Randa Abdel-Fattah sues Bendigo Writers Festival organisers
Tuesday, 21 July 2026
Author Randa Abdel-Fattah has launched legal action against the organisers of the Bendigo Writers Festival, reported ABC News. Abdel-Fattah is claiming Greater Bendigo City Council and Bendigo Writers Festival–sponsor La...
Researchers to investigate local editor and publisher AI use
Tuesday, 21 July 2026
University of Melbourne researchers Katherine Day and Sharon Mullins and RMIT researcher Rose Michael are surveying publishers and editors about their use of generative AI tools to understand how they...
Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize longlist announced
Tuesday, 21 July 2026
The Australian Book Review (ABR) has announced the longlist for the 2026 Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize. The longlisted stories are: Ursula Brunetti for “Peach” Belinda Castles for “Connie” Sally Cunningham for “Pliable Bones” Laura...
Meet the Rising Stars: Caleb Vines
Monday, 20 July 2026
The Australian Publishers Association (APA) Rising Star award recognises an emerging talent in Australian publishing with less than 10 years’ experience in the industry. In the lead-up to the winner...
Hardie Grant appointed delivery partner for First Nations editorial development program
Monday, 20 July 2026
Following an expression of interest process led by Writing Australia, Hardie Grant has been appointed as the new delivery partner for the First Nations editorial development program formerly known as...
“Urchin Convicts” wins 2026 Dick and Joan Green Family Award for Tasmanian History
Monday, 20 July 2026
Alistair Scott has won the 2026 Dick and Joan Green Family Award for Tasmanian History, worth $25,000, for Urchin Convicts: The Point Puer boys in Van Diemen’s Land (Forty South). Urchin...
Tasmanian Writers and Illustrators Mentorship Program 2026 recipients announced
Monday, 20 July 2026
The Australian Society of Authors (ASA) has announced the 2026 recipients of the Tasmanian Writers and Illustrators Mentorship Program. The writers receiving 20-hour mentorships are: Fiction Laura Batham for “Dates...
Rebecca Perry wins 2026 Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize
Monday, 20 July 2026
In the UK, Rebecca Perry has won the 2026 Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize worth £5000 for May We Feed the King (Granta Books). Chosen from a shortlist of 6, Perry’s...
Second year of decline in German book market
Thursday, 16 July 2026
The German book market has recorded a decline for a second year running, reports the Bookseller. Trade association Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels reported a 2.7% decline year-on-year for the German book...
Industry bodies welcome prime minister’s comments on AI and copyright
Thursday, 16 July 2026
The Australian Publishers Association (APA) and Australian Society of Authors (ASA) have welcomed comments made by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese regarding AI and copyright. Speaking on Wednesday 14 July, the...
WORD Christchurch Festival 2026 program announced
Thursday, 16 July 2026
WORD Christchurch Festival has announced its program for this year’s event, running from 1 to 6 September 2026. The festival will feature more than 100 writers, thinkers and performers in...
Mudgee Readers’ Festival 2026 program announced
Thursday, 16 July 2026
Mudgee Readers’ Festival (MRF) has announced the full program for its 2026 festival, running 21 to 23 August, featuring conversations, workshops and special events at venues across Wiradjuri Country, Mudgee,...
George Robertson Awards 2026 winners
Thursday, 16 July 2026
The Australian Publishers Association (APA) has announced the 2026 winners of the George Robertson Award. The recipients, chosen by the APA board of directors, are: Linda Bruce, account manager, Hachette...
Newcastle Writers Festival appoints managing and artistic directors
Thursday, 16 July 2026
Newcastle Writers Festival (NWF) has promoted program manager Amy Lovat to the role of artistic director and appointed Tristan Sharp as managing director, following a national recruitment process. The appointments...
Meet the Rising Stars: Annie Zhang
Thursday, 16 July 2026
The Australian Publishers Association (APA) Rising Star award recognises an emerging talent in Australian publishing with less than 10 years’ experience in the industry. In the lead-up to the winner...
