Aurealis Award 2025 winners announced
Monday, 23 February 2026
The winners of the 2025 Aurealis Awards for science fiction, fantasy and horror writing have been announced at GenreCon in Brisbane. Winning titles in each category, chosen from shortlists announced...
Leavy wins 2026 Peter Porter Poetry Prize
Monday, 23 February 2026
Cheryl Leavy has won the 2026 Peter Porter Poetry Prize for her poem “Kumanjayi”. Presented by the Australian Book Review (ABR) and worth $6000, the prize honours the life and work...
Australian Poetry appoints Bufton as CEO and publisher
Monday, 23 February 2026
Australia’s peak poetry body, Australian Poetry, has appointed Melinda Bufton as its new CEO and publisher. Bufton is an experienced leader and poet, according to Australian Poetry. “She has worked...
HarperCollins acquires “Bondi Terror” by Markson and Ryvchin
Monday, 23 February 2026
HarperCollins Australia has acquired world rights to Bondi Terror: The Tragedy, the Courage, the Aftermath by Sharri Markson and Alex Ryvchin. “Bondi Terror reconstructs the massacre in real time, from...
A&U acquires “Being” by Menzies & Menzies
Monday, 23 February 2026
Allen & Unwin has acquired Australian, New Zealand, Oceania and non-exclusive Southeast Asia rights to Rachel E Menzies and Ross G Menzies’s Being: Why It’s Harder to be Human Than...
Australian Book Design Awards 2026 longlists announced
Friday, 20 February 2026
The Australian Book Designers Association (ABDA) has released the longlists for the 2026 Australian Book Design Awards. The longlisted titles in the first 3 categories, and the emerging designer category,...
Castro, Dunn on 2026 Asia Pacific Arts Awards shortlist
Thursday, 19 February 2026
Authors Brian Castro and Winnie Dunn have been shortlisted for the 2026 Asia Pacific Arts Awards. Castro is shortlisted for the Legacy award, which recognises “an individual or arts organisation that...
Wyld among authors longlisted for 2026 Dublin Literary Award
Thursday, 19 February 2026
Evie Wyld, winner of the 2014 Miles Franklin Award and the 2021 Stella Prize, is among the 20 authors whose novels have been longlisted for the 2026 Dublin Literary Award,...
PRH screen options Friday Barnes and Bookshop Detectives
Thursday, 19 February 2026
Penguin Random House Australia and New Zealand (PRH) has announced that the Friday Barnes series by RA Spratt and Bookshop Detectives series by Gareth Ward and Louise Ward have been...
International Literary Programmers Roundtable participants announced
Thursday, 19 February 2026
Melbourne City Council’s City of Literature Office has announced the participants in this year’s International Literary Programmers Roundtable, the fifth, held in partnership with Melbourne Writers Festival. In May this...
HarperCollins acquires Ferguson’s narrative nonfiction
Wednesday, 18 February 2026
HarperCollins has acquired ANZ rights to narrative nonfiction by Kirstin Ferguson in a multi-book deal brokered by Key People Creative Management. Ferguson has worked as an officer in the Royal...
Australia Post extends Indigenous Literacy Foundation partnership
Wednesday, 18 February 2026
Australia Post has extended its partnership with the Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF) for a further 3 years. The partnership has seen more than 600,000 books delivered to over 400 remote...
Text acquires Kernot’s “Night Swimming”
Wednesday, 18 February 2026
Text Publishing has acquired world rights to Night Swimming, a psychological thriller in verse by Sharon Kernot, in a deal brokered by Martin Shaw at Shaw Literary. According to the publisher,...
Fiction, wellness, biographies feature in Rakuten Kobo 2025 report
Tuesday, 17 February 2026
The 2025 Rakuten Kobo Book Report records a sharp rise in immersive fiction ebook and audio downloads in Australia, alongside sustained interest in wellness and biography-led nonfiction. Readers are “gravitating...
BookPeople pivots back to ABA
Tuesday, 17 February 2026
BookPeople will revert to its previous branding as the Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) for its industry-facing work. CEO Susannah Bowen said, “We are pivoting back to the name Australian Booksellers...
CBCA announces 2026 book week theme
Tuesday, 17 February 2026
The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) has announced the theme of “Symphony of Stories” for this year’s Children’s Book Week, running 22 to 28 August. Author and illustrator Briony...
Arasu wins inaugural travel fund
Monday, 16 February 2026
Poet Prema Arasu has been announced as the inaugural winner of the Forrest Research Foundation and Fremantle Press travel fund for Western Australian writers to promote their work outside of...
“Tori Woods” found guilty
Monday, 16 February 2026
Author Lauren Ashley Mastrosa, who writes under the pen name Tori Woods, has been found guilty of possessing, disseminating and producing child abuse material, reported the Guardian. Mastrosa was charged over...
Hardie Grant appoints new board members
Monday, 16 February 2026
Hardie Grant has appointed Janey Martino and Shirley Chowdhary to its board. The publisher’s announcement noted that Martino has founded and scaled multiple companies across media, martech, and fintech in...
Hardie Grant acquires Niland’s “Saint Peter”
Monday, 16 February 2026
Hardie Grant Books has acquired world rights to Josh Niland’s Saint Peter: Chapter & Verse. According to the publisher, Saint Peter is “a definitive statement from one of Australia’s most original culinary...
Bonnier UK to cease new acquisitions for Echo
Friday, 13 February 2026
Bonnier Books UK has announced the company will cease new acquisitions for its Australian imprint, Echo Publishing, effective immediately. “For the past 5 years, Bonnier Books UK has invested in Echo...
Suwannakit’s “Higher Ground” on Carnegie Medal for Illustration longlist
Thursday, 12 February 2026
Tull Suwannakit’s picture book Higher Ground (New Frontier) has been longlisted for the 2026 Carnegie Medal for Illustration in the UK. Judges said, “Suwannakit’s scrapbook style used in Higher Ground portrays a...
Readings Best of the Best 2025
Thursday, 12 February 2026
Readings has shared its Best of the Best 2025, a list of books picked by staff and voted on by the public. The chosen titles are: Australian fiction Tenderfoot (Toni...
QUT to become new custodian of “Meanjin”
Thursday, 12 February 2026
Queensland University of Technology (QUT) will become the new custodian of literary journal Meanjin, bringing the publication back to Brisbane 80 years after it relocated to Melbourne. In September last year,...
Lucashenko’s “Edenglassie” on Walter Scott Prize longlist
Thursday, 12 February 2026
Melissa Lucashenko’s Edenglassie (UQP, 2023) has been longlisted for the 2026 Walter Scott Prize, worth £25,000 (A$47,807). Already the recipient of 8 prizes in Australia, Edenglassie tells the story of...
Local publishers on Bologna Prize shortlist
Wednesday, 11 February 2026
Local publishers have been shortlisted for the 2026 Bologna Prize for the Best Children’s Publishers of the Year. Publishers shortlisted in the Oceania category are: Affirm Press (Australia) Hardie Grant Children's...
Ruffino joins Keeperton as head of commercial strategy
Wednesday, 11 February 2026
Keeperton has appointed Dan Ruffino to the newly created role of head of commercial strategy. Ruffino has over 30 years in the publishing industry, with roles in sales, publicity, marketing and...
Hachette Australia announces “Belonging and Storytelling” event
Wednesday, 11 February 2026
Hachette Australia, Australian Publishers Association (APA), Media Diversity Australia (MDA) and Diversity Arts Australia (DARTS) have partnered to present “Belonging and Storytelling: Diversity in Publishing”. A dedicated space for First...
PRH acquires Hannan’s next novel
Wednesday, 11 February 2026
Penguin Random House Australia (PRH) has acquired Australian rights to I Love the Whole World! by Victoria Hannan, a novel about friendship, ageing and the extra/ordinary act of deciding to...
Griffiths announced as Australian Children’s Laureate
Wednesday, 11 February 2026
Andy Griffiths has been named the Australian Children’s Laureate for 2026 and 2027. Griffiths is author of over 30 books, including the JUST! series, the Treehouse series (both illus by...
