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PRH acquires Bhasin debut 

Tuesday, 23 August 2022
Penguin Random House Australia (PRH) has acquired ANZ rights for I Look Forward to Hearing from You, the debut novel by Sydney-based writer Nick Bhasin, in a deal agented by...

CJZ options film and TV rights to Jaffé novel 

Tuesday, 23 August 2022
Production company CJZ has optioned film and television rights for The Dressmakers of Yarrandarrah Prison (Meredith Jaffé, HarperCollins), in a deal negotiated by Tara Wynne of Curtis Brown Australia. The...

Barbara Jefferis Award 2022 shortlist announced

Monday, 22 August 2022
The Australian Society of Authors (ASA) has announced the shortlist for the 2022 Barbara Jefferis Award, worth $50,000. The shortlisted titles are: Bodies of Light (Jennifer Down, Text) Ordinary Matter...

CBCA announces 2022 Book of the Year Awards

Friday, 19 August 2022
The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) has announced the winners of the 2022 Book of the Year Awards. The winning books in each category are: Older readers Tiger Daughter (Rebecca...

Danger Prize 2022 shortlist announced

Friday, 19 August 2022
The BAD Sydney Crime Writers Festival has announced the shortlist for this year’s Danger Prize. The all-fiction shortlist is: The Enemy Within (Tim Ayliffe, S&S) Unforgiven (Sarah Barrie, HQ) The...

Nash calls for partial spill of Booktopia board 

Booktopia logo Friday, 19 August 2022
Booktopia founder Tony Nash has given notice to the company of his intention to call an extraordinary general meeting (EGM), with the purpose of ousting two other board members. Nash...

Margaret and Colin Roderick Award 2022 shortlist announced

Thursday, 18 August 2022
The shortlist for the $20,000 Margaret and Colin Roderick Literary Award, administered by the Foundation for Australian Literary Studies (FALS) at James Cook University, has been announced. The shortlisted books...

New mentorship program for Tasmanian writers, illustrators

Thursday, 18 August 2022
Arts Tasmania and the Australian Society of Authors (ASA) have announced a new mentorship program for writers and illustrators. The 2022 Tasmanian Writers and Illustrators Mentorship program is designed to...

The Campus Bookstore closes down 

Thursday, 18 August 2022
The Campus Bookstore, which operated an online store and retail stores at several tertiary institutions in Victoria, has closed both its online and physical stores after declaring insolvency. The not-for-profit...

Oscar and Friends to close Double Bay store

Wednesday, 17 August 2022
Oscar and Friends bookshop has announced the closure of its original Double Bay store in Sydney. In a statement, the bookshop said that ‘sadly due to the redevelopment of our...

Readings YA Book Prize 2022 shortlist announced

Wednesday, 17 August 2022
The shortlist for the 2021 Readings Young Adult Book Prize has been announced. The shortlisted YA novels are: The Museum of Broken Things (Lauren Draper, Text) Sugar Town Queens (Malla...

Aus market up 4.1%, romance up 77% YTD 

Wednesday, 17 August 2022
Australian book sales are up by 4.1% in value compared to this time last year, according to Nielsen BookData, which reports Australian book market sales of $544 million year to...

Readings buys new warehouse 

Tuesday, 16 August 2022
Melbourne independent bookselling chain Readings has purchased a new warehouse space in West Melbourne, which will replace the chain’s current Carlton warehouse. ‘We had outgrown our current warehouse space and...

PRH acquires Seaborn debut in two-book deal 

Monday, 15 August 2022
Penguin Random House (PRH) has acquired ANZ rights to Jessica Seaborn’s debut ‘anti-romcom’ novel Perfect-ish, in a two-book deal via Caitlan Cooper-Trent at Curtis Brown. PRH described Perfect-ish as a...

UBD drops XL for Startrack 

Monday, 15 August 2022
United Book Distributors (UBD) has announced it will be replacing XL Express with Startrack Express as a main distribution partner alongside FedEx (TNT), effective by later this month. ‘Startrack Express...

Ellis wins 2022 Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize

Friday, 12 August 2022
Tracy Ellis has won the 2022 Australian Book Review (ABR) Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize for her story ‘Natural Wonder’. Chosen from a shortlist of three announced in July, Ellis receives $6000. Nina...

NSW Premier’s History Awards 2022 shortlists announced

Thursday, 11 August 2022
The State Library of NSW (SLNSW) has announced the shortlists for the 2022 NSW Premier’s History Awards, worth $15,000 in each category. The shortlisted titles in each category are: Australian...

Booktopia leases new warehouse

Booktopia logo Thursday, 11 August 2022
Booktopia has secured a lease for a new customer fulfilment centre (CFC) in South Strathfield in Sydney’s west. According to Booktopia, after constant retrofitting, its current Lidcombe facility has become...

Readings union members to consider industrial action 

Wednesday, 10 August 2022
Retail and Fast Food Workers Union (RAFFWU) members at Readings bookshop will consider industrial action, following on from a protest outside the independent chain’s Carlton store in Melbourne on 6...

ILF announces digital event for ILD 2022

Wednesday, 10 August 2022
The Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF) has announced two events in collaboration with the Sydney Opera House for Indigenous Literacy Day (ILD), which falls on Wednesday, 7 September this year. The...

Caro’s ‘The Mother’ optioned for film 

Wednesday, 10 August 2022
Film rights for Jane Caro’s first novel for adults, The Mother (A&U), have been optioned by New Town Films in a deal negotiated by Jacinta di Mase of Jacinta di...

Griffin Press ceases POD 

Tuesday, 9 August 2022
Opus Group has confirmed that Griffin Press, which it acquired from Ovato earlier this year, will cease its print on demand (POD) services. In a statement to clients on Friday,...

Scribe & Varuna announce 2022 fellows

Tuesday, 9 August 2022
The recipients of the 2022 Scribe & Varuna Fellowships have been announced. The fellows and their projects are: Sam Elkin for ‘Shapeshifting’ Jacqueline Wright for ‘Beauty and Menace’ Nevo Zisin...

UQP acquires Taylor debut ‘Flinch’ 

Tuesday, 9 August 2022
UQP has acquired world rights to debut novel Flinch by 2022 Neilma Sidney Short Story Prize winner Saraid Taylor. A coming-of-age story set against a backdrop of elite sport and...

Dessaix honoured for Lifetime Achievement in Literature

Monday, 8 August 2022
Robert Dessaix has won the Australia Council Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature, which ‘acknowledges the achievements of eminent literary writers over the age of 60 who have made an...