Alert but not alarmed on AI?
Wednesday, 15 July 2026
The Australian Publishers Association (APA) is encouraged by the government’s direction on copyright and AI but, like creators, remains wary of future pressure from AI companies; the Copyright Agency has...
Doubleday to launch new paperback reissue imprint
Wednesday, 15 July 2026
In the US, Penguin Random House division Doubleday is launching a new paperback reissue imprint, reports Publishers Weekly (PW). Outsider Editions, to be led by Doubleday vice president and executive editor...
Australian Publishers Association “encouraged” by government signals as Albanese to announce Office of AI
Wednesday, 15 July 2026
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is today expected to deliver a major speech about AI and announce the establishment of the Office of AI in the Department of the Prime Minister...
Cultural Fund latest funding round announced
Wednesday, 15 July 2026
Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund has awarded more than $680,000 in funding to Australian authors, visual artists, teachers and creative organisations through its 2026 grants program, supporting the creation of new...
Shalom Collective Australian Jewish Writer Awards 2026 shortlists
Wednesday, 15 July 2026
The shortlists for the 2026 Shalom Collective Australian Jewish Writer Awards have been announced. In 2026, a poetry award is being presented for the first time. The works are: The...
Kill Your Darlings launches poetry prize
Wednesday, 15 July 2026
Literary journal Kill Your Darlings (KYD) has launched a new poetry prize. The KYD Poetry Prize is “dedicated to creating new space for the beauty, experimentation and radical linguistic potential...
“Only an oligarch could afford it”: Booksellers Aotearoa’s Renee Rowland on selling at RRP
Wednesday, 15 July 2026
As the Australian Booksellers Association proposes a tax offset to recognise the gap between booksellers’ cultural value and ability to remain in business, Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand association manager Renée...
Allen & Unwin acquires Sue Williams historical novel “Macarthur’s Daughters”
Wednesday, 15 July 2026
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired English language rights to the historical novel Macarthur’s Daughters by Sue Williams from Fiona Inglis at Curtis Brown. The novel takes as its subjects...
Local author wins “BookBrunch” Selfie award for hybrid novel
Wednesday, 15 July 2026
Australian author Luke Icarus Simon has won the memoir category of the 2026 Selfies Book Awards in the UK for his hybrid novel The Art in My Palm (Stirling Publishers)....
Meet the Rising Stars: Skye Cusack
Wednesday, 15 July 2026
The Australian Publishers Association (APA) Rising Star award recognises an emerging talent in Australian publishing with less than 10 years’ experience in the industry. In the lead-up to the winner...
Stella Prize increases longlist to 16
Wednesday, 15 July 2026
The Stella Prize will increase its longlist from 12 to 16 books in 2027. Each longlisted author will receive $2,000, with shortlisted authors receiving $5,000 and the overall winner awarded...
Sweatshop Hachette scholarship recipients announced
Tuesday, 14 July 2026
Katie Shammas and Mark Mariano have been named the inaugural recipients of the Sweatshop Hachette Australia Scholarship. Announced earlier this year, the annual scholarship program is for two First Nations...
ABA announces Summer Circuit events
Tuesday, 14 July 2026
The Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) has announced Summer Circuit, a new series of networking and presentation events, “designed to bring booksellers together ahead of the summer selling season”. “Whether you...
Hachette launches Reflect RAP
Tuesday, 14 July 2026
Hachette Australia has launched its Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), which has been endorsed by Reconciliation Australia. The publisher’s RAP was launched during NAIDOC Week, which ran 5 to 12...
Meet the Rising Stars: Jaimi Kuster
Tuesday, 14 July 2026
The Australian Publishers Association (APA) Rising Star award recognises an emerging talent in Australian publishing with less than 10 years’ experience in the industry. In the lead-up to the winner...
