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UQP mentorship prize winners announced

Photo of mentorship prize winners Suri Matondkar and SD Munawara. Thursday, 13 November 2025
The University of Queensland Press (UQP) has announced the winners of the inaugural UQP Mentorship Prize for under-represented writers. Chosen from a shortlist of 5, the winners are: SD Munawara...

Wombat acquires Page’s interactive novel

Photo of Gabriella Page. Thursday, 13 November 2025
Wombat Books has acquired world rights to Gabriella Page’s The Nardi Puzzle, an interactive middle-grade story that allows readers to solve puzzles alongside the characters. The novel follows Sebastian Walker’s...

WestWords acquires Lee’s debut novel

Photo of Samantha Lee. Thursday, 13 November 2025
WestWords Books has acquired adult novel Bound by Samantha WL Lee. Set in four countries – China, Malaysia, Britain and Australia – and extending over more than a century, Bound...

A&U acquires Flynn biography

Photo of Patricia A O’Brien. Thursday, 13 November 2025
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired world rights to Errol Flynn, Patricia A O’Brien’s biography of Australian-born Hollywood actor Errol Flynn, known for his swashbuckling roles and controversial off-screen life....

SLQ fellowship, medal recipients announced

Wednesday, 12 November 2025
State Library of Queensland (SLQ) has announced the 2026 recipients of 6 fellowships, worth $105,000, along with 2 John Oxley Library Medals. The recipients in each category are: John Oxley...

Rights round-up 

Wednesday, 12 November 2025
Sales Fiction Allen & Unwin (A&U) has sold Dutch rights for Click (Sarah Bailey) to Uitgeverij Marmer; and Turkish rights for Click (Sarah Bailey) to The Kitap. Pantera has sold Turkish...

Wiley acquires O’Connell’s “Unscript”

Photo of Christian O’Connell. Wednesday, 12 November 2025
Wiley has acquired world rights to broadcaster Christian O’Connell’s personal development book Unscript. Unscript strips away “the ghost scripts that keep us disconnected, through a mix of vibrant storytelling, authentic...

Riveted acquires Gordon’s latest children’s book

Wednesday, 12 November 2025
Riveted Press has acquired world rights to The Midlands by Kate Gordon, in a deal brokered by Alex Adsett Literary. The Midlands takes place during the First World War as 11-year-old Lorna Whittle and her 4...

Affirm acquires Keegan’s second novel

Photo of author Lauren Keegan. Wednesday, 12 November 2025
Affirm Press has acquired world rights to Lauren Keegan’s second novel, The Woman in the Seal Skin. Set on a Scottish island, the novel follows Malie, who grew up hearing...

NewSouth acquires Kale’s debut

Black and white photo of author Neha Kale. Wednesday, 12 November 2025
NewSouth Publishing has acquired world rights to Foreign Return: On Art and Inhabitation, the debut literary nonfiction work by writer and cultural critic Neha Kale. Kale migrated from India to...

Read the latest Publishers Weekly 

Wednesday, 12 November 2025
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.

Might Cry Later (Kay Kerr, Macmillan) 

Tuesday, 11 November 2025
In Kay Kerr’s adult fiction debut, Might Cry Later, Nora Byrne is burnt out and struggling to reclaim herself after blowing up her life in Melbourne. By Christmas, she’s back...

Dark Desert Road (Tim Ayliffe, Echo) 

The cover of "Dark Desert Road" by Tim Ayliffe. Tuesday, 11 November 2025
Tim Ayliffe’s Dark Desert Road follows identical twins Kit and Billie, who grew up under the violent rule of their father – a man scarred by trauma from serving in...

Pantera acquires Bassingthwaighte memoir

Tuesday, 11 November 2025
Pantera Press has acquired world rights to the memoir Love Like This by actor and singer Natalie Bassingthwaighte. The publisher described Love Like This as an “unflinchingly honest and intimate memoir...

