Oodgeroo Noonuccal honoured in inaugural Luminas
Thursday, 30 April 2026
Activist and poet Oodgeroo Noonuccal has been announced as the arts/creative honouree in the Hall of Fame category of the inaugural Luminas honours program. Presented by Diversity Arts Australia (DARTS)...
A&U acquires Barry’s “The Big Steal”
Thursday, 30 April 2026
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired ANZ rights to nonfiction title The Big Steal by journalist Paul Barry, direct from the author. The Big Steal recounts the story of Sanjeev...
“The Wild Life of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals” wins Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize
Thursday, 30 April 2026
The Wild Life of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals (Mike Barfield, illus by Paula Bossio, Buster Books), has been awarded the £10,000 (A$18,927) Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize. Chair of...
ASA/HQ Fiction Prize 2026 shortlist announced
Thursday, 30 April 2026
The Australian Society of Authors (ASA) and HarperCollins publishing division HQ have announced the shortlist for the 2026 ASA/HQ Fiction Prize for an unpublished manuscript. The shortlisted works, chosen from...
Rights round-up
Wednesday, 29 April 2026
Acquisitions Children’s Allen & Unwin has sold North American English-language rights to picture book CockadoodleMOO (Tanya Hennessy, illus by Shiloh Gordon) in a pre-empt before Bologna. Penguin Random House has...
Byron Writers Festival 2026 first authors announced
Wednesday, 29 April 2026
Byron Writers Festival, which will run in Byron Bay, NSW from 14 to 16 August 2026, has made its first author announcement, ahead of the full 2026 program release. Australian...
Affirm Press acquires Byrt’s “Dying Days”
Wednesday, 29 April 2026
Simon & Schuster imprint Affirm Press has acquired world rights to spy novel Dying Days by Aotearoa New Zealand author Anthony Byrt, via Nadine Rubin Nathan at High Spot Literary. Dying...
Times Printers: “Every story deserves a beautiful beginning”
Wednesday, 29 April 2026
In the lead-up to the 2026 Australian Book Industry Awards, Books+Publishing is inviting the event’s major sponsors to share little-known facts about their organisations, their top tips for booksellers and...
Rabah wins 2026 Calibre Essay Prize
Wednesday, 29 April 2026
The Australian Book Review (ABR) has announced Sahar Rabah as the 2026 winner of the $10,000 Calibre Essay Prize for her essay “Between Reality and Dreams”. “Between Reality and Dreams”...
Read the latest Publishers Weekly
Wednesday, 29 April 2026
Books+Publishing partners with US trade news magazine Publishers Weekly to provide our subscribers with exclusive access to the weekly digital edition of PW magazine. View the current edition.
LIT (Anna Woods, Echo)
Tuesday, 28 April 2026
Auckland-based writer Anna Woods’ debut novel, LIT, is a psychological thriller set in the same city, centring on 3 emotionally and professionally entangled architects: Virginia Ishak (Gin), Clarissa Taylor (Clary)...
Later, Only Love Remains (Leah Swann, HarperCollins)
Tuesday, 28 April 2026
In Later, Only Love Remains, Leah Swann (Sheerwater) returns with another literary thriller, following Jack Wolfe in the aftermath of a car crash that killed his wife while he was...
The Secret Garden Club (Wendy Lynn Newton, Macmillan)
Tuesday, 28 April 2026
Whimsical, witty and genuinely heartwarming, Wendy Lynn Newton’s The Secret Garden Club is a striking debut. When 52-year-old lapsed artist Hilary finds her husband of 30 years, newly retired engineer...
I’m Not Afraid of Spiders (Caitlin Henderson, illus Annie Henderson, CSIRO Publishing)
Tuesday, 28 April 2026
For many children, fear of spiders can get in the way of appreciating just how fascinating they really are. In I’m Not Afraid of Spiders, nature-loving sisters – award-winning wildlife...
Smoke, Rice, Water: Recipes and Stories from a Bengali Home (Kishwar Chowdhury, Hardie Grant)
Tuesday, 28 April 2026
Kishwar Chowdhury first captured national attention on MasterChef with her ambition to bring Bengali cuisine into the spotlight; Smoke, Rice, Water: Recipes and Stories from a Bengali Home is the...
