News | Books+Publishing

Serong shortlisted for 2020 Staunch Book Prize

Wednesday, 4 November 2020
Australian author Jock Serong has been shortlisted for the 2020 Staunch Book Prize, having won the inaugural award in 2018 for On the Java Ridge (Text). Serong is shortlisted for...

‘The Killing Streets’ wins 2020 Danger Prize

Wednesday, 4 November 2020
The Killing Streets by Tanya Bretherton (Hachette) has won the 2020 Danger Prize. Bretherton, who has been shortlisted for the prize for each of her three books, thanked prize administrators...

Bookshop.org makes £65,000 in UK launch

Wednesday, 4 November 2020
In the UK, online retailer Bookshop.org made sales of around £65,000 (A$119,000) in its first day of trade on 2 November, reports the Bookseller. Around 150 independent bookshops have signed...

Hicks wins inaugural SBS Emerging Writers’ Competition

Wednesday, 4 November 2020
Papua New Guinean–Australian digital content maker, writer, director and producer Alana Hicks has won the inaugural SBS Emerging Writers’ Competition. Hicks’s entry was chosen as the winner from more than...

Report: Aus market up 4%, almost half of consumer sales online

Wednesday, 4 November 2020
A report commissioned by Booktopia from consultants Frost & Sullivan has forecast that Australia’s overall book sales in the 2021 financial year will be up 4% on the previous year,...

Booktopia to list on ASX in December

Wednesday, 4 November 2020
Australian online bookseller Booktopia has lodged a prospectus with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) to raise $43.1 million and list on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) in December....

Ngaio Marsh Award 2020 winners announced

Monday, 2 November 2020
Debut novelist Becky Manawatu has won the 2020 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel for Auē (Makaro Press). A novel portraying domestic violence and gang life, the book is...

Victorian libraries to celebrate Australian Reading Hour with ‘Dressmaker’ exclusive

Monday, 2 November 2020
More than 40 Victorian library services will promote a shared online Victoria Reads event to celebrate Australian Reading Hour on 12 November. The event, to be hosted by new Public...

‘Printed on Stone’ wins Victorian Premier’s History Award

Monday, 2 November 2020
Printed on Stone: The lithographs of Charles Troedel (Amanda Scardamaglia, Melbourne Books) has won the Victorian Premier’s History Award, as part of the Victorian Community History Awards. Scardamaglia’s book, about...

No ‘Daily’ on Tuesday

Monday, 2 November 2020
Please note that, due to the Melbourne Cup holiday on Tuesday, the next Daily newsletter will be published on Wednesday, 4 November. This week's Weekly Book Newsletter will be published...

French bookshops to re-enter lockdown

Friday, 30 October 2020
French bookshops and libraries will close for at least 15 days from 30 October, as the country enters a second lockdown to curb the rise in Covid-19 cases, reports the...

Wollongong Writers Festival 2020 program announced

Friday, 30 October 2020
The program for the eighth Wollongong Writers Festival, which will run online from 23 to 29 November, has been announced. Helen Garner, Tara June Winch, Bruce Pascoe, Dervla McTiernan and...

‘Smart Ovens for Lonely People’ wins 2020 Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction

Friday, 30 October 2020
The winner of the 2020 Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction is Smart Ovens for Lonely People by Elizabeth Tan (Brio). Readings Carlton manager Joe Rubbo, who judged the award...

Six Australian nominees for 2021 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award

Friday, 30 October 2020
Six Australian authors, illustrators and organisations have been announced as candidates for the 2021 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, the world’s richest prize for children’s literature. The Australian candidates are: Jeannie...

‘The Unforgiven’ shortlisted for UK sports book award

Friday, 30 October 2020
Ashley Gray’s The Unforgiven (Pitch Publishing) has been shortlisted for the UK-based William Hill Sports Book of the Year award. The Unforgiven tells the story of the 20 West Indies...

Wakefield announces YA horror anthology winning submissions

Thursday, 29 October 2020
Wakefield Press has announced the winning submissions to its national callout for contributions to its YA fiction anthology Hometown Haunts: #LoveOzYA Horror Tales. The four winning stories are: An 'intense,...

Inaugural $50k Historical Novel Prize shortlist announced

Thursday, 29 October 2020
The Historical Novel Society Australasia (HNSA) has announced the shortlist for the inaugural ARA Historical Novel Prize. The shortlisted novels are: Master of My Fate (Sienna Brown, Vintage) Shepherd (Catherine...

McClymont receives Danger Lifetime Achievement Award

Thursday, 29 October 2020
Walkley Award–winning investigative journalist Kate McClymont is the winner of the 2020 Danger Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by Bad: Sydney Crime Writers Festival. ‘Kate McClymont is a genuine investigative journalist....

When worlds collide: Alison Gibbs on ‘Repentence’

Wednesday, 28 October 2020
Alison Gibbs's 1970s–set novel Repentance (Scribe, January) is the story of a small Australian town that undergoes radical change when newcomers face off against the locals over the logging of...

Christmas buyers’ picks: Nicola Martin at Dymocks Sydney

Wednesday, 28 October 2020
In the lead-up to Christmas 2020, Books+Publishing is asking book buyers across the country to share the titles they’re investing in for the busiest time of year on the bookselling calendar. In...

Text acquires Webb ‘anti-usage’ guide

Wednesday, 28 October 2020
Text Publishing has acquired world rights to an 'anti-usage' language guide by ABC journalist Tiger Webb. Webb is the ABC’s language research specialist, providing broadcasters with pronunciation guidelines, updating the...

QBD to open two new Melbourne stores as Covid restrictions ease

Wednesday, 28 October 2020
The QBD bookselling chain has opened a new Parramatta store and will open two new stores in Melbourne before Christmas. The Parramatta store, in Westfield Shopping Centre, opened on 24...

‘Imperial Intimacies: A Tale of Two Islands’ wins Nayef Al-Rodhan Prize

Wednesday, 28 October 2020
In the UK, Hazel V Carby has won the £25,000 (A$46,750) Nayef Al-Rodhan Prize for Global Cultural Understanding for her book Imperial Intimacies: A Tale of Two Islands (Verso), reports the Bookseller....

Ibrahim wins 2020 Heyman Mentorship Award

Wednesday, 28 October 2020
HarperCollins Australia and Kathryn Heyman of the Australian Writers Mentoring Program have announced Naima Ibrahim as the winner of the 2020 Heyman Mentorship Award. Ibrahim’s winning fiction manuscript follows 10-year-old...