ALIA National Conference 2026 program announced
Wednesday, 8 April 2026
The Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) will hold its national conference on 11 to 14 May 2026 at Rosehill Gardens in Sydney. ALIA has decided not to have an...
Scribble inspires a new-look Australian stand for Bologna
Wednesday, 8 April 2026
As a reduced cohort of Australian publishers head to Bologna Children’s Book Fair, the Australian Publishers Association is set to unveil a new-look stand. International publishers visiting the Australian stand...
Cultivate mentorship 2026 winners announced
Wednesday, 8 April 2026
Writing NSW has announced the winners of the 2026 Cultivate Mentorship Program for First Nations and Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Emerging Writers. Developed by Writing NSW to “help build equity...
A&U acquires Keane’s “Seize the Moment”
Wednesday, 8 April 2026
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired world rights to Seize the Moment, a nonfiction title by Bernard Keane. According to the publisher, the book examines “how Australia can prosper in...
Pink Shorts acquires Adameitis’s “Australianarama”, De Zilva’s “Sick Note”
Wednesday, 8 April 2026
Pink Shorts Press has acquired world rights to Australianarama: A Campendium of Kitsch by artist and designer Stavroula Adameitis, also known as Frida Las Vegas, and poetry collection Sick Note...
Macmillan US to close Roaring Brook, launch new imprint
Tuesday, 7 April 2026
In the US, Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group (MCPG) has announced the closure of the Roaring Brook Press imprint and the launch of a new, as yet unnamed imprint, reports Publishers...
Blake Poetry Prize 2026 shortlist announced
Tuesday, 7 April 2026
Liverpool Powerhouse and WestWords have announced the poets shortlisted for the 2026 Blake Poetry Prize, worth $5000. The shortlisted works are: “Aftermath” by Terri Slanovits “Father” by Phillippa Cordwell “Jigar...
New ASA mentorship program winners announced
Tuesday, 7 April 2026
The Australian Society of Authors (ASA) has announced the winners of mentorships in the 2026 CA/ASA Developmental Leadership Program. Thirteen creators have won the opportunity to work with an experienced...
A&U acquires Urquhart ultramarathon story
Thursday, 2 April 2026
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired world rights to ultramarathon runner Donna Urquhart’s as yet untitled story about her Guinness World Record Antarctic run in January 2024, written with journalist...
DANZ Children’s Book Award 2026 longlists announced
Thursday, 2 April 2026
The 2026 longlists for the Australian School Library Association (ASLA) DANZ (Diversity in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand) Children’s Book Award have been announced. The longlisted titles in each category...
Report finds strongest growth among younger readers in Brazil
Thursday, 2 April 2026
In Brazil, the Brazilian Book Chamber and Nielsen BookData have released the third edition of an annual survey, which showed book consumption grew in the country in 2025. “According to...
Australia Reads nominated for 2026 IPA Innovation in Publishing Award
Thursday, 2 April 2026
Newly minted not-for-profit Australia Reads, established by the Australian Publishers Association, is among 5 nominees for the 2026 Innovation in Publishing Award presented by the International Publishers Association. The award...
“We want to trust authors”: Local publishers on “Shy Girl” implications
Wednesday, 1 April 2026
“It really is a case of ‘there but for the grace of God go I’.” This was the response of one editor at a Big Five publishing house to the...
International Booker Prize 2026 shortlist announced
Wednesday, 1 April 2026
In the UK, the shortlist for the 2026 International Booker Prize, worth £50,000 (A$95,811), has been announced. The shortlisted titles are: The Director (Daniel Kehlmann, trans by Ross Benjamin, riverrun) The...
O’Loughlin wins inaugural MidnightSun Picture Book Prize
Wednesday, 1 April 2026
Penny O’Loughlin has won the inaugural MidnightSun Picture Book Prize for her manuscript The Battle of the Beast. MidnightSun said The Battle of the Beast “impressed the judges with its...
