News | Books+Publishing

2024 Prix Voltaire shortlist announced

Wednesday, 12 June 2024
The International Publishers Association (IPA) has announced the 2024 shortlist for the Prix Voltaire. This year’s shortlist, announced at the World Expression Forum, includes: Osman Kavala, Türkiye Dušan Gojkov, Balkan...

McIntosh’s ‘The Pearl Thief’ to be adapted for film

Tuesday, 11 June 2024
Penguin Random House (PRH) has announced Fiona McIntosh’s The Pearl Thief is being adapted into a feature film. Made Up Stories, led by Bruna and Steve Hutensky, will produce the...

Orwell Prizes 2024 shortlists announced

Tuesday, 11 June 2024
In the UK, the shortlists for the 2024 Orwell Prizes for political writing have been announced. The titles shortlisted for the political writing book prize are: The Achilles Trap: Saddam...

Bill introduced to establish Writing Australia, First Nations Arts bodies

Tuesday, 11 June 2024
Federal arts minister Tony Burke introduced a bill to parliament on 5 June to formally establish Writing Australia and First Nations Arts as bodies within Creative Australia. Following on from...

WA Premier’s Book Awards 2024 winners announced

Tuesday, 11 June 2024
The winners of the 2024 Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards have been announced. At the awards, presented on 7 June at the State Library of Western Australia, novelist Gail Jones...

Book industry figures recognised in King’s Birthday Honours

Tuesday, 11 June 2024
Several book industry figures were among those recognised in the 2024 King’s Birthday Honours. Bundjalung artist and illustrator Bronwyn Bancroft was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia (AO), for ‘significant...

No newsletter on Monday

Friday, 7 June 2024
Books+Publishing will not publish a newsletter on Monday, 10 June due to the King’s Birthday public holiday. The next newsletter will be published on Tuesday, 11 June. The deadline for...

Dick and Joan Green Family Award for Tasmanian History 2024 shortlist

Thursday, 6 June 2024
The shortlist has been announced for the 2024 Dick and Joan Green Family Award for Tasmanian History, worth $25,000. The shortlisted works, chosen from a longlist of seven announced in...

NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults 2024 finalists announced

Thursday, 6 June 2024
In Aotearoa New Zealand the 2024 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults finalists have been announced. The finalists in each category are: Picture book award ($8500) At...

Upswell acquires Holt poetry collection, ‘Fitzroy North 3068’

Thursday, 6 June 2024
Upswell Publishing has acquired world rights to a new collection of poetry from Yvette Henry Holt, titled Fitzroy North 3068, via Jeanne Ryckmans and Lou Johnson at Key People Literary...

Educational publishers file lawsuit against Google

Thursday, 6 June 2024
In the US, several educational publishers have filed a lawsuit against Google, alleging that it violates the Copyright Act and supports piracy, reports Publishing Perspectives. Plaintiffs Elsevier, Cengage Learning, Macmillan...

Penguin Literary Prize 2024 winner announced

Thursday, 6 June 2024
Penguin Random House (PRH) has announced The Occupation by Chloe Adams as the winner of the 2024 Penguin Literary Prize. Shortlisted as ‘Those Days of Hill and Sea’, The Occupation...

ALS Gold Medal 2024 shortlist announced

Thursday, 6 June 2024
The shortlist for the 2024 Australian Literature Society (ALS) Gold Medal has been announced. The shortlisted works, chosen from a longlist announced last month, are: Frank (Jordie Albiston, NLA Publishing) Like...

Liz Evans on ‘Catherine Wheel’

Wednesday, 5 June 2024
Based in Tasmania, Liz Evans is a British-born journalist, author, former psychotherapist and academic with a PhD in creative writing. Her latest novel, Catherine Wheel (Ultimo, August 2024), is ‘a...

A&U acquires London debut

Wednesday, 5 June 2024
Allen & Unwin has acquired world rights to debut novel Love on the Air by radio presenter and podcaster Ash London. Love on the Air follows radio host Alex York...

SWF and MWF bestsellers revealed

Wednesday, 5 June 2024
Booksellers at the Sydney Writers' Festival and the Melbourne Writers Festival—both of which took place in May—have released their lists of bestselling titles from the events. Sydney Writers' Festival Gleebooks...

Full BookUp 2024 program announced

Wednesday, 5 June 2024
The Australian Publishers Association (APA) has announced the full program for the 2024 BookUp conference, which will take place on 7 August at State Library Victoria in Melbourne. Innovation and...

UK reports find children reading fewer books, writing less

Wednesday, 5 June 2024
In the UK, an annual report tracking the book-reading habits of around 1.2 million students across the UK and Ireland has found a drop of 4.4% in the number of...

Liz Evans recommends

Tuesday, 4 June 2024
The last Australian book I read and loved was Katherine Brabon’s Body Friend. It was so unusual and mysterious—and very elegantly crafted. It provides some beautifully profound insights into living...

US audiobook sales up 9%, concerns about author payments

Tuesday, 4 June 2024
In the US, the Audio Publishers Association (APA) has released annual sales survey results showing the US audiobook market grew by 9% to $2 billion (A$2.99b), in 2023, reports Publishers...

Affirm acquires Fioretti outback noir ‘Skull River’

Tuesday, 4 June 2024
Affirm Press has acquired world rights to Pip Fioretti’s second outback noir novel, Skull River. Set in 1912, Skull River features mounted trooper Augustus (Gus) Hawkins, the protagonist of Fioretti’s first...

Booktopia considers redundancies for ‘at least 50 roles’, Nenke resigns as CEO

Monday, 3 June 2024
Booktopia has announced plans for the business to be ‘substantially restructured, with at least 50 roles to be considered for redundancy’ across several departments in Booktopia’s corporate headquarters in Rhodes,...

Jhalak prizes 2024 winners announced

Monday, 3 June 2024
In the UK, Yepoka Yeebo has won the 2024 Jhalak Prize for Anansi’s Gold: The man who swindled the world (Bloomsbury), and Hiba Noor Khan has won the Jhalak Children’s...

Robertson wins 2024 Commonwealth Short Story Prize Pacific category

Monday, 3 June 2024
Aotearoa New Zealand writer Pip Robertson has won the Pacific category of the 2024 Commonwealth Short Story Prize for the story ‘A River Then the Road’, in which a 12-year-old...

SPN plans expanded board, ‘new, revitalised’ organisation; Coronel to depart

Friday, 31 May 2024
The Small Press Network (SPN) has announced that ‘thanks to the kind support from members and stakeholders, we are now in a position to strategise for the organisation’s future by...

NewSouth acquires Wyndham’s Harrower biography

Thursday, 30 May 2024
NewSouth has acquired world rights to a new biography of Australian novelist Elizabeth Harrower by Susan Wyndham. Harrower received the Patrick White Award in 1996, established by White for writers...

Bloomsbury acquires RLPG’s US academic publishing business

Thursday, 30 May 2024
UK-based Bloomsbury Publishing has acquired the academic publishing business of US publisher Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group (RLPG), reports Publishers Weekly (PW). The purchase—for US$83 million (A$125.5m)—marks the biggest acquisition...

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