News | Books+Publishing

Two Milligan novels optioned for TV

Tuesday, 3 March 2026
Allen & Unwin has optioned Louise Milligan’s crime novels Pheasants Nest and Shellybanks (both A&U) for screen adaptation by Ambience Entertainment. Pheasants Nest (2024) follows the abduction of journalist Kate Delaney...

Inaugural Fearless Prize goes to Perkins for “New Growth”

Tuesday, 3 March 2026
Bakers Lane Books has awarded its inaugural Fearless Prize to journalist Miki Perkins for her debut novel, New Growth. Perkins receives a $10,000 advance and publication of the novel. The...

Hachette acquires Sunday’s “Kill to Love”

Tuesday, 3 March 2026
Hachette Australia has acquired world rights to the novel Kill to Love by Penny Sunday after a 2-book auction with 5 bidders, in agent Chloe Berry’s first print deal since...

Pantera acquires Coombs Marr’s “Queerstralia”

Tuesday, 3 March 2026
Pantera Press has acquired world rights to Queerstralia, comedian Zoë Coombs Marr’s exploration of Australia’s untold queer history. The book is a companion volume to the 2023 ABC documentary of...

Cannon leaves Monash University Publishing

Tuesday, 3 March 2026
Senior marketing coordinator Sarah Cannon is leaving Monash University Publishing after 21 years. Cannon, who has 35 years’ experience in publishing, joined Monash at the press's inception in 2004. “Since that time,”...

Cash boost and new strategy for UK public libraries

Tuesday, 3 March 2026
The UK Government has announced a funding boost of up to £150,000 (A$283,000) for public libraries in support of the National Year of Reading, reported the Bookseller yesterday. A further...

French book-tracker adding next-day sales reporting

Monday, 2 March 2026
Filéas, the French book-tracker launched just under a year ago, has added next-day sales reporting to its services, reported the Bookseller. The move was revealed in the French trade magazine...

Christmas Press acquires Cullen middle-grade novel

Monday, 2 March 2026
Christmas Press has acquired world rights in The Secret of Panther Valley, a mystery/adventure novel for middle-grade readers by author Brenton Cullen, via Debbie Golvan of Golvan Arts Management. Staying...

“Security Questions” wins Poetry in Translation Prize

Monday, 2 March 2026
Osdany Morales’s Security Questions, translated from the Spanish by Harry Bauld, is the inaugural winner of the Poetry in Translation Prize, co-awarded by Giramondo. Shortlisted under the translated title of...

Sorrento Writers Festival program launched

Monday, 2 March 2026
Described as “Victoria’s biggest literary event”, Sorrento Writers Festival has launched a 155-session program across 10 venues in the Victorian beachside towns of Sorrento and Portsea from 23 to 26...

Trans Book Festival program launched

Monday, 2 March 2026
The full program has been launched for the second annual Trans Book Festival, which focuses on “uplifting and celebrating trans and gender diverse (TGD) literary excellence in all narrative forms.”...

Larrikan acquires Galatola picture book

Monday, 2 March 2026
Larrikan has acquired world rights to Jess Galatola’s The Witch Who Couldn’t Spell, illustrated by Lu Baker. The book follows the adventures of Wanda Spelled, “a little witch with a...

HarperCollins acquires Fineberg novel

Monday, 2 March 2026
HarperCollins has acquired world rights to Warren Fineberg’s novel A Boy from Buchenwald in a deal negotiated by Lyn Tranter at Australian Literary Management. According to the publisher, “A Boy...

Winter Institute: Independent US publishers stress collaboration

Thursday, 26 February 2026
In the US, the Winter Institute of the American Booksellers Association (ABA) opened in Pittsburgh on Monday with the Independent Publishers Caucus (IPC) summit, reported Publishers Weekly’s Claire Kirch and...

Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards 2026 winners announced

Thursday, 26 February 2026
The Wheeler Centre has announced the winners of the 2026 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards. Goorie and Koori poet and academic Evelyn Araluen has won the overall Victorian Prize for Literature,...

Larrikin acquires Purcell novel

Thursday, 26 February 2026
Larrikin House has acquired world rights to John Purcell’s novel The Amateur’s Guide to Killing Bad Guys. The novel begins on the “worst day” of entrepreneur Matthew Burton’s life. “The...

International Booker Prize longlist revealed

Wednesday, 25 February 2026
In the UK, the longlist for the 2026 International Booker Prize, worth £50,000 (A$95,597), has been announced. Longlisted titles are: The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran (Shida Bazyar, trans Ruth Martin,...

NZ Booklovers Awards 2026 shortlists announced

Wednesday, 25 February 2026
In Aotearoa New Zealand, the 2026 NZ Booklovers Awards shortlists have been announced. Shortlisted titles include: Best Adult Fiction Book 1985 (Dominic Hoey, Penguin) A Beautiful Family (Jennifer Trevelyan, A&U)...

Diversity Arts Australia report; new Australian Poetry head; Notable children’s books

Wednesday, 25 February 2026
Local news Diversity Arts Australia (DARTS) released “Fair Play Reflections”, an evaluation of the Fair Play equity and culture-change initiative over the past 7 years; and Australia’s peak poetry body,...

Narrative Muse recognised by UNESCO centre

Wednesday, 25 February 2026
Aotearoa New Zealand–based content discovery company Narrative Muse is among 100 projects recognised by the International Research Centre on Artificial Intelligence (IRCAI) for its application of generative AI. Narrative Muse...