Josie Mack and the MEGA Division (Bethany Loveridge, illus Jade Goodwin, Wombat Books)
Tuesday, 28 April 2026
Josie Mack and the MEGA Division by Bethany Loveridge (Renegade Timeline Officer) is a fun, adventurous tale that shows how children can respectfully interact with and safeguard native wildlife. Josie...
Milsom appointed AWW director; authors leave UQP over “Bila” cancellation; ABA Book of the Year shortlists
Tuesday, 28 April 2026
Rosemarie Milsom has been appointed director of Adelaide Writers’ Week; UQP authors, including Evelyn Araluen and Randa Abdel-Fattah, as well as UQP staff, have condemned the decision by the University...
Whitsundays Writers Festival announces 2026 program
Tuesday, 28 April 2026
Whitsundays Writers Festival has announced the program for its one-day event, to be held on 13 September 2026. Festival director Richard Evans said the 2026 program elevates local storytelling. “This...
Wiley acquires Phillips’s “The One-Page Investing Plan”
Tuesday, 28 April 2026
Wiley has acquired world rights to The One-Page Investing Plan: Start Simple, Stay Patient, Build Serious Wealth by Scott Phillips, direct from the author. The publisher said the book “makes...
Swan’s Miles High Club books set for screen adaptation
Monday, 27 April 2026
Amazon MGM Studios is developing a television series based on Australian author TL Swan’s Miles High Club romance novels. Swan will be an executive producer. Reporting the news, Deadline said...
Vale David Malouf
Friday, 24 April 2026
Author and poet David Malouf has died, aged 92. Penguin Random House Australia (PRH) writes: David Malouf wrote across fiction, nonfiction, poetry, libretti and plays and made a significant and...
Women’s Prize for Fiction 2026 shortlist announced
Thursday, 23 April 2026
The Women’s Prize for Fiction shortlist has been announced, which includes “6 powerful stories by new voices and established authors, interrogating women’s roles in society, showcasing women’s agency, and the...
“Pissants” to be adapted for television
Thursday, 23 April 2026
Filmmakers Jesse Laurie and Lewis Mulholland have optioned television rights to Pissants by Brandon Jack (Summit Books), via Alice Cottrell on behalf of the Jane Novak Literary Agency. Laurie, a...
HarperCollins acquires Johnston nonfiction title “Fifty Beating Wonders”
Wednesday, 22 April 2026
HarperCollins has acquired ANZ rights to the nonfiction title Fifty Beating Wonders by Michelle Johnston, via Martin Shaw at Shaw Literary. Publisher Catherine Milne said, “This is the book that...
Publishing Triangle Awards winners announced
Wednesday, 22 April 2026
In the US, the Publishing Triangle, an association of LGBTQ+ people in publishing, has announced winners for the 2026 Publishing Triangle Awards. Winners were announced for 10 categories, including: The...
Penguin Random House Australia: “The Penguin Modern Australian Classics will be treasured by readers for years to come”
Wednesday, 22 April 2026
In the lead-up to the 2026 Australian Book Industry Awards, Books+Publishing is inviting the event’s major sponsors to share little-known facts about their organisations, their top tips for booksellers and...
Bakers Lane acquires Strauss’s “Holding Space”
Wednesday, 22 April 2026
Bakers Lane Books has acquired world rights to the nonfiction title Holding Space by Gina Strauss. The publisher described Holding Space as a “hybrid memoir and professional guide offering reflections...
Lai’s “Cannon” shortlisted for Carol Shields Prize for Fiction
Wednesday, 22 April 2026
Australian cartoonist Lee Lai, who currently lives in Canada, has been shortlisted for the US$150,000 (A$209,673) Carol Shields Prize for Fiction for the graphic novel Cannon (Giramondo). The full 2026...
PANZ to host AWF festival director speed dating event, copyright workshop
Wednesday, 22 April 2026
The Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o Tāmaki (AWF) and the Publishers Association of New Zealand Te Rau o Tākupu (PANZ) will host an event to connect publishers and international festival...
Ball joins UQP; new owner for Robinsons; ABIA business shortlists
Wednesday, 22 April 2026
In local news this week, University of Queensland Press has announced the appointment of Ben Ball as publishing director “after an extensive recruitment process”; Denis Crema is the new owner...
