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Slatter announced as 2025 Hedberg Writer-in-Residence 

Angela Slatter photo. Thursday, 5 June 2025
The University of Tasmania has announced author Angela Slatter as the 2025 Hedberg Writer-in-Residence, running from 4 August to 12 December 2025. Slatter receives a $20,000 stipend, three months of...

Green appointed Story Factory chair 

Ali Green headshot Thursday, 5 June 2025
Ali Green has been appointed chair of the Story Factory board, replacing Gemma Salteri, who served three three-year terms. Story Factory is a not-for-profit organisation delivering creative writing programs for...

Summit Books acquires Gray’s ‘Chosen Family’

MaddyGray photo with credit to Zan Wimberley Thursday, 5 June 2025
Summit Books has acquired ANZ rights to Chosen Family by Madeleine Gray, via Grace Heifetz at a4 Literary. Overseas, Chosen Family was also acquired by Lettice Franklin at Orion (UK), via...

Melbourne Rare Book Week program announced

Melbourne Rare Book Week Wednesday, 4 June 2025
Rare Books Melbourne has announced the 2025 program for the Melbourne Rare Book Week, running 24 July to 2 August across Melbourne.  The program, which ‘celebrates the rich tradition and...

The quiet revolution of bookshop succession 

Wednesday, 4 June 2025
In the independent bookstores of Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, a new generation of book lovers is taking the reins. Incoming owners are learning that bookstores are more than just...

Kandrusevich, Strotsev awarded 2025 Prix Voltaire 

Nadia Kandrusevich and Dmitri Strotsev Wednesday, 4 June 2025
The International Publishers Association (IPA) has awarded exiled Belarusian Publishers Nadia Kandrusevich and Dmitri Strotsev the 2025 Prix Voltaire, which supports defenders of freedom to publish. Both Kandrusevich and Strotsey were...

AWF 2025: attendance, book sales up 

Michelle Porter Photography AWF2025 Gala Wednesday, 4 June 2025
Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o Tāmaki (AWF) has reported the overall attendance for the 2025 program, which ran 13–18 May, slightly exceeded last year’s record number of 85,000, as well...

Murdoch acquires Leong memoir

the cover of Guts by Melissa Leong Tuesday, 3 June 2025
Murdoch Books has acquired world rights to Guts by Melissa Leong, a ‘gripping, incisive, and darkly funny memoir’. ‘Guts is a powerful exploration of identity, resilience and finding the courage...

No newsletter on Monday

Tuesday, 3 June 2025
Books+Publishing will not publish a newsletter on Monday, 9 June due to the King’s Birthday public holiday. The next newsletter will be published on Tuesday, 10 June. The deadline for...

Bendigo Writers Festival 2025 program announced

Bendigo Writers Festival Tuesday, 3 June 2025
The program for the 2025 Bendigo Writers Festival program, which runs 15–17 August on Dja Dja Wurrung and Taungurung Country, has been announced.  The festival will open with an ABC Radio...

Hardie Grant Melbourne office moves to Collingwood 

An image of the new Hardie Grant offices, featuring HG books Tuesday, 3 June 2025
Hardie Grant has announced the relocation of its Melbourne office. The new office, located in the T3 building in Collingwood, offers ‘spaces for both teamwork and focused individual work, reflecting...

Roberts-Orr wins 2024 Anne Elder Award 

The cover of 'Raw Salt' by Izzy Roberts-Orr. Tuesday, 3 June 2025
Raw Salt (Vagabond Press) by Izzy Roberts-Orr has been announced the winner of the 2024 Anne Elder Award. The prize is awarded annually for a debut, solo-authored collection of poetry,...

The digital life of a neighbourhood bookstore 

Ramona Books logo Monday, 2 June 2025
Ramona Books is a new independent bookstore in Melbourne that’s quickly made a name for itself online. Books+Publishing's reviews editor Jess Lomas spoke with store owner Katie Smith about how...

Disher, Bishop on CWA Dagger shortlists 

The Crime Writers' Association Daggers Award logo. Monday, 2 June 2025
Garry Disher and DV Bishop have been shortlisted for the UK Crime Writers’ Association’s (CWA) 2025 Dagger Awards. Disher and Bishop were shortlisted from longlists announced earlier this year. The shortlisted...

Dorothy Hewett Award 2025 shortlist announced 

Dorothy Hewett shortlist 2025 tile Monday, 2 June 2025
UWA Publishing has announced the shortlist for the 2025 Dorothy Hewett Award for an unpublished manuscript. The shortlisted manuscripts, chosen from over 300 entries, are: ‘Clutch Feathers, Draw Breath’ by...

PRH acquires Stedman’s ‘A Far-flung Life’

PRH logo Monday, 2 June 2025
Penguin Random House (PRH) Australia has acquired ANZ rights to A Far-flung Life by ML Stedman. The novel will be published simultaneously with Doubleday in the UK. A Far-flung Life...

Fired US copyright chief sues over removal 

Thursday, 29 May 2025
Fired US Copyright Office director Shira Perlmutter has filed a lawsuit over her removal from the position earlier this month, reported Publishers Weekly (PW). Perlmutter has sued multiple defendants, including...

S&S acquires Pub Choir creator’s memoir

Astrid Jorgensen photo and book cover. Thursday, 29 May 2025
Simon & Schuster (S&S) Australia has acquired world rights to Average at Best, a memoir by Pub Choir founder and director Astrid Jorgensen, via Alex Adsett Literary Agency. 'Average at...

Ganner awarded 2025 Janet Mackenzie Medal

Julie Ganner Thursday, 29 May 2025
The Institute of Professional Editors (IPEd) announced Julie Ganner as the winner of its 2025 Janet Mackenzie Medal. Ganner has worked in the editing and publishing industry for over 35...

Who gets published in Aotearoa? Three key findings

Wednesday, 28 May 2025
A recent Booksellers NZ newsletter shared independent publisher Damien Levi’s analysis of 2023 publishing data on gender and ethnicity in Aotearoa. This analysis follows on from earlier work by writer...

Mary Gilmore Award 2025 shortlist announced

the ASAL logo Wednesday, 28 May 2025
The Association for the Study of Australian Literature (ASAL) has announced the shortlist for the 2025 Mary Gilmore Award, a prize for a poet's first book of poetry. Judges Kate...