Tuesday, 24 July 2012
Margaret Mahy, renowned New Zealand author of books for children and young adults, has died.  Mahy won numerous awards including the New Zealand Order of Merit (1993), Arts Foundation Icon Award...

Tuesday, 24 July 2012
Pinerolo, the Children’s book cottage in Blackheath in the Blue Mountains, will receive Copyright Agency Ltd (CAL) funding for its four residencies for emerging and established illustrators of children’s books. Four...

Tuesday, 24 July 2012
Twenty eight-year-old finance golden boy and billionaire Eric Packer takes a long drive across town in a stretch limousine to get a haircut from his favourite barber. En route, in...

Tuesday, 24 July 2012
Sales Fiction—Curtis Brown has sold Burial Rites (Hannah Kent) to Picador in Australia, Picador in the UK and Little, Brown in the US; and foreign-language rights to France, Italy, Holland,...

Monday, 23 July 2012
As reported in a Bookseller+Publisher special bulletin, the winners of this year’s Prime Minister’s Literary Awards were announced on 23 July.  The winning titles are: Fiction Foal’s Bread (Gillian Mears,...

Wednesday, 18 July 2012
Anna Funder recently added the Miles Franklin Literary Award to a long list of awards for All That I Am (Hamish Hamilton) and the book has risen in the top 10 bestsellers chart,...

Wednesday, 18 July 2012
‘It is impossible to know what Amazon’s ebook or Kindle sales are in Australia but Australian publishers willing to talk report them having more than 80 per cent market share’—Readings’...

Wednesday, 18 July 2012
Canberra Times literary editor Gia Metherell and arts editor Diana Streak are reported to be ‘negotiating their futures’ at the newspaper after learning that their positions have been axed, reports...

Wednesday, 18 July 2012
BBC Worldwide has revealed a £16.1 million (approximately A$24.5 million) write down of Lonely Planet in its 2011-2012 annual report. It is the second time the British company has written...

Wednesday, 18 July 2012
The New Zealand Book Council has announced that CEO Noel Murphy will finish in his position in October. The council said in a statement that Murphy has decided to leave...

Tuesday, 17 July 2012
Sales Children’s/YA—Scholastic Australia has licensed Portuguese-language rights within Brazil for Thirteen (James Phelan); and US rights to Forever (Anna Pignataro). Acquistions Fiction—Little, Brown has acquired North American rights to Burial...

Monday, 16 July 2012
Stephen Covey, the self-help author who wrote The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, has died aged 79.

Wednesday, 11 July 2012
Random House Australia and New Zealand has announced that managing director Margie Seale will step down from her role in November. Random House said in a statement that Seale, who...

Wednesday, 11 July 2012
Anna Hodge, senior editor at Auckland University Press in New Zealand, is among the successful applicants for this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair Fellowship Program. Also chosen from the more than...

Wednesday, 11 July 2012
‘They’re recommending the literary equivalent of foie gras to people who are starving for steak and potatoes with a dash of spice’—Kat Mayo, in a blog post criticising the various...

Wednesday, 11 July 2012
Bereft, by Australian author Chris Womersley (Scribe), is among the titles longlisted in this year’s Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Dagger awards. Bereft has been longlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger,...

Wednesday, 11 July 2012
Book industry events over the coming fortnight include: Whitsunday Voices Youth Literature Festival, Mackay, QLD: 11-14 July. Yarragon Book Fair, Yarragon, VIC: 14-15 July. Mildura Writers’ Festival, Mildura, VIC: 19-22 July. Melbourne Rare...

Tuesday, 10 July 2012
Jane O’Hara, the outgoing CEO and festival director of the Brisbane Writers Festival, has been awarded a Churchill Fellowship. O’Hara was among 115 Australians awarded the 2012 Churchill Fellowships for research...