Szalay wins 2025 Booker Prize for “Flesh”

Tuesday, 11 November 2025
David Szalay has won the 2025 Booker Prize, worth £50,000 (A$100,800), for Flesh (Jonathan Cape). “Written in spare prose, and spanning decades – from a Hungarian housing estate to the mansions...

Affirm Press acquires Moloney’s “Why We Garden”

Photo of author Hannah Moloney in a garden. Tuesday, 11 November 2025
Affirm Press has acquired world rights to Why We Garden, a new title by ABC Gardening Australia presenter Hannah Moloney. According to the publisher, Why We Garden investigates why Australians...

KYD announces 2025 Creative Nonfiction Essay Prize shortlist

Kill Your Darlings journal logo. Tuesday, 11 November 2025
Kill Your Darlings (KYD) has announced the shortlist for the 2025 KYD Creative Nonfiction Essay Prize. The 6 shortlisted essays are: “Where My Body Hides Water" by Madison Godfrey “Playing God” by Tallulah...

HGCP announces Zac Power film adaptation 

An illustration of "Zac Power". The figure of a young child stands within the letter "A". Monday, 10 November 2025
Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing (HGCP) has announced the film adaptation of the Zac Power series (HI Larry) is slated for release in early 2027. “The film follows Zac as he...

Ansons wins 2025 Fresh Ink Prize

A photo of Courtney Collins, Jessie Ansons, and Rosemarie Milsom standing side-by-side before an open doorway. Monday, 10 November 2025
Newcastle Writers Festival (NWF) has announced Jessie Ansons as the winner of the 2025 Fresh Ink Prize, an award for emerging writers in regional NSW, for “Forever Yours”, an extract...

CWF records 55% increase in attendance 

Monday, 10 November 2025
Canberra Writers Festival (CWF) has recorded more than 10,000 audience attendees at its 2025 program, an increase of 55% on the 2024 festival.  This year’s 5-day program included 114 events,...

“Clever Men” wins 2025 Nib Literary Award

Thursday, 6 November 2025
Historian and essayist Martin Thomas has been awarded the 2025 Mark and Evette Moran Nib Literary Award, worth $40,000, for Clever Men (A&U). Chosen from a longlist announced in August...

Comics anthology wins Brazilian Book Published Abroad

Thursday, 6 November 2025
The Brazilian Book Chamber (CBL) has announced the 2025 Jabuti Award for Brazilian Book Published Abroad. The award recognises both the Brazilian publisher and the foreign publisher of a translated...

Carvan wins 2025 Bragg Prize for Science Writing

Photo of Tabitha Carvan on campus at ANU. Thursday, 6 November 2025
Tabitha Carvan has been awarded this year’s UNSW Press Bragg Prize for Science Writing for her essay “The Unexpected Poetry of PhD Acknowledgements”. ⁠ The publisher said, “Carvan’s piece reflects...

Wombat Books acquires Gemmill’s middle-grade

A photo of Stef Gemmill. Gemmill wears glasses and has red hair. She stands in front of a bookcase. Thursday, 6 November 2025
Wombat Books has acquired world rights to The Ghost Horse of Snowy River, a middle-grade novel by Stef Gemmill. According to the publisher, The Ghost Horse of Snowy River follows 12-year-old...

A&U acquires Ham’s first nonfiction book

Photo of Rosalie Ham on a garden bench with her dog. Wednesday, 5 November 2025
Allen & Unwin has acquired world rights to Look After Your Feet by Rosalie Ham, via literary agency Jenny Darling and Associates. In this first nonfiction book, the author of...

HarperCollins acquires Bailey memoir

Wednesday, 5 November 2025
HarperCollins has acquired world rights to Flamingos Aren’t Born Pink, a memoir by Robin Bailey. Described by the publisher as “a moving and uplifting memoir on heartbreak, grief and finding...

Rights round-up 

Wednesday, 5 November 2025
Sales Nonfiction Black Inc. has sold UK/Commonwealth rights (ex ANZ, India, Canada) to The Shortest History of Innovation (Andrew Leigh) to Old Street. Children’s/YA New Frontier has sold US and...