“Timing and luck” sees cohort of local publishers still attending Bologna
Wednesday, 1 April 2026
Despite cancelled flights and rising costs a cohort of Australian rights managers and literary agents are heading to Bologna Children's Book Fair, where a new-look Australian Stand will be unveiled....
Words on the Waves 2026 program announced
Wednesday, 1 April 2026
The program for the Words on the Waves Writers Festival, to run from 27 May to 1 June on the NSW Central Coast, has been announced. The festival’s opening address,...
Copyright Agency: “The cat-and-mouse dynamic has not disappeared”
Wednesday, 1 April 2026
In the lead-up to the 2026 Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIAs), Books+Publishing is inviting the event’s major sponsors to share little-known facts about their organisations, their top tips for booksellers and...
B+P Easter publishing schedule
Wednesday, 1 April 2026
Due to the Easter long weekend, the Books+Publishing newsletter will not be published this Friday, 3 April or the following Monday, 6 April. The deadline for classifieds and job advertisements in...
Raymond Tan recommends
Tuesday, 31 March 2026
The last Australian cookbook that really resonated with me is Good Cooking Every Day by Julia Busuttil Nishimura (Plum). It feels incredibly warm and generous, and there’s a real sense of ease...
Raymond Tan on “You’re Welcome!”
Tuesday, 31 March 2026
Raymond Tan is a Melbourne-based baker whose work celebrates the flavours and traditions of Southeast Asia through a contemporary lens. His cookbook, You’re Welcome!: A Baking Celebration with a Southeast...
CBCA 2026 shortlist announced
Tuesday, 31 March 2026
The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) has announced the shortlist for the 2026 CBCA Book of the Year Awards. The shortlisted books in each category, selected from the 2026 Notable...
Create NSW launches affordable residencies program for writers, illustrators
Tuesday, 31 March 2026
Create NSW has announced the establishment of the Rocks Creative Terraces Affordable Residencies Program, which it says “fulfils one of the first commitments outlined in Stories Matter: A Writing and...
Queensland Literary Awards moves to BWF for “foreseeable future”
Tuesday, 31 March 2026
The Queensland Literary Awards (QLAs) will become part of the 2026 Brisbane Writers Festival (BWF), with a BWF spokesperson confirming to Books+Publishing that BWF would be administering the awards "for...
Newcastle Poetry Prize 2026 winners announced
Tuesday, 31 March 2026
The Hunter Writers’ Centre has announced the winners of the 2026 Newcastle Poetry Prize. The winners in each category are: First place ($15,000) Greg McLaren for “Late Sonnets” Second place ($3000)...
Nigerian publisher Masobe Books acquires 5 books by Bacon
Tuesday, 31 March 2026
Othuke Ominiabohs, founder and publisher of Masobe Books, has acquired Nigerian rights for five books by African-Australian author Eugen Bacon, in a deal brokered in partnership with Bacon’s US publisher...
Upswell acquires Nowra’s “My Grandfather’s Ghost”
Tuesday, 31 March 2026
Upswell Publishing has acquired world rights to My Grandfather’s Ghost, a narrative nonfiction title by Louis Nowra, via Natalie Stewart, HLA Management. Describing My Grandfather’s Ghost, Nowra said, “On 12...
UK Publishers Association CEO calls for transparency amid “Shy Girl” controversy
Tuesday, 31 March 2026
In the UK, Publishers Association CEO Dan Conway has responded to the discontinuation of Mia Ballard’s novel Shy Girl over suspected AI use and its cancellation in the US. Conway...
Aaron wins 2026 Waterstones Children’s Book Prize
Monday, 30 March 2026
In the UK, Huw Aaron has won the 2026 Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, worth £5000 (A$9657), for Sleep Tight, Disgusting Blob (Puffin), reports the Bookseller. Aaron’s is the second picture book...
“A strong year” locally as PRH global earnings down 4.7%
Monday, 30 March 2026
While global revenue at Penguin Random House in 2025 rose 1.3% to €4.981 billion (A$8.34 billion), earnings were down 4.7% to €704 million (around A$1.18 billion). PRH parent company Bertelsmann...
