News | Books+Publishing

StoryFest 2021 guests announced

Friday, 26 March 2021
The guests for the second StoryFest festival, which will run from 18 to 20 June in Milton, Mollymook and Ulladulla on the NSW South Coast, have been announced. Guests include...

Federal RISE Covid funding increased to $200 million

Friday, 26 March 2021
The federal government has announced it will increase the funding available through its Restart Investment to Sustain and Expand (RISE) fund from $75 million to $200 million. For the most...

Dublin Literary Award shortlist announced

Friday, 26 March 2021
The shortlist for the 2021 Dublin Literary Award, worth €100,000 (A$155,200), has been announced, reports the Bookseller. The shortlisted titles are: Girl, Woman, Other (Bernardine Evaristo, Hamish Hamilton) Lost Children...

Gardiner’s ‘Goddess’ optioned for screen

Thursday, 25 March 2021
Kelly Gardiner’s 2014 historical novel Goddess (HarperCollins) has been optioned for the screen by Deux Dames Entertainment and Black Magic, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Deux Dames Entertainment was founded...

Ultimo acquires latest Chandran novel

Thursday, 25 March 2021
Ultimo Press has acquired ANZ rights to Shankari Chandran's third novel Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens, via Tara Wynne at Curtis Brown. Chandran's novel is set in a nursing home...

Stella Prize 2021 shortlist announced

Thursday, 25 March 2021
The shortlist for the 2021 Stella Prize, worth $50,000, has been announced. The six shortlisted books are: Fathoms: The world in the whale (Rebecca Giggs, Scribe) Revenge: Murder in Three Parts (S...

Machado wins 2021 Folio Prize

Thursday, 25 March 2021
In the UK, American writer Carmen Maria Machado has won the 2021 Rathbones Folio Prize, worth £30,000 (A$54,100), for In the Dream House (Serpent’s Tail), an examination of her experience...

Meet literary agent Alex Adsett

Wednesday, 24 March 2021
As the pandemic keeps rights sellers from meeting face-to-face, Books+Publishing is shining a regular spotlight on the work of Australian rights agents. Today, we hear from Alex Adsett, a literary agent representing authors across...

Australians comprise majority of Walter Scott Prize shortlist

Wednesday, 24 March 2021
Three out of the five books shortlisted for the £25,000 (A$44,900) Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction are by Australian authors. The five shortlisted novels are: The Tolstoy Estate (Steven Conte,...

NSW Premier’s Literary Awards 2021 shortlists announced

Wednesday, 24 March 2021
The shortlists for the 2020 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards have been announced. The shortlisted titles in each category are: Christina Stead Prize for Fiction ($40,000) A Room Made of Leaves  (Kate...

Bertelsmann’s S&S merger faces scrutiny in US, UK

Wednesday, 24 March 2021
Penguin Random House (PRH) parent company Bertelsmann’s acquisition of Simon & Schuster (S&S) is facing scrutiny from government agencies in both the US and the UK, reports the Bookseller. In...

ARA Historical Novel Prize adds children and young adult category, prize money totals $100,000

Wednesday, 24 March 2021
The Historical Novel Society of Australasia (HNSA), in partnership with building and infrastructure services provider ARA Group, has announced that the ARA Historical Novel Prize will incorporate a category for...

Anita Heiss on ‘Bila Yarrudangga-langdhuray’

Tuesday, 23 March 2021
Anita Heiss's new historical novel Bila Yarrudanggalangdhuray (S&S, May), the first Australian commercial fiction release to feature the title on the cover solely in an Aboriginal language, follows protagonist Wagadhaany,...

Windham-Campbell Prize recipients announced

Tuesday, 23 March 2021
In the US, the recipients of the 2021 Windham-Campbell Prizes, worth US$165,000 (A$213,000) each, have been announced. This year’s recipients are US playwrights Michael R Jackson and Nathan Alan Davis...

‘Cold Enough for Snow’ sells to multiple territories

Tuesday, 23 March 2021
Giramondo has sold rights to Jessica Au's Novel Prize–winning book Cold Enough for Snow in multiple territories. German rights were sold to Suhrkamp by Kathrin Scheel at This Book Travels after...

‘The Dictionary of Lost Words’ wins 2021 Indie Book of the Year

Tuesday, 23 March 2021
Pip Williams's debut novel The Dictionary of Lost Words (Affirm) has been named Book of the Year at the 2021 Indie Book Awards, presented by Leading Edge Books. The winning...

Inaugural Poetry Month set for August

Monday, 22 March 2021
Red Room Poetry will present the inaugural Poetry Month in August this year. The program will include daily poetic commissions by high-profile poets, a poetry-meets-songwriting competition, an international First Nations...

Push for EBA at Readings

Monday, 22 March 2021
The Retail and Fast Food Workers Union, representing staff at the Readings bookselling chain in Melbourne requesting an Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (EBA), has approached the company to open negotiations for...

UK publishing staff ‘crushed’, ‘unfocused’ after one year of Covid

Monday, 22 March 2021
In the UK, publishing staff are predicting a 50-50 split between home and office working in the future, while many feel ‘crushed, tired, unfocused and lacking in motivation’ after a...

Imlah leaves Pan Macmillan

Monday, 22 March 2021
Picador publisher Mathilda Imlah has left the role to move to Melbourne. Imlah was promoted from commissioning editor at Pan Macmillan to publisher of the Picador imprint in 2017. Before...

Dunedin Writers and Readers Festival program announced

Friday, 19 March 2021
The program for the Dunedin Writers and Readers Festival, which runs from 6–9 May, has been announced. The program features almost 60 local authors and artists speaking at more than...

Brisbane Writers Festival 2021 program announced

Friday, 19 March 2021
The program for the Brisbane Writers Festival (BWF), which will this year run from Friday 7 May to Sunday, 9 May, has been announced. ‘Starting this year, the First Word...

Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand name change

Friday, 19 March 2021
Hachette New Zealand has announced its name change to Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand. ‘Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand acknowledges the whakapapa of the country we live in and the groundswell of...

Greenaway, Carnegie Medal shortlists announced

Friday, 19 March 2021
In the UK, the shortlists for this year's CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals, celebrating outstanding achievement in children’s writing and illustration respectively, have been announced, reports the Bookseller. The works...