales compared to last year’ for the 2014 festival, which finished on Sunday evening.The five-day festival attracted 50,000 attendees....

Tuesday, 20 May 2014
Shane Maloney has ‘off-handedly outed himself’ as one of the pseudonymous reviewers on the Saturday Paper, reports the Wheeler Centre.In a blog post on his website, Maloney joked that the...

Tuesday, 20 May 2014
New Zealand writer C K Stead has won the inaugural Sarah Broom Poetry Prize. Stead was announced as the winner of the prize, which is worth NZ$12,000 (A$11,098), at the...

Tuesday, 20 May 2014
The Byron Bay Writers’ Festival has announced that Jeanette Winterson will deliver the keynote address at this year’s event.‘Winterson is travelling to Australia in August for a tour arranged in collaboration with...

Tuesday, 20 May 2014
Authors including Michelle de Kretser, Christos Tsiolkas and Anna Funder and other members of Australia’s literary community have written an open letter to the prime minister denouncing cuts to the...

Tuesday, 20 May 2014
Affirm Press has announced the winner of its inaugural Affirm Press Creative Writing Prize, presented in association with the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Arts.Suzanne Hermanoczki has won the prize...

Tuesday, 20 May 2014
The Melbourne Writers Festival has released its schools program for 2014. Among the guests at this year’s festival, which runs from 25 to 29 August, are Australian authors and illustrators...

Tuesday, 20 May 2014
SalesNonfiction—Black Inc. has sold Korean rights to The China Choice: Why America Should Share Power (Hugh White). Exisle Publishing has sold Lithuanian rights to Optimum Health the Paleo Way (Claire...

Monday, 19 May 2014
This year’s $10,000 Text Prize for Young Adult and Children’s Writing has been awarded to a memoir for the first time since the prize was launched six years ago. Text...

Monday, 19 May 2014
A number of awards were presented at this year’s Leading Edge Books conference in Melbourne on 17 May.Allen & Unwin was named Publisher of the Year for the fifth year...

Monday, 19 May 2014
The Sydney Writers’ Festival has announced the appointment of Peter Collins to the festival’s board of directors.Collins joins board directors Deena Shiff (chair), Lena Nahlous, Elizabeth Johnstone, Guy Hedley and...

Monday, 19 May 2014
Maeve Binchy’s Chestnut Street (Hachette) is in first spot on this week’s bestsellers chart for the second week in a row, ahead of Minecraft: The Official Construction Handbook:(4) (Egmont) in...

Monday, 19 May 2014
Entertainment One Licensing (eOne) is opening an office in Melbourne, Australia. The Bookseller reports that the consumer brand licence company is opening an Australian office to ‘capitalise on the popularity...

Monday, 19 May 2014
Good Reading has launched a new digital-only magazine for primary school aged children. Called PK Mag, the bimonthly publication aims to ‘provide students with an authentic place to submit their...