Vale Jean Bedford
Wednesday, 14 January 2026
Author and editor Jean Bedford died on 11 December 2025. The Newtown Review of Books writes: Writer and editor Jean Bedford died after a long illness on 11 December 2025....
Adelaide Writers’ Week cancelled
Wednesday, 14 January 2026
The outgoing Adelaide Festival board announced yesterday that Adelaide Writers’ Week (AWW) will not be held this year. The decision follows the withdrawal of more than 100 writers from the...
HarperCollins acquires Mason’s next novel
Wednesday, 14 January 2026
HarperCollins has acquired ANZ rights to Sophie, Standing There by Meg Mason, via a deal brokered by Felicity Blunt at Curtis Brown. Sophie, Standing There is a novel about “love, loneliness...
Indie Book Awards 2026 shortlists announced
Wednesday, 14 January 2026
The shortlists for the 2026 Indie Book Awards have been announced. Chosen from the longlist announced in December, the shortlisted titles in each category are: Fiction Mad Mabel (Sally Hepworth, Macmillan)...
Canelo acquires Puckboys MM romance series
Wednesday, 14 January 2026
UK publisher Canelo has acquired world English print rights to the Puckboys series by Eden Finley and Saxon James, in a 10-book deal between Canelo editorial director Emily Bedford and...
Read the latest Publishers Weekly
Wednesday, 14 January 2026
Books+Publishing is partnering with US trade news magazine Publishers Weekly to provide our subscribers with exclusive access to the weekly digital edition of PW magazine. View the edition here.
Oh Brother (Georgina Chadderton, Penguin)
Tuesday, 13 January 2026
Oh Brother by Georgina Chadderton is a warm, perceptive middle-grade graphic memoir about growing up alongside a sibling with high support needs. Set in the early 2000s, the book follows...
Bird Deity (John Morrissey, Text)
Tuesday, 13 January 2026
Shorter novels have made a strong resurgence in recent years – particularly in science fiction – and John Morrissey’s (Firelight) debut fiction novel, Bird Deity, sits squarely within this zeitgeist....
Side Character Energy (Olivia Tolich, Text)
Tuesday, 13 January 2026
Olivia Tolich’s Side Character Energy is a lively debut romantic comedy with a strong focus on self-discovery. When Bee starts dating William, Gertie is happy for her – instinctively so....
Trials of Hope (የተስፋ ፈተና)(Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes, Fremantle)
Tuesday, 13 January 2026
Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes’s Trials of Hope is a hybrid memoir in poetry and prose that feels less like a linear life story than a lived cosmology. Winner of the 2024...
Milly Meelyu (Holly Bradley & Darryl Fogarty, illus Corinne Fogarty, Fremantle)
Tuesday, 13 January 2026
Milly Meelyu is a thoughtful exploration of environment and wildlife protection, written by conservation biologist Holly Bradley and Badimia Elder Darryl Fogarty. Milly Meelyu is a skink who lives in...
How Do You Hide a Hippo? (Rebecca Grant, illus Jedda Robaard, Little Book Press)
Tuesday, 13 January 2026
Rebecca Grant’s How Do You Hide a Hippo? is a playful picture book that invites young readers to join a child’s increasingly silly attempts to conceal a hippo in unlikely...
Growing Up Digital: Helping Your Kids and Teens Navigate Life Online (Susan McLean, A&U)
Tuesday, 13 January 2026
Growing Up Digital, by Australia’s leading cybersafety expert, Susan McLean, is a grounded and genuinely useful guide for parents navigating life online with their children in an increasingly complex digital...
The Woman in the Spotlight (JR Lonie, HarperCollins)
Tuesday, 13 January 2026
In JR Lonie’s newest historical thriller, The Woman in the Spotlight, a young performer must outwit the oppressive control of the Nazi regime. Monika Varády, a Bavarian actress newly arrived...
Freddie Jones: The Mystery of the Troublesome Trees (Kate Foster, Walker)
Tuesday, 13 January 2026
Freddie Jones is an adventurer at heart. The first in a new series by award-winning author Kate Foster (Harriet Hound), Freddie Jones: The Mystery of the Troublesome Trees is a...
