News sections | Books+Publishing

Karen Foxlee’s ‘Lenny’s Book of Everything’

Wednesday, 19 September 2018
'Foxlee’s writing is brimming with perfectly constructed moments that merge into a truly sensational, heart-wrenching read. This is the kind of book that makes a reader feel grateful it exists' ......

Quote of the week

Wednesday, 19 September 2018
‘Books are the last frontier of freedom and wilderness for kids, for imagining dangerous things, for imagining craziness and worst-case scenarios’—Children's author Andy Griffiths on putting the anarchy back into...

RiP Albert Ullin

Wednesday, 19 September 2018
The Little Bookroom founder Albert Ullin has died, aged 88. Born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1930, Ullin moved to Australia in 1939 before the outbreak of World War II. In...

‘Ottilie Colter’ sells for ‘record’ sum in three-book German deal

Wednesday, 19 September 2018
Hardie Grant Egmont has sold German-language rights to Rhiannon Williams’ Ottilie Colter and the Narroway Hunt, plus two further books by Williams, to Random House Germany imprint cbj Verlag, after a...

NZ author Chidgey’s ‘The Beat of the Pendulum’ sold to UK

Wednesday, 19 September 2018
UK imprint Lightning Books has acquired New Zealand author Catherine Chidgey's 2017 novel The Beat of the Pendulum (Victoria University Press), reports the Bookseller. Caroline Dawnay at United Agents sold UK...

MUP acquires Hanson-Young book on slut-shaming

Wednesday, 19 September 2018
Melbourne University Publishing (MUP) has acquired ANZ rights to En Garde by Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young. ‘Senator Sarah Hanson-Young’s private life became a matter of public interest when she was...

The Little Bookroom to hold kids book festival in Melbourne

Tuesday, 18 September 2018
Melbourne children’s bookshop The Little Bookroom will hold its first kids book festival in October, called Kids Book Fest. Held at the Fitzroy Town Hall, the one-day event will feature...

‘Financial Times’ 2018 Business Book of the Year shortlist announced

Tuesday, 18 September 2018
In the UK, the shortlist for the £30,000 (A$55,180) Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award has been announced. This year’s six shortlisted titles are: Bad Blood: Secrets and...

Waverley Library Award 2018 shortlist announced

Monday, 17 September 2018
The shortlist for the 2018 Waverley Library Award for Literature, known as ‘the Nib’, have been announced. The shortlisted titles are: Relatively Famous (Roger Averill, Transit Lounge) The Trauma Cleaner (Sarah...

Voss Literary Prize 2018 longlist announced

Monday, 17 September 2018
The longlist for the 2018 Voss Literary Prize has been announced. The longlisted titles are: No More Boats (Felicity Castagna, Giramondo) The Life to Come (Michelle De Kretser, A&U) First...

Charts this week

Monday, 17 September 2018
Top 10 Bestsellers Index Title Author Imprint 1 The Barefoot Investor Scott Pape John Wiley & Sons 2 Pig the Grub Aaron Blabey Scholastic 3 WeirDo #11: Splashy Weird! Anh...

National Book Award 2018 fiction longlist announced

Monday, 17 September 2018
In the US, the National Book Award fiction longlist has been announced. The finalists in the fiction category are: A Lucky Man (Jamel Brinkley, Graywolf Press) Gun Love (Jennifer Clement, Hogarth) Florida (Lauren...

National Book Award 2018 longlists announced

Friday, 14 September 2018
In the US, longlists in four categories of the National Book Award have been announced, including the inaugural award for translated literature. The longlists announced so far are: Nonfiction One...

Digital Book World Awards finalists announced

Thursday, 13 September 2018
The finalists of the Digital Book World (DBW) Awards have been announced. The awards are presented as part of the DBW conference, and recognise 'worldwide achievement in publishing'. Finalists in...

Dymocks launches education business Potentia

Thursday, 13 September 2018
Australian bookselling chain Dymocks has launched a new education business called Potentia. Potentia will run tutoring programs for school students across a broad range of subjects including maths and English....

Quote of the week

Wednesday, 12 September 2018
‘Teens—maybe more than ever—need to be included in our cultural programming in thoughtful, and challenging ways ... they are integral to continuing the culture of writer’s festivals in this country’—Youth...

NZ author Salmond shortlisted for UK Nayef Al-Rodhan Prize

Wednesday, 12 September 2018
New Zealand author Anne Salmond’s Tears of Rangi: Experiments Across Worlds (Auckland University Press) has been shortlisted for the British Academy’s 2018 Nayef Al-Rodhan Prize. Salmond's book examines the early encounters...

Rights round-up

Wednesday, 12 September 2018
Sales Fiction Curtis Brown Australia has sold ANZ rights to The Van Apfel Girls are Gone (Felicity McLean) to HarperCollins; North American rights to Algonquin; UK (ex ANZ) rights to...

Podcast spotlight: Conversations with Writers

Wednesday, 12 September 2018
Launched in 2017, Conversations With Writers (CWW) goes 'beyond the press tour Q&As to discuss how their experiences and beliefs shape who they are and the tales they tell'. Produced...

Consenting adults: Kate Cuthbert on the romance novel and representations of sexuality after #MeToo

Wednesday, 12 September 2018
Escape Publishing managing editor Kate Cuthbert gave the keynote address at this year’s Romance Writers of Australia conference. This is an edited extract of her speech. I’d like to begin...

Stephen Giles’ ‘The Boy at the Keyhole’

Wednesday, 12 September 2018
'Commercial crime fiction fans would do well to pick up this gem of a slow-burning thriller but should be advised to go in with as little prior knowledge as possible...

Melbourne Prize for Literature finalists announced

Wednesday, 12 September 2018
Finalists have been announced for this year's Melbourne Prize for Literature, as well as the Best Writing Award and the Readings Residency Award. The finalists for the $60,000 Melbourne Prize for...

Australian publishers report interest in parenting, children’s titles in Beijing

Wednesday, 12 September 2018
Independent Australian publishers attending the Beijing International Book Fair (BIBF), running from 22-26 August, have reported interest in the categories of children's, parenting, and education. Ventura Press director Jane Curry...