Books in the media this week
Friday, 15 May 2026
A round-up of books being reviewed and discussed in key media this week, updated as information becomes available. National The Bookshelf, ABC Radio National Famesick: A Memoir (Lena Dunham, 4th...
Book Club – this month’s reads
Friday, 15 May 2026
Looking for your next great group read? Our monthly Book Club rounds up new release titles perfect for sparking conversation and perhaps even some debate. From compelling fiction to thought-provoking...
The glittering prizes
Thursday, 14 May 2026
Lee Lai has won the Stella Prize for the graphic novel Cannon; Karen Howie Casey has won the ASA/HQ Fiction Prize; Charlotte Macdonald has won the Ernest Scott Prize for...
“Cannon” becomes first graphic novel to win Stella Prize
Wednesday, 13 May 2026
Lee Lai has won the 2026 Stella Prize, $60,000, for her second book, Cannon (Giramondo). It is the first time a graphic novel has won the award. Chair of judges...
Blake Poetry Prize 2026 winner announced
Wednesday, 13 May 2026
Chen Wang has won the 69th Blake Poetry Prize, worth $5000, for his poem “The Woman Who Refused the Kingdom of Forgetting”. Chen Wang is a Melbourne-based medical student whose...
Walking the literary and literal landscape: Introducing the 2026 VIPs
Wednesday, 13 May 2026
This year, 12 publishing professionals from 8 different countries will base themselves in Sydney, Gadigal Country, from 18 to 22 May (alongside the Sydney Writers’ Festival) for the Visiting International...
Maria Takolander recommends
Tuesday, 12 May 2026
Jennifer Mills’ Salvage (Picador, 2025) is a clear-eyed imagining of a climate-ravaged future and of the self-destructive dream of autonomy – the idea that we can be independent of an...
Maria Takolander on “The End of Romance”
Tuesday, 12 May 2026
In The End of Romance, Finnish Australian author Maria Takolander imagines a dystopian world in which boys are conscripted to the army at 16, never to return. Takolander spoke with...
Junior Book Club – this month’s reads
Friday, 8 May 2026
Searching for your next great read to share with kids? Our Junior Book Club highlights new titles each month that are perfect for classrooms, libraries and family reading time. From...
Books in the media this week
Friday, 8 May 2026
A round-up of books being reviewed and discussed in key media this week, updated as information becomes available. National The Bookshelf, ABC Radio National The Director (Daniel Kehlmann, trans by...
PRH’s Transworld launches new horror imprint, 3AM Books
Thursday, 7 May 2026
In the UK, Penguin Random House division Transworld has established a new horror imprint, 3AM Books, “alongside an online community of the same name”, reported the Bookseller. “With a logo...
Words and numbers: The reality of entry-level roles in publishing
Wednesday, 6 May 2026
Nonie Trainor is completing their Work Integrated Learning at Books+Publishing as a second-year student of the Master of Writing and Publishing program at RMIT University. In the first of two...
“Customers were incredibly generous with their purchase sizes”: Local booksellers report back from Global Book Crawl 2026
Wednesday, 6 May 2026
Booksellers who took part in this year’s Global Book Crawl said the event attracted “entirely new shoppers”, while boosting sales and inter-bookshop connections. It wasn’t just books on offer at...
Opinion: The UQP “Bila” controversy reveals the tension between board governance and editorial independence
Wednesday, 6 May 2026
The decision by the University of Queensland Press to destroy 5000 copies of a picture book had nothing to do with its contents or Indigenous author, writes Penni Russon. It...
Jessy Wu on “Good Intentions”
Tuesday, 5 May 2026
Jessy Wu is a Sydney-based writer and entrepreneur whose debut novel, Good Intentions (Macmillan), is a fast-paced millennial romance set in the worlds of investigative journalism and futures trading. Books+Publishing...
Jessy Wu recommends
Tuesday, 5 May 2026
I joke that Nick McKenzie's Crossing the Line (Hachette, 2023) is the unofficial companion text to Good Intentions. McKenzie is one of Australia's most decorated – and I think most...
Books in the media this week
Friday, 1 May 2026
A round-up of books being reviewed and discussed in key media this week, updated as information becomes available. National The Bookshelf, ABC Radio National Capture (Amanda Lohrey, Text) The Last...
Mother’s Day recommendations from B+P reviewers
Friday, 1 May 2026
In the lead-up to Mother’s Day, one of the busiest book-buying times of the year, we’ve rounded up some of our reviewers’ favourite April and May releases, with an eye...
International shipping on The Nile
Thursday, 30 April 2026
The Nile has added international shipping; the ASA/HQ Fiction Prize shortlist is announced; A&U has signed nonfiction title The Big Steal by journalist Paul Barry; The Wild Life of Dinosaurs and Other...
The Nile offers international shipping
Thursday, 30 April 2026
Australian online retailer The Nile has announced it will offer international shipping services. The Nile head of books John Purcell told Books+Publishing that the online retailer would use “a variety...
ASA/HQ Fiction Prize 2026 shortlist announced
Thursday, 30 April 2026
The Australian Society of Authors (ASA) and HarperCollins publishing division HQ have announced the shortlist for the 2026 ASA/HQ Fiction Prize for an unpublished manuscript. The shortlisted works, chosen from...
How Australians fared at the Fair
Wednesday, 29 April 2026
Byron Writers Festival has announced its initial 2026 author line-up; Sahar Rabah is the winner of this year’s Calibre Essay Prize; we hear how Australia’s diminished Bologna cohort fared at...
Rights round-up
Wednesday, 29 April 2026
Acquisitions Children’s Allen & Unwin has sold North American English-language rights to picture book CockadoodleMOO (Tanya Hennessy, illus by Shiloh Gordon) in a pre-empt before Bologna. Penguin Random House has...
“I do not believe we counter racism, antisemitism, homophobia or transphobia by boycotts and cancellations”: Dennis Altman on the cancellation of “Bila”
Wednesday, 29 April 2026
UQP has cancelled a children’s book illustrated by Matt Chun, citing antisemitism. Dennis Altman, Vice Chancellor’s Fellow and Professorial Fellow, Institute for Human Security and Social Change, La Trobe University,...
“Safe, loved and connected”: what publishers at Bologna want from kids’ books now
Wednesday, 29 April 2026
Last-minute cancellations, yes, but a “new and positive vibe” at the new-look Australian stand. Those who made it to Bologna report back on the trends and conversations at the 2026...
The Rose Read Bookshop to open in Summer Hill
Wednesday, 29 April 2026
The Rose Read Bookshