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Read the latest Publishers Weekly 

Monday, 16 March 2020
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.

LEB conference postponed

Monday, 16 March 2020
Leading Edge Books (LEB) has postponed the upcoming LEB conference, scheduled for 22–24 March, in response to the coronavirus pandemic. LEB said in a statement this morning that it has...

National Book Critics Circle Awards winners announced

Monday, 16 March 2020
In the US, the winners of the 2019 National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) Awards have been announced. The winners include: Fiction Everything Inside: Stories (Edwidge Danticat, Knopf) Nonfiction Say Nothing:...

Evaristo, Taddeo, Jamison among 2020 SWF lineup

Friday, 13 March 2020
The program has been announced for the 2020 Sydney Writers’ Festival (SWF), which runs from 27 April to 3 May. Over 400 local and international writers, journalists and public figures...

Claire Christian’s debut adult novel sold to US 

Friday, 13 March 2020
Text Publishing has sold rights in multiple territories to Claire Christian’s forthcoming debut adult novel It’s Been a Pleasure, Noni Blake, which the publisher describes as ‘a quirky, feel-good novel...

Rights round-up 

Thursday, 12 March 2020
Sales Fiction Text Publishing has sold German-language rights to The Beautiful Fall (Hugh Breakey) in a six-figure deal to Blanvalet (PRH Germany), where it was acquired by Diana Neiczer (see...

Australia’s literary readership is shrinking

Thursday, 12 March 2020
‘I think we are in a period of stagnation. New titles continue to be published into the established categories, and readers are even more prone than before to act like...

RiP Shirley Stackhouse

Thursday, 12 March 2020
Sydney-based author and gardening personality Shirley Stackhouse has died, aged 92. Stackhouse was the Sydney Morning Herald’s gardening columnist for more than 30 years, during which time she dispatched gardening advice and illustrated the column with...

S&S, Nielsen withdraw from LEB conference 

Thursday, 12 March 2020
Simon & Schuster Australia (S&S) and Nielsen Book Australia will not attend this year’s Leading Edge Books (LEB) Conference, which is due to run from 22–24 March in Brisbane. In...

ASA/HQ Commercial Fiction Prize shortlist announced

Thursday, 12 March 2020
The Australian Society of Authors (ASA) and HarperCollins imprint HQ Fiction have announced the inaugural shortlist for the ASA/HQ Commercial Fiction Prize for an unpublished manuscript. HQ Fiction publishers and...

WestWords to host day-long writing festival

Wednesday, 11 March 2020
Western Sydney literature organisation WestWords will host a day-long event in celebration of the ways in which Western Sydney has ‘shaped many diverse and cultural stories’. A Celebration of Writing...

Rawson shortlisted for UK’s Kitschies awards for spec fic

Wednesday, 11 March 2020
Jane Rawson's novel From the Wreck (Transit Lounge) has been shortlisted in the UK’s Kitschies awards, presented to ‘progressive, intelligent, and entertaining literature with a speculative element’. From the Wreck...

S&S pulls UK, US staff from Bologna

bologna logo Tuesday, 10 March 2020
Staff from the UK and US divisions of Simon & Schuster (S&S) won’t attend the rescheduled Bologna Children’s Book Fair in May, reports Publishers Weekly. Last month, the fair was postponed...

Wild honoured for Lifetime Achievement in Literature

Tuesday, 10 March 2020
Australian children's author Margaret Wild has won the Australia Council Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature. The award ‘acknowledges the achievements of eminent literary writers over the age of 60...

Bell appointed publisher at A&U 

Tuesday, 10 March 2020
Davina Bell has been appointed publisher at Allen & Unwin (A&U), where she will work in the children and young adult division. ‘Davina’s passion, energy and enthusiasm will make her...

Shaw wins Neilma Sidney Prize

Tuesday, 10 March 2020
Wellington-based writer Jenah Shaw has won Overland's Neilma Sidney Short Story Prize for travel-themed short fiction, worth $4000, for her story ‘The Houseguest’—about a woman, ‘new to the city and...

Hogan wins Judith Wright Poetry Prize

Tuesday, 10 March 2020
Writer and primary school teacher Dan Hogan has won Overland’s Judith Wright Poetry Prize for new and emerging poets, worth $6000, for their poem ‘No Alarms’. Lou Garcia-Dolnik placed second...

Read the latest Publishers Weekly 

Tuesday, 10 March 2020
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.

Stella Prize 2020 shortlist announced

Friday, 6 March 2020
The shortlist for the 2020 Stella Prize, worth $50,000, has been announced. The shortlisted titles are: See What You Made Me Do (Jess Hill, Black Inc.) Diving into Glass (Caro Llewellyn, Hamish Hamilton)...

The Year the Maps Changed (Danielle Binks, Lothian)

Thursday, 5 March 2020
The Year the Maps Changed is Melbourne-based writer Danielle Binks’ debut novel. The year is 1999 and in small-town Sorrento, Victoria, 11-year-old Fred is lost within the complexity of a...

Tiger & Cat (Allira Tee, Berbay) 

Thursday, 5 March 2020
In this appealing debut picture book from Melbourne illustrator Allira Tee, two animals recognise the value of their close friendship. Tiger and Cat do everything together—exploring, dancing, eating delicious pink...

Please Don’t Hug Me (Kay Kerr, Text)

Thursday, 5 March 2020
At the suggestion of her psychologist, Erin writes letters to her absent older brother, Rudy. Erin is 17 years old, behind on her savings for Schoolies and freshly unemployed. There...

Bottomley to give keynote at ABA conference

Thursday, 5 March 2020
The Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) has announced the full program for its 2020 conference, to be held at the Sofitel Wentworth in Sydney from 21–22 June. International guest Nic Bottomley,...