News | Books+Publishing

Hardie Grant acquires Wankernomics

Wednesday, 16 April 2025
Hardie Grant has acquired world rights to Wankernomics by comedians James Schloeffel and Charles Firth. Wankernomics is ‘the hilarious must-have handbook for anyone who has ever had to endure the buzzwords,...

Upswell acquires Vincent hybrid memoir/prose poem/history

Wednesday, 16 April 2025
Upswell Publishing has acquired world rights to Fourteen Ways of Looking, a 'hybrid memoir/prose poem/history' by Erin Vincent, with US rights sold to Deep Vellum and UK rights to CB...

Carol Shields Prize for Fiction 2025 shortlist revealed

Wednesday, 16 April 2025
The 2025 shortlist for the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction has been announced. Shortlisted titles are: All Fours (Miranda July, Canongate) Code Noir (Canisia Lubrin, Soft Skull) Liars (Sarah Manguso,...

APA collates, launches First Nations publishing resources

Wednesday, 16 April 2025
This month saw the publication of a new set of First Nations publishing resources collated by the Australian Publishers Association (APA) to support Australian publishers when publishing First Nations stories. ...

Raisin shortlisted for Romantic Novel of the Year Award

Wednesday, 16 April 2025
Perth-based writer Rebecca Raisin has been shortlisted for the Contemporary Romance Novel Award for her book A Love Letter to Paris (Boldwood) in the 2025 Romantic Novel of the Year...

State Library NSW announces refurbishment, temporary closures

Wednesday, 16 April 2025
The State Library of New South Wales (SLNSW) has announced a refurbishment of their Macquarie Street building. The Macquarie Street building — including the Bashir Reading Room, Library bookshop and...

Thomas Vowles recommends

Tuesday, 15 April 2025
Losing Face by George Haddad. He knows something about the complicated nature of the human soul. I can’t wait to see what he does next.

Thomas Vowles on ‘Our New Gods’

Tuesday, 15 April 2025
Melbourne-based screenwriter and author Thomas Vowles makes his novel debut with Our New Gods (UQP, June), a ‘twisty and menacing’ psychological literary thriller set in Melbourne’s queer scene that is...

American Library Association releases 2024’s 10 most challenged books

Tuesday, 15 April 2025
In the US, National Library Week (NLA) has concluded after a week celebrating the ‘essential role that libraries, along with library professionals and workers, play in changing people’s lives and...

Aurealis Awards 2024 finalists announced

Tuesday, 15 April 2025
The 2024 finalists for the Aurealis Awards, which recognise 'the achievements of Australian science fiction, fantasy and horror writers', have been announced. Awards are presented across 15 categories. The finalists...

Global Book Crawl attracts over 60 Australian bookstores

Tuesday, 15 April 2025
The Australian arm of the Global Book Crawl – an international initiative to ‘unite independent bookshops worldwide in a celebration of local literature, community, and culture’ – will include more...

2025 Speculate Prize for Emerging Writers longlist announced

Tuesday, 15 April 2025
The Emerging Writers' Festival (EWF), in partnership with RMIT, has announced the longlist for the 2025 Speculate Prize for Emerging Writers. The prize is open to any short work from...

PRH acquires Carter middle-grade series

Tuesday, 15 April 2025
Penguin Random House (PRH) Australia has acquired ANZ rights for Reece Carter's new middle-grade series The Nightmare League, in a six-publisher auction brokered by Gemma Cooper from Gemma Cooper Literary....

NT Writers Festival announces 2025 program

Tuesday, 15 April 2025
The Northern Territory Writers Festival (NTWF) has announced its 2025 program, which will run 29 May–1 June on Arrernte Country, Mparntwe/Alice Springs. Events will take place outdoors at the Olive...

Atria Books acquires debut Peppernell novel

Tuesday, 15 April 2025
Atria Books Australia has acquired world rights (ex North America) to poet Courtney Peppernell's debut novel, The Last Poem. 'Bestselling author and poet Wren Paisley is a mess after the...

Regional shortlist released for 2025 Commonwealth Short Story Prize

Tuesday, 15 April 2025
Three Aotearoa New Zealand writers and three Australian writers are among the finalists for the 2025 Commonwealth Short Story Prize. The writers shortlisted for the Pacific region are: ‘Crab Sticks...

‘Small Rain’ named 2025 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction

Monday, 14 April 2025
Garth Greenwell’s Small Rain (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) has been selected as the winner of the 2025 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, worth US$15,000 (A$23,771). Small Rain was chosen from a shortlist...

Collins to open Queanbeyan store

Monday, 14 April 2025
A new Collins Booksellers franchise store will open in Queanbeyan, New South Wales in May. The store is ‘locally owned and deeply connected to the Queanbeyan community,’ according to Collins,...

2025 Calibre Essay Prize shortlist announced

Monday, 14 April 2025
The Australian Book Review (ABR) has announced the 2025 Calibre Essay Prize shortlist. Shortlisted essays include: ‘Tracing Threads’ (Anneke Bender, US) ‘Consolation of Clouds’ (Robin Boord, SA) ‘Inner World Supertramp’ (Chris...