Sorrento Writers Festival announces full 2026 program
Monday, 9 February 2026
The Sorrento Writers Festival (SWF) has announced its 2026 festival program, running from 23 to 26 April 2026 in Sorrento, Victoria. This year's festival will feature over 180 speakers across...
Newcastle Poetry Prize shortlist announced
Thursday, 5 February 2026
The Hunter Writers’ Centre has announced the 2025 shortlist for the $15,000 Newcastle Poetry Prize. Shortlisted poets are: Ann-Marie Blanchard for “Medea with the Graceful Feet” Owen Bullock for “Systolic”...
National Poet Laureate; TitlePage engagement; Wheeler Centre turns 15
Wednesday, 4 February 2026
Local news This week, Writing Australia invited applications for the inaugural National Poet Laureate, an appointment created under the Australian Government’s Revive policy; TitlePage’s subscriber engagement figures for December 2025 reflected...
Rights round-up
Wednesday, 4 February 2026
Sales Fiction HarperCollins has sold Lithuanian language rights to Gravity Let Me Go (Trent Dalton), North American English rights to Daughter of Batavia (Stefanie Koen); Italian rights to Eva Reddy’s...
Clunes Booktown Festival announces 20th anniversary program
Wednesday, 4 February 2026
Clunes Booktown Festival has released program details for its 2026 festival, to be held in the main street of the Victorian town of Clunes from 21 to 22 March. Festival...
Hardie Grant acquires Galea book on dreams
Wednesday, 4 February 2026
Hardie Grant has acquired world rights to A–Zzz of Dreams: Decoding Your Dreams and Deciphering Your Future, in a two-book deal with Matt Galea. A–Zzz of Dreams is a guide...
MidnightSun acquires McDermott’s debut YA
Wednesday, 4 February 2026
MidnightSun Publishing has acquired The Big Things, a YA novel from debut author Meg McDermott. According to the publisher, The Big Things is story about the unbreakable bond between teen...
FALS announces Rowland Manuscript Development Grant winner
Wednesday, 4 February 2026
The Foundation for Australian Literary Studies (FALS) has named Terri-ann White as recipient of the $5000 PF Rowland Manuscript Development Grant, which is offered annually to support a book project....
Read the latest Publishers Weekly
Wednesday, 4 February 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.
Be Brave: The Life of a Pacific Correspondent (Barbara Dreaver, Awa Press)
Tuesday, 3 February 2026
In Be Brave: The Life of a Pacific Correspondent, Barbara Dreaver takes readers around the Pacific, introducing a wide range of people, from powerful politicians to impoverished families struggling to...
Life and Breath: Stories (Ursula Dubosarsky, Christmas Press)
Tuesday, 3 February 2026
Life and Breath: Stories brings together 13 short stories by Ursula Dubosarsky, offering a delightful showcase of her distinctive ability to inhabit the shifting borderlands between memory, imagination and self-discovery. Though...
Aubrey Wants to Die (Pip Knight, HarperCollins)
Tuesday, 3 February 2026
Pip Knight, the pen name of Pip Drysdale, takes her first foray into vampire fiction with Aubrey Wants to Die, an angsty and darkly funny look at what makes an...
What Rhymes with Murder? (Penny Tangey, Summit)
Tuesday, 3 February 2026
Penny Tangey’s debut cosy crime novel, What Rhymes With Murder?, is set within a charming, close-knit Melbourne community filled with nosy neighbours and a local café. The story follows new mother...
Bound (Samantha WL Lee, WestWords)
Tuesday, 3 February 2026
In Bound, Samantha WL Lee traces 3 generations of women across a century and 4 countries, bound by tradition, family and the pursuit of freedom. The novel opens in China...
The Belly of a Wolf (Julianne Negri, UWA Publishing)
Tuesday, 3 February 2026
The Belly of a Wolf is a powerful young adult verse novel by award-winning writer Julianne Negri. Little Red is grieving and struggling to return to school and connect with...
Life Drawing (Emily Lighezzolo, UQP)
Tuesday, 3 February 2026
Emily Lighezzolo’s debut novel, Life Drawing, is an intimate literary romance that explores desire, body image, mental health, art and love. The novel switches between the perspectives of artists Charlie and...
The Mighty Pipsqueak (Poppy & Pipsqueak #1) (Deborah Kelly, illus Amie Sabadin, Wombat)
Tuesday, 3 February 2026
The Mighty Pipsqueak is the first charming book in the Poppy & Pipsqueak series by Deborah Kelly for readers aged 6 to 10. Poppy lives on a farm with her...
The Flower Garden: A Changi Secret (Claire Saxby, illus Lucia Masciullo, Walker)
Tuesday, 3 February 2026
Complex history becomes accessible to young readers when told through intimate, human stories; The Flower Garden: A Changi Secret uses this technique elegantly. CBCA-winning author Claire Saxby (Iceberg) and illustrator Lucia...
The Minstrels (Eva Hornung, Text)
Tuesday, 3 February 2026
A beautiful yet distressing work of rural fiction, The Minstrels by Eva Hornung (The Last Garden; Dog Boy) draws together the epic moral scope of John Steinbeck, the dystopian unease...
NewSouth acquires Tiffany novella
Tuesday, 3 February 2026
NewSouth has acquired Australian publishing rights to The Lady with the Dog, a new novella by Carrie Tiffany, with illustrations by Noel McKenna, in a deal with Curtis Brown literary agent...
Affirm acquires Katherine debut novel
Tuesday, 3 February 2026
Affirm Press has acquired world rights to Judith Katherine’s debut novel, Simply Beside Herself, described as “a warm, charming novel about reclaiming independence at every stage of life.” “When Elizabeth...
A&U acquires Spratt debut novel
Tuesday, 3 February 2026
Allen & Unwin has acquired world rights to The Followers, a debut novel by Maree Spratt. A&U described The Followers as “a keenly observed and darkly funny exploration of coming of...
Aurealis Awards 2025 shortlists announced
Monday, 2 February 2026
The 2025 finalists in the Aurealis Awards, which recognise “the achievements of Australian science fiction, fantasy and horror writers”, have been announced. Awards are presented across 15 categories: Best Children’s...
Roly Sussex short story winners announced
Friday, 30 January 2026
The Queensland Branch of the English-Speaking Union (ESU) has named the 7 writers recognised in the 14th Roly Sussex Short Story Competition. The stories and their authors are: Open Division...
Frankfurt Book Fair names new CEO
Thursday, 29 January 2026
Joachim Kaufmann has been named the next president and CEO of the Frankfurt Book Fair (Frankfurter Buchmesse), effective September 2026, reported Publishers Weekly (PW). Kaufmann will take over after this...
Ockham 2026 longlists announced
Thursday, 29 January 2026
The longlists for this year’s Ockham New Zealand Book Awards have been announced. The titles in each category are: Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction 1985 (Dominic Hoey, Penguin) All...
Australians shortlisted in 2026 Edgar Awards
Thursday, 29 January 2026
Australian authors are among the finalists in this year’s Edgar Allan Poe Awards, presented by Mystery Writers of America. Charlotte McConaghy’s Wild Dark Shore (Penguin) was shortlisted for Best Novel,...
Writing Australia announces new funding programs, partnerships
Wednesday, 28 January 2026
Writing Australia has announced 3 new investment programs, 4 new partnerships and 2 new publishing industry strategic grants. Opening soon, the new investment opportunities fall into 3 categories: The Australian...
Authors recognised in Australian of the Year awards
Wednesday, 28 January 2026
Ultramarathon runner Nedd Brockmann and tour guide Sita Sargeant, both published authors, have been named in this year’s Australian of the Year awards. Brockmann is the recipient of the Young...
Literary figures among Australians of the Year, Australia Day Honours; Writing Australia announces investments, partnerships, 2026 VIPs
Wednesday, 28 January 2026
Headlining this week's news, several authors, publishers and literary workers were named in the 2026 Australia Day Honours and the Australian of the Year awards; while Writing Australia announced a...
