News | Books+Publishing

PANZ Book Design Awards 2021 finalists announced

Wednesday, 14 July 2021
The finalists for the 2021 Publishers Association of New Zealand (PANZ) Book Design Awards have been announced. Among the categories announced were: Best illustrated book Billy Apple®: Life/Work (Christina Barton,...

Melbourne City of Lit meets Edinburgh’s Typewronger Books

Wednesday, 14 July 2021
In this series, run in partnership with the Melbourne City of Literature Office, we get to know some of the bookstores in the UNESCO Cities of Literature network. Down a...

Italian book sales up 44% in first half

Wednesday, 14 July 2021
Trade book sales in Italy have grown 44% in unit sales and 42% in value in the first six months of 2021, according to the Italian Publisher's Association (AIE). The...

Byron Writers Festival 2021 cancelled

Wednesday, 14 July 2021
The 2021 Byron Writers Festival, scheduled to run 6–8 August, has been cancelled. ‘It is with a heavy heart we have made the decision to cancel Byron Writers Festival 2021,’...

UQP sells ‘The White Girl’ to HarperVia

Wednesday, 14 July 2021
UQP has sold world English rights (ex ANZ) for The White Girl by Tony Birch to HarperCollins imprint HarperVia. The deal was handled by UQP rights manager Kate McCormack in...

A&U, Upswell, UQP among Cultural Fund recipients

Wednesday, 14 July 2021
The Copyright Agency has announced the 25 successful recipients of a total $818,000 in funding from its Cultural Fund. The resurrected Age Book of the Year Award, Magabala’s Daisy Utemorrah...

Sharp steps down as SWF CEO; Webb, Williams to lead 2022 festival

Tuesday, 13 July 2021
Chrissy Sharp has resigned as CEO of Sydney Writers' Festival (SWF) after three years in the role. A statement from the festival said: 'The phenomenal success of the 2021 festival...

Mildenhall announced as Varuna New Zealand residency exchange recipient

Tuesday, 13 July 2021
Kate Mildenhall has been announced as the recipient of the inaugural New Zealand residency exchange, an international residency program held by Varuna, the National Writers’ House in collaboration with the...

Taperell appointed Hachette publicity manager

Tuesday, 13 July 2021
Kate Taperell has been appointed to the position of publicity manager at Hachette Australia, where she will manage Hachette's publicity team. Taperell started her publicity career at Hachette in 2003...

Griffith Review announces Long and the Short of It competition winners

Tuesday, 13 July 2021
Griffith Review has announced the recipients of its inaugural emerging voices writing competition. The four winning writers share in $15,000, courtesy of the Copyright Agency's cultural fund. The winners are:...

Kovats appointed Hachette head of sales

Monday, 12 July 2021
Lil Kovats has been promoted to head of sales at Hachette Australia, effective immediately. In the role, Kovats will lead the sales team, represent the sales department to the publisher’s...

US print book sales up 18.5% in first half of 2021

Monday, 12 July 2021
In the US, print book unit sales were up 18.5% in the first half of this year compared to the same period in 2020, reports Publishers Weekly. All the major...

Text Prize 2021 shortlist announced

Monday, 12 July 2021
The shortlist for the $10,000 Text Prize for Young Adult and Children’s Writing has been announced. The seven shortlisted manuscripts are: 'Dancing Barefoot’ by Alice Boyle (YA), a story about...

Nour, Barnette awarded Affirm Press Mentorships for Sweatshop Writers

Monday, 12 July 2021
Affirm Press and Sweatshop have announced the recipients of the second round of the Affirm Press Mentorship for Sweatshop Writers. The recipients of the 2021 mentorships are African American writer...

Bancroft named inaugural SLNSW Aboriginal Creative fellow

Friday, 9 July 2021
Bundjalung writer and artist Bronwyn Bancroft is the inaugural recipient of Create NSW’s State Library of NSW (SLNSW) NSW Aboriginal Creative Fellowship, worth $30,000. The fellowship supports a First Nations...

Aurealis Awards 2020 winners announced

Friday, 9 July 2021
The winners of the 2020 Aurealis Awards, presented for science fiction, fantasy and horror writing in Australia, have been announced. The winners are: Best horror novel None Shall Sleep (Ellie...

Online Storytime pilot extended, awarded $30,000 funding

Friday, 9 July 2021
The Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) has announced its Online Storytime pilot will be extended by a further 12 months to December 2022, with the Australia Council providing $30,000...

US author Choi wins £30k Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award

Friday, 9 July 2021
US author Susan Choi has won the £30,000 ($A55,665) 2021 Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award for her ‘luminous’ story ‘Flashlight’, reports the Bookseller. ‘Flashlight’ follows a 10-year-old girl who...

US supply chain struggles with high costs, service disruptions

Thursday, 8 July 2021
In the US, the book industry supply chain is struggling under the challenges of truck driver shortages, widespread port congestion and skyrocketing container costs, according to a Book Industry Study...

Tablo launches traditional publishing imprint

Thursday, 8 July 2021
Online self-publishing platform Tablo Publishing is launching a new physical book imprint called Tablo Tales, led by Tablo creative director Jemma Birrell. Distributed in Australia and New Zealand by NewSouth,...

West awarded 2021 Reading Australia Fellowship

Thursday, 8 July 2021
The Copyright Agency has named Edwina West, from Sydney’s Oakhill College, as the 2021 Reading Australia Fellow for Teachers of English Literacy. West receives a grant of $15,000, which will...

New owner for the Turning Page Bookshop

Wednesday, 7 July 2021
The Turning Page Bookshop, an independent bookshop in the Blue Mountains NSW, has been purchased by Peggy Miedlar. Previous owners Annie Sharkey and Alan Crooks had planned to transform the...

Four Centres Emerging Writers Publishing Program second round announced

Wednesday, 7 July 2021
Fremantle Press has announced the Four Centres Emerging Writers Publishing Program has received government funding for a further two years, following a successful pilot program. The initiative between Fremantle Press,...

Poppy Nwosu on ‘Road Tripping with Pearl Nash’

Wednesday, 7 July 2021
Road Tripping with Pearl Nash (Wakefield, September) is Poppy Nwosu's third romantic novel for young adults. It follows protagonist Pearl Nash on a road trip during the summer holidays before...

August reviews round-up

Wednesday, 7 July 2021
Several highly regarded debut works of fiction coming in August feature millennial protagonists, including Allee Richards’ VPLA Unpublished Manuscript Prize–shortlisted Small Joys of Real Life, which reviewer Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen...