Wednesday, 12 June 2013
Scottish author Iain Banks has died, aged 59. Banks’ novels include The Wasp Factory, The Crow Road, Complicity, The Steep Approach to Garbadale, Transition and Stonemouth (all Abacus). His science-fiction...

Tuesday, 11 June 2013
Theodore Boone: The Activist by John Grisham (Hachette) is the fourth instalment in the children’s book series featuring 13-year-old legal whiz kid Theodore Boone. It’s on top of this week’s highest new entries chart....

Tuesday, 11 June 2013
Penguin Australia publisher Bob Sessions, literary agent Robin Dalton, bookseller Jacqueline Cookes and authors Jill Conway and Hazel Edwards were among those recognised in this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours. Sessions was...

Tuesday, 11 June 2013
Australian author and journalist Steve Lillebuen has been named a winner in the 2013 Arthur Ellis Awards, presented by the Crime Writers of Canada. Lillebuen, who divides his time between Melbourne and...

Friday, 7 June 2013
The introduction of a broad ‘fair use’ copyright provision and the replacement of statutory licenses with a voluntary licensing model are among the key changes to Australia’s copyright regime proposed...

Thursday, 6 June 2013
The winners of the Wilderness Society’s 2013 Environment Award for Children’s Literature were announced at Readings Carlton on World Environment Day on 5 June. The winners in each category are: Primary: Tanglewood (Margaret...

Wednesday, 5 June 2013
Jenny Halford was named Penguin Sales Representative of the Year at this year’s Penguin sales conference, which was held in Lorne, Victoria, at the end of May. Halford has worked...

Wednesday, 5 June 2013
A new Tasmanian literary festival, the Beaconsfield Festival of Golden Words, will be held for the first time in March 2014. The annual festival, which will be based in the northern Tasmanian...

Wednesday, 5 June 2013
‘If you categorise books as for boys or for girls, the message is that boys don’t need to be concerned about the female experience. And vice versa’—US author Libba Bray...

Wednesday, 5 June 2013
The 2013 Emerging Writers’ Festival (EWF) attracted a larger audience and higher box office sales than last year’s festival, according to festival director Sam Twyford-Moore. The festival, which was the first...

Wednesday, 5 June 2013
Designer Suburbs: Architects and Affordable Homes in Australia by Judith O’Callaghan and Charles Pickett (NewSouth) has won the Education, Interpretation and Community Engagement category of this year’s New South Wales National Trust Heritage...

Tuesday, 4 June 2013
Simon & Schuster Australia has announced that Kirsty Ward has been appointed to the newly created position of head of consumer and market insights. Ward, who has already started in the...

Tuesday, 4 June 2013
Please note that, due to the Queen’s Birthday public holiday on Monday (occuring in all states except Western Australia), the Weekly Book Newsletter will be published on Thursday 13 June.  The deadline for classifieds...

Tuesday, 4 June 2013
Sales Nonfiction—Rockpool Publishing has licensed Danish and Norwegian rights to Angel Whispers (Debbie Malone); Spanish rights to 7 Things Your Doctor Forgot to Tell You; US rights to Natural Remedies...

Tuesday, 4 June 2013
Radio presenter, producer, author and editor Jill Kitson has died. On the ABC’s Radio National, Kitson produced and presented book shows including First Edition and Book Talk, as well as Lingua Franca...

Monday, 3 June 2013
The winners of the 2013 Commonwealth Book Prize and the Commonwealth Short Story Prize were announced in the UK on 31 May. UK author Lisa O’Donnell has won the £10,000...

Monday, 3 June 2013
Khaled Hosseini’s third novel And the Mountains Echoed (Bloomsbury) is at the top of the highest new entries chart this week and second on the bestseller charts. Hosseini tells a...