News | Books+Publishing

Griffith Review Novella Project 2020 winners announced

Tuesday, 21 July 2020
The winners of the Griffith Review’s Novella Project competition have been announced. The winning writers are: Rhianna Boyle Claire G Coleman Mikele Prestia Kate Veitch. The four winners share the $25,000...

UK customers unsure about returning to bookshops

Monday, 20 July 2020
In the UK, a Nielsen survey has found 35% of regular bookshop customers are unsure about returning to bricks and mortar shops now that lockdown has eased, reports the Bookseller....

McGuire appointed MWF artistic director

Monday, 20 July 2020
Michaela McGuire has been appointed artistic director of the Melbourne Writers Festival (MWF). McGuire, who has been artistic director of Sydney Writers Festival (SWF) since late 2016, will take up...

Publishers donate books for children in Melbourne public housing towers

Friday, 17 July 2020
Not-for-profit organisation AMSSA Youth Connect has worked with Readings to facilitate the donation of more than 1000 children's books from publishers including Hachette, Hardie Grant and Walker Books to residents...

Davitt Awards 2020 shortlists announced

Friday, 17 July 2020
Sisters in Crime Australia has announced the shortlists for the 2020 Davitt Awards for the best crime books by Australian women. The titles shortlisted in each category are: Adult crime...

McKinty, Pomare shortlisted for US-based Macavity Award

Friday, 17 July 2020
In the US, Irish-Australian author Adrian McKinty and New Zealand author J P Pomare have been shortlisted for the Mystery Readers International’s Macavity Awards. McKinty was shortlisted for the Best...

Winch wins 2020 Miles Franklin for ‘The Yield’

Thursday, 16 July 2020
Tara June Winch has won the 2020 Miles Franklin Literary Award for her second novel, The Yield (Hamish Hamilton). Winch, a Wiradjuri woman, is the fourth First Nations writer to...

KYD Unpublished Manuscript Award 2020 shortlist announced

Thursday, 16 July 2020
The shortlist for the 2020 Kill Your Darlings (KYD) Unpublished Manuscript Award has been announced. The shortlisted writers and their works are: ‘Abomination’ by Ashley Goldberg (fiction) ‘The Dead Falls’ by...

Frankfurt reveals virtual program details

Thursday, 16 July 2020
The organisers of the Frankfurt Book Fair, which will run from 12–18 October, have revealed the details of the fair’s virtual program, reports the Bookseller. As previously reported, in May...

S&S acquires two new Blanchard novels

Thursday, 16 July 2020
Simon & Schuster Australia (S&S) has acquired world rights to two new books by historical fiction author Tania Blanchard. The first book in the new contract, like Blanchard's previous novels,...

EK Books acquires picture book from Exisle Academy participant

Thursday, 16 July 2020
Exisle Publishing has acquired Cookie, a debut picture book by 18-year-old writer Isabelle Duff. Duff was part of the first intake of students to participate in 'Exisle Academy', an author...

Green dream: Ketan Joshi on ‘Windfall’

Wednesday, 15 July 2020
Windfall: Unlocking a fossil-free future (NewSouth, September) is renewable energy industry insider Ketan Joshi's account of two decades’ worth of climate wars in Australia. 'The minutiae of climate science can...

Scribe acquires Doig’s ‘We Are All Preppers Now’

Wednesday, 15 July 2020
Scribe has acquired world English-language rights to Tom Doig’s third full-length book, We Are All Preppers Now, a narrative nonfiction work that examines the practices of survivalism and doomsday prepping...

ACT Writers publishes open letter regarding CWF 2020

Wednesday, 15 July 2020
ACT Writers has stated in an open letter published Sunday, 12 July that ‘as it currently stands, [it] cannot support or promote’ the 2020 Canberra Writers Festival (CWF). However, in...

Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize 2020 shortlist announced

Wednesday, 15 July 2020
The Australian Book Review (ABR) has announced the shortlist for the 2020 Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize. The shortlisted works and their authors are: 'Egg Timer' by C J Garrow (Vic) 'Hieroglyph'...

HarperCollins announces Books Bring Us Together campaign

Wednesday, 15 July 2020
HarperCollins Australia is launching Books Bring Us Together, a campaign aimed at celebrating 'the power of reading and the importance of local booksellers to our communities'. The campaign will include...

McKinty, McTiernan win 2020 Thriller Awards

Tuesday, 14 July 2020
Adrian McKinty and Dervla McTiernan have won in their respective categories at the International Thriller Writers’ Thriller Awards 2020. McKinty's The Chain (Hachette) was named best hardcover novel, while McTiernan's...

BA welcomes Gardners expansion

Tuesday, 14 July 2020
In the UK, the Booksellers Association (BA) has welcomed the news that wholesaler Gardners has bought assets of Bertrams, the book wholesaler that went into administration earlier this year. Last...

Yager awarded 2020 Reading Australia Fellowship

Tuesday, 14 July 2020
The Copyright Agency has announced Karen Yager, deputy head at Knox Grammar School in New South Wales, is the 2020 recipient of the Reading Australia Fellowship for Teachers of English...

Affirm acquires Grills’ ‘big beautiful female theory’

Tuesday, 14 July 2020
Affirm Press has acquired ANZ rights to big beautiful female theory, an illustrated collection of 'memoir–essays' by comics artist, critic and poet Eloise Grills, in a deal brokered by Martin...

Booksellers establish new literary journal

Tuesday, 14 July 2020
In Victoria, Mornington Peninsula booksellers Celeste Deliyiannis and Emily Westmoreland have created a new annual literary journal in response to Covid-19. PENinsula will incorporate photography, short fiction, nature writing and...