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Brown announced as new Magabala CEO 

A photograph of Dr Lilly Brown Wednesday, 20 September 2023
Magabala Books has announced that Gumbaynggirr educator, researcher and advocate Lilly Brown will be its next CEO. Brown—who has most recently held an executive director role at youth mental health...

Publishers attending Frankfurt 

Tuesday, 19 September 2023
The Australian Publishers Association (APA) has confirmed the publishers that will appear on the Australian Collective Stand at the Frankfurt Book Fair. The publishers to appear on the APA's stand...

Wright honoured for Lifetime Achievement in Literature

Photograph of Alexis Wright Monday, 18 September 2023
Alexis Wright has won the Creative Australia Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature, which ‘acknowledges the achievements of eminent literary writers over the age of 60 who have made an...

Ultimo acquires Goode debut novel

Monday, 18 September 2023
Ultimo Press has acquired world rights to Melissa Goode’s debut novel Ordinary Human Love. Ordinary Human Love follows Mardi McKee, prodigal daughter, who returns to her father’s home in Lithgow...

Ultimo acquires new Snoekstra novel 

Friday, 15 September 2023
Ultimo Press has acquired ANZ rights to The Ones We Love by Anna Snoekstra, after rights were pre-empted in the US and the UK by Dutton, a division of Penguin...

IBBY reveals change to Ena Noël Award

Friday, 15 September 2023
The Australian branch of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) has announced a change to its IBBY Ena Noël Award, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the...

ARA Historical Novel Prize longlists announced

ARA Historical Novel Prize 2023 logo Thursday, 14 September 2023
The Historical Novel Society Australasia (HNSA) has announced the longlists for the 2023 ARA Historical Novel Prize. Featuring ‘a vast tapestry of settings and eras’, this year’s longlisted titles are:...

Varuna announces 2024 residential fellowships

Varuna, the National Writers House logo Thursday, 14 September 2023
Varuna, the National Writers’ House has announced the recipients of the Varuna residential fellowships for 2024, including seven flagship fellowship recipients. The writers and their projects are: Eleanor Dark flagship...

Heath joins A&U 

Wednesday, 13 September 2023
Sally Heath has joined Allen & Unwin as adult nonfiction publisher. Heath was previously an associate publisher at Thames & Hudson Australia and New Zealand, where she worked on the...

Hawker Brownlow authors move to Amba Press 

Wednesday, 13 September 2023
Independent Australian educational publisher Amba Press has announced that it will republish a number of Australian authors formerly published by Hawker Brownlow Education (HBE). In an announcement posted to LinkedIn,...

Ultimo acquires Chandran novel 

Wednesday, 13 September 2023
Ultimo Press has acquired ANZ rights to Safe Haven, the new novel from the winner of the 2023 Miles Franklin award, Shankari Chandran, via Tara Wynne at Curtis Brown Australia....

ILD 2023: Over 300,000 tune in for music-filled celebration

Tuesday, 12 September 2023
Last Wednesday, 6 September, was Indigenous Literacy Day (ILD)—the annual event hosted by the Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF) to celebrate First Nations peoples’ storytelling and raise funds to support literacy...

Big Sky acquires Blum memoir 

Tuesday, 12 September 2023
Big Sky Publishing has acquired world rights to the memoir Easy Target: Battling the black dog by Adam Blum. In the book, Blum shares his battle with bullying and health...

Inaugural SA Literary Fellowships open for applications

Writers SA CEO Jessica Alice and State Library of South Australia director Geoff Strempel standing together in the State Library of South Australia Monday, 11 September 2023
Writers SA and the State Library of South Australia (SLSA) have announced that applications are open for the inaugural SA Literary Fellowships program for professional writers in South Australia. The...

Dymocks customers warned about data breach

Dymocks logo Monday, 11 September 2023
Dymocks has warned its customers of a potential data breach, after the retailer’s cybersecurity experts found evidence of discussions about Dymocks customer records being available on the dark web. In...

EPAA 2023 winners announced

Friday, 8 September 2023
The winners of the 2023 Educational Publishing Awards Australia (EPAA) have been announced. The winners in each category are: Primary publisher of the year Seven Steps Secondary publisher of the...

Danger Awards 2023 shortlists announced

Friday, 8 September 2023
The BAD Sydney Crime Writers Festival has announced the shortlists for the 2023 Danger Awards. The shortlisted titles in each category are: Fiction Brunswick Street Blues (Sally Bothroyd, HarperCollins) Daughters...

NSW Premier’s History Awards 2023 winners announced

Friday, 8 September 2023
The State Library of NSW (SLNSW) has announced the winners for the 2023 NSW Premier’s History Awards. The winning titles in each category are: Australian history prize Elizabeth and John:...

Affirm acquires Downes novel 

An author photograph of Anna Downes Thursday, 7 September 2023
Affirm Press has acquired ANZ rights to thriller Red River Road, the third novel from Anna Downes, via Tara Wynne of Curtis Brown. Set along the Western Australian Coral Coast,...

Queensland Literary Awards 2023 winners announced

Thursday, 7 September 2023
The winners of the 2023 Queensland Literary Awards have been announced, with a total of $238,500 in prize money awarded across 12 categories. The winning titles in each category are:...

Stan adaptation of ‘Scrublands’ sold to BBC 

Wednesday, 6 September 2023
A four-part adaptation of Scrublands (Chris Hammer, A&U) has been acquired by the BBC from Abacus Media Rights, which has international distribution rights for the series, and will screen on...

Celdran wins 2023 Margaret Mahy Illustration Prize

Photograph of illustrator Alba Celdran, who is in front of a houseplant. Wednesday, 6 September 2023
Alba Gil Celdran is the winner of the 2023 Margaret Mahy Illustration Prize, Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand and the Margaret Mahy Estate have announced. The judging panel praised the humour,...

Book industry organisations announce support for Voice

Wednesday, 6 September 2023
A number of Australian publishers and writing organisations have published statements in support of Australia’s First Nations Voice to Parliament referendum. The Australian Publishers Association (APA) made the following statement...

Richell Prize 2023 longlist announced

Logo for the Richell Prize, featuring a swooping bird Tuesday, 5 September 2023
The Emerging Writers’ Festival, Hachette Australia, and the Richell family have announced the 2023 longlist for the Richell Prize for emerging writers. Selected from over 700 entries, the 20 longlisted...

Stager to take over Riverbend Books 

Tuesday, 5 September 2023
Riverbend Books owner, and founder of the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, Suzy Wilson has sold Riverbend to Fiona Stager, co-owner of Brisbane's Avid Reader bookshop. Wilson—who founded Riverbend Books in 1998...