News | Books+Publishing

Australians nominated for 2022 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award

Monday, 25 October 2021
Six Australian authors, illustrators and organisations have been announced as candidates for the 2022 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, the world’s richest prize for children’s literature. The Australian candidates are: Jeannie...

‘Henry Hamlet’s Heart’ sells to US, UQP acquires second Wilde YA novel

Monday, 25 October 2021
UQP has sold North American rights for Rhiannon Wilde's YA debut Henry Hamlet’s Heart to Charlesbridge, and has acquired world rights to Wilde's second novel Where You Left Us. Released...

Serong, Nannestad win $100k Historical Novel Prize

Monday, 25 October 2021
Victorian writer Jock Serong has won the $50,000 ARA Historical Novel Prize in the adult category for The Burning Island (Text), while Katrina Nannestad has won the $30,000 children and...

S&S signs Spicer book on AI bias

Monday, 25 October 2021
Simon & Schuster Australia (S&S) has acquired a new book by journalist Tracey Spicer on ‘the ways that sexist and racist stereotypes are being embedded into emerging technologies, thus perpetuating...

Authors boycott Frankfurt over right-wing publisher

Friday, 22 October 2021
A handful of authors have cancelled their appearances at this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair to protest the presence of German New Right publisher Jungeuropa, reports the Bookseller. Jungeuropa is run...

Prime Minister’s Literary Awards 2021 shortlists announced

Friday, 22 October 2021
The shortlists for the 2021 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards have been announced. The shortlisted titles in each category are: Fiction A Treacherous Country (K M Kruimink, A&U) In the Time...

US$75k Cundill History Prize finalists announced

Thursday, 21 October 2021
The three finalists for the 2021 Cundill History Prize, which rewards ‘the best history writing in English’, have been announced. The finalists are: Survivors: Children’s lives after the Holocaust (Rebecca Clifford,...

Aotearoa NZ industry shocked by NZ$500k grant for book recommendation site

Thursday, 21 October 2021
The Aotearoa New Zealand literary industry is frustrated and ‘astonished’ by a NZ$500,000 (A$479,000) grant given to an organisation to improve access to books, reports Stuff.co.nz. The grant was made...

MUP acquires Quilty’s ‘Fall of Kabul’

Thursday, 21 October 2021
Melbourne University Publishing (MUP) has acquired world rights to Fall of Kabul: America’s last days in Afghanistan by award-winning photo-journalist Andrew Quilty. MUP acquired rights directly from the author. Quilty...

SPN 2021 program announced

Thursday, 21 October 2021
The program for the 2021 Small Press Network (SPN) annual Independent Publishing Conference has been announced. The 10th annual SPN conference will be held online from 25–27 November, with a...

Aus publishers attend Frankfurt virtually for second year

Wednesday, 20 October 2021
The 2021 Frankfurt Book Fair begins today, with publishers and authors attending the five-day event in-person or virtually through Frankfurt’s digital rights platform. At the annual opening press conference, Börsenverein...

Melbourne City of Lit meets Norwich’s The Book Hive

Wednesday, 20 October 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. Today we...

Strubel wins 2021 German Book Prize

Wednesday, 20 October 2021
In Germany, Antje Rávik Strubel has won the 2021 German Book Prize for her novel Blaue Frau (S Fischer). Blaue Frau, which translates as Blue Woman in English, was chosen...

NSW bookshops reopen, Dymocks unveils flagship store refurbishment

Wednesday, 20 October 2021
On 11 October in New South Wales, non-essential retail, including bookshops, opened for fully vaccinated customers for the first time since the state went into lockdown in June. New state...

Shankari Chandran recommends

Wednesday, 20 October 2021
After Story by Larissa Behrendt (UQP). Now that my local bookstore is open, I’m ordering copies for my friends and then I’m going to pretend I haven’t read it so...

Scribe acquires Marson nonfiction book

Wednesday, 20 October 2021
Scribe has acquired a nonfiction book about sexual violence by ACT-based prosecutor Katrina Marson. World rights (ex North America) were acquired from Grace Heifetz at Left Bank Literary. The as...

Shankari Chandran on ‘Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens’

Wednesday, 20 October 2021
Shankari Chandran's third novel Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens (Ultimo, January) centres on the Cinnamon Gardens Nursing Home and the community fostered by the Tamil family who run it. Set...

Arts NT Varuna Fellowships announced

Tuesday, 19 October 2021
The recipients of the 2021 Arts NT Varuna Residency Fellowships have been announced. Presented in partnership with the Northern Territory government, the fellowship gives six writers from the Top End...

Aus international rights sales up by volume and value: new report

Tuesday, 19 October 2021
The Australia Council has released the results of its research into Australian international book rights sales. The original research for the report was based at Macquarie University and supported by...

Winner of €1m Spanish prize revealed to be three men

Tuesday, 19 October 2021
In Spain, the winner of the €1 million (A$1.57m) Planeta Prize, Carmen Mola, has been revealed as a pseudonym for three men, reports the Bookseller. Carmen Mola won the prize...

Writing NSW announces recipients of new paid publishing internships

Monday, 18 October 2021
Writing NSW has announced the successful candidates for its new internship for emerging editors from culturally diverse backgrounds. The paid internship program is presented in partnership with publishers Giramondo, Hachette,...