News | Books+Publishing

Murdoch, Eadie to depart amid ‘structural changes’ at PRHNZ

Monday, 13 May 2024
Penguin Random House New Zealand (PRHNZ) director Becky Innes has confirmed the publisher is undertaking ‘structural changes’, with the Spinoff reporting that head of publishing Claire Murdoch and nonfiction publisher...

The Voice to Parliament Handbook wins ABIA book of the year

Thursday, 9 May 2024
The winners of the 2024 Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIAs) have been announced, with The Voice to Parliament Handbook (Thomas Mayo & Kerry O’Brien, HG Explore) taking out the overall book...

Hachette announces restructure, King to oversee international divisions

Thursday, 9 May 2024
Hachette has announced a restructure, involving changes to its UK and US operations, that the publisher says is ‘designed to meet consumer needs in all formats and fuel Hachette’s growth...

UQP sells First Nations Classics series to Bolinda

Thursday, 9 May 2024
UQP has sold world audio rights to the First Nations Classics series to Bolinda, in a 15-book deal brokered by rights and contracts manager Erin Sandiford. In 2023, UQP launched...

Birch, McMullin win 2024 Age Book of the Year awards

Thursday, 9 May 2024
The winners of the Age Book of the Year awards have been announced. Tony Birch won the fiction award for his novel Women & Children (UQP) and Ross McMullin won...

Brumby Sunstate acquires Bookreps NZ

Thursday, 9 May 2024
Queensland-based distributor Brumby Sunstate has acquired Bookreps NZ, and its distribution arm Publishers Distribution NZ, based in Auckland. Established in 1996, Bookreps NZ is an agency-based book sales businesses and...

Michelle See-Tho recommends

Wednesday, 8 May 2024
There are so many to choose from! I might go with The Body Country by Susie Anderson (full disclosure/humblebrag: we are friends). It launched in 2023, but I recently revisited...

Report: What the Creative Australia ‘Artists as Workers’ economic study has to tell us about writers

Wednesday, 8 May 2024
A new report from Creative Australia, Artists as Workers: An economic study of professional artists in Australia by David Throsby and Katya Petetskaya, ‘shows it is now harder than ever...

Levitina shortlisted for UK Historical Novel Society’s First Chapters Competition

Wednesday, 8 May 2024
Sydney author Julia Levitina has been shortlisted for the UK Historical Novel Society’s (HNS) First Chapters Competition. Levitina was shortlisted in the 20th-century historical fiction category for the opening chapters...

Western Sydney council votes to remove same-sex parenting books from libraries

Wednesday, 8 May 2024
Cumberland City Council, in Western Sydney, has passed a motion to remove same-sex parenting books from its library shelves, reports the ABC. In what the ABC described as ‘a heated...

Pulitzer Prize 2024 winners announced

Wednesday, 8 May 2024
In the US, the winners of the 2024 Pulitzer Prizes have been announced. The winners in the book categories were: Fiction Night Watch (Jayne Anne Phillips, Fleet) Nonfiction A Day...

Michelle See-Tho on ‘Jade and Emerald’

Tuesday, 7 May 2024
Michelle See-Tho is a freelance writer and copywriter whose debut novel, Jade and Emerald (Vintage, July 2024), won the 2023 Penguin Literary Prize. The novel is 'a wonderful escape into the...

PANZ 2024 conference first guests announced; Meredith appointed association director

Tuesday, 7 May 2024
The first guests for the Publishers Association of New Zealand Te Rau o Tākupu (PANZ) International Conference, to be held in Auckland on 1 and 2 August, have been announced....

Slaughter wins 2024 Calibre Essay Prize

Tuesday, 7 May 2024
Aotearoa New Zealand writer Tracey Slaughter has won the 2024 Australian Book Review (ABR) Calibre Essay Prize. Slaughter’s essay, ‘why your hair is long & your stories short’, was chosen...

Red Room to present poetry festival in partnership with BBC, ABC

Tuesday, 7 May 2024
Red Room Poetry will present the UK poetry and spoken word festival Contains Strong Language at venues across Gadigal and Dharug lands in Sydney in late August. The BBC founded...

Varuna announces Roderick Centre Fellowship for Regional and Remote Writers

Tuesday, 7 May 2024
Varuna, The National Writers’ House has announced a new fellowship program—the Roderick Centre Fellowship for Regional and Remote Writers. Described by Varuna as ‘the only national literary program in Australia...

S&S acquires McEwan romantasy duology

Tuesday, 7 May 2024
Simon & Schuster Australia has acquired ANZ rights to a two-book romantasy series by Stacey McEwan, via an exclusive submission from Amy Collins at Talcott Notch Literary. S&S Australia associate...

S&S agrees to acquire Netherlands publisher VBK

Tuesday, 7 May 2024
Simon & Schuster (S&S) has announced it has reached an agreement to acquire Netherlands publisher VBK (Veen Bosch & Keuning). ‘In the months since we became a standalone, independent publishing...

Fremantle Press’s Bookaburras program to receive support from Premier’s Summer Reading Challenge, KindiLink

Monday, 6 May 2024
Fremantle Press’s early reading program, Bookaburras, will launch a regional tour featuring Bookaburras Ambassadors across Western Australia, following the announcement of additional support from the Premier's Summer Reading Challenge and...