Local news | Books+Publishing

Davies awarded 2023 Janet Mackenzie Medal

Monday, 22 May 2023
The Institute of Professional Editors (IPEd) has announced Kerry Davies as the winner of the 2023 Janet Mackenzie Medal for services to editing. Davies has worked in publishing and communications since...

UQP acquires Metcalfe debut memoir

Monday, 22 May 2023
University of Queensland Press (UQP) has acquired world rights to the debut memoir Breath by Carly-Jay Metcalfe, via Jeanne Ryckmans of Cameron’s Management. Breath was the winner of the 2022...

Carmichael, Gibson, Haddad named SMH Best Young Australian Novelists 2023

Friday, 19 May 2023
The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) has announced the Best Young Australian Novelists for 2023. The writers and their novels are: Jay Carmichael for Marlo (Scribe) Katerina Gibson for Women I Know (Scribner) George...

Emerging Writers Festival 2023 program launched

Friday, 19 May 2023
The Emerging Writers Festival (EWF) has launched its 20th anniversary program for 14–24 June, featuring nearly 200 artists in over 60 events in various locations across Melbourne. The opening night...

Hachette acquires nonfiction from Schlegl, Qin via Law partnership

Friday, 19 May 2023
Hachette Australia has acquired two nonfiction titles via its publishing scout partnership with Australian screenwriter, author and broadcaster Benjamin Law. Adult nonfiction publisher Sophie Hamley acquired ANZ, UK and Commonwealth...

Ockham NZ Book Awards 2023 winners announced

Thursday, 18 May 2023
The winners of the 2023 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards have been announced. The fiction prize went to Catherine Chidgey for The Axeman’s Carnival (Te Herenga Waka University Press), a...

ASA survey: authors, illustrators concerned about publisher use of AI

Thursday, 18 May 2023
A survey of over 200 authors and illustrators by the Australian Society of Authors (ASA) has found the majority of respondents (74%) expressed significant concern about the threat of generative...

McInnes wins 2023 Commonwealth Short Story Prize Pacific category

Thursday, 18 May 2023
Aotearoa New Zealand author Himali McInnes has won the 2023 Commonwealth Short Story Prize for the Pacific region for her story ‘Kilinochchi’, about a mother who leaves her adopted country...

Davis to retire from Hardie Grant

Thursday, 18 May 2023
Hardie Grant has announced chief operating officer (COO) Andrew Davis will retire at the end of this financial year, ending 'an enormously successful and distinguished career'. Davis joined Hardie Grant...

The Speedy Sloth to be read for NSS at new Sydney Zoo

Thursday, 18 May 2023
The Speedy Sloth (Rebecca Young, illus by Heath McKenzie, Scholastic) will be read for the 23rd National Simultaneous Storytime (NSS) event at 11am (AEST) on Wednesday, 24 May 2023, with...

Miles Franklin Literary Award 2023 longlist announced

Wednesday, 17 May 2023
The longlist for the 2023 Miles Franklin Literary Award, worth $60,000, has been announced. The 11 longlisted novels are: Hopeless Kingdom (Kgshak Akec, UWAP) Limberlost (Robbie Arnott, Text) Cold Enough...

Echo acquires Thomas debut murder mystery

Wednesday, 17 May 2023
Echo Publishing has acquired world rights to Paul Thomas’s debut murder mystery The Beacon, as part of a two-book deal, via Martin Shaw at Shaw Literary. With a career as...

Puncher & Wattmann acquires Dimitriadis’s ‘The Mother Must Die’

Wednesday, 17 May 2023
Puncher & Wattmann (P&W) has acquired ANZ rights to debut short story collection The Mother Must Die by Koraly Dimitriadis via the author. Dimitriadis, a Melbourne-based bestselling poet who self-published her poetry...

BookPeople 2023 Bookseller of the Year shortlists announced

Wednesday, 17 May 2023
BookPeople has announced the shortlists for its 2023 Bookseller of the Year awards. The awards recognise an individual bookseller for their outstanding achievement in the past 12 months, with the...

WA Premier’s Book Awards shortlists announced

Tuesday, 16 May 2023
The shortlists for the 2023 Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards have been announced. The shortlisted books in each category are: The Western Australian Writer's Fellowship ($60,000) Carolyn Wadley Dowley Madison...

ALS Gold Medal 2023 longlist announced

Tuesday, 16 May 2023
The longlist for the 2023 Australian Literature Society (ALS) Gold Medal has been announced. The longlisted works are: Limberlost (Robbie Arnott, Text) Cold Enough for Snow (Jessica Au, Giramondo) Daisy...

Australian authors on Daggers shortlist

Tuesday, 16 May 2023
In the UK, the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) has announced the shortlists for its Dagger Awards. Authors from Australia are among those shortlisted for the annual crime writing awards. Hayley...

NewSouth acquires Kean science book

Tuesday, 16 May 2023
NewSouth has acquired world rights to science writer Zoe Kean’s popular science title Why are we like this? What can scuba diving at Shark Bay uncover about the evolution of...

Prize money increase for Aus Political Book of the Year

Monday, 15 May 2023
The prize money for the Australian Political Book of the Year Award has increased in its second year to $15,000 for the winner, with each shortlisted author to also receive...

Every Version of You optioned for film

Monday, 15 May 2023
Cognito Entertainment, a new independent film and television production company launched last week in the United States, has optioned Every Version of You (Grace Chan, Affirm) for adaptation into an international...

Dunn appointed distribution director at ADS

Monday, 15 May 2023
Riikka Dunn has been appointed distribution director at Alliance Distribution Services (ADS). Dunn, who started at ADS on Monday, 8 May, joins the business from Ikea, where she gained experience...

The Speechwriter wins Russell Prize for Humour Writing

Friday, 12 May 2023
Martin McKenzie-Murray’s 'savage, dark and uproariously funny’ satirical memoir The Speechwriter (Scribe) has won the $10,000 biennial Russell Prize for Humour Writing, Australia’s only humour writing prize. McKenzie-Murray’s fictional debut...