Books from abroad: Overseas nonfiction titles, February to April 2026
Tuesday, 13 January 2026
Food, personal growth and educational reads can all be found among the nonfiction titles arriving in Australia in 2026. Books+Publishing looks at some of the internationally authored titles on offer...
Books from abroad: Overseas fiction and poetry titles, February to April 2026
Tuesday, 13 January 2026
Historical fiction, romance and fantasy: international fiction titles are foregrounding intriguing settings and worldbuilding. Books+Publishing (B+P) lists some of the international fiction titles – as well as one poetry collection...
Books from abroad: Overseas CYA titles, February to April 2026
Tuesday, 13 January 2026
Some perennial favourite topics are set to arrive on our shores in the coming months: Books+Publishing shares new international CYA titles arriving in Australia in 2026, featuring plenty of fantasy...
Newcastle Short Story Award 2025 winners announced
Tuesday, 13 January 2026
The Hunter Writers’ Centre has announced the winners for this year’s Newcastle Short Story Award. First prize ($3000) “Solastalgia” by Liz Allan Second prize ($1500) “Migration” by Cassie Hamer Third...
Sharwood’s ‘Kosciuszko’ recognised in Polish awards
Tuesday, 13 January 2026
Anthony Sharwood’s Kosciuszko: The Incredible Life of the Man Behind the Mountain (Hachette) has received 3rd prize in a competition launched by Poland’s foreign affairs minister to recognise history books...
A&U acquires Jackman’s “Detention”
Tuesday, 13 January 2026
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired world rights to Detention, a new nonfiction title by author and teacher Ralph Jackman. According to the publisher, Detention is Jackman’s “powerful and moving memoir...
Sussex story awards shortlists released
Tuesday, 13 January 2026
The shortlisted writers in the 2 divisions of the 2025 Roly Sussex Short Story Competition, run by the Queensland Branch of the English-Speaking Union (ESU, have been announced. The $10,500...
Contestable Fund recipients announced
Tuesday, 13 January 2026
In New Zealand Aotearoa, the Publishers Association of New Zealand/Te Rau o Tākupu (PANZ) has announced the recipients of the Copyright Licensing New Zealand Contestable Fund Grants. Of the 59...
HarperCollins acquires Palaszczuk memoir
Tuesday, 13 January 2026
HarperCollins has acquired world rights to the former Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s memoir, Annastacia Palaszczuk: The Politics of Being Me. “In Annastacia Palaszczuk: The Politics of Being Me, Annastacia shares her...
Adler resigns as Adelaide Writers’ Week director
Tuesday, 13 January 2026
Louise Adler, director of Adelaide Writers’ Week (AWW) since 2023, has resigned in response to the Adelaide Festival board’s decision to withdraw Randa Abdel-Fattah’s invitation to attend this year’s festival....
Peter Porter Poetry Prize 2026 shortlist
Monday, 12 January 2026
Australian Book Review (ABR) has announced the shortlist for the 2026 Peter Porter Poetry Prize. Chosen from a longlist announced in December 2025, the shortlisted poets are: J Andros (United States)...
Ward apppointed GM of Byron Writers Festival
Monday, 12 January 2026
Byron Writers Festival has named Molly Ward as its new general manager, commencing in mid-January. Ward has wide experience managing major festivals, large-scale cultural events, and placemaking initiatives. “Passionate about...
2025 Hachette Australia Prize for Young Writers winners announced
Monday, 12 January 2026
Express Media and Hachette Australia have announced the winners of the 2025 Hachette Australia Prize for Young Writers. The winners, selected from 15 shortlisted pieces, are: Fiction Abigail Koh (WA)...
Gunaydin named Parramatta’s laureate in literature
Monday, 12 January 2026
Eda Gunaydin has been named the 2025 Parramatta Laureate in Literature. Gunaydin is a Turkish-Australian essayist and fiction writer who grew up in Western Sydney’s Blacktown. Her first essay collection, Root...
Read the latest Publishers Weekly
Wednesday, 7 January 2026
Books+Publishing is partnering with US trade news magazine Publishers Weekly to provide our subscribers with exclusive access to the weekly digital edition of PW magazine. View the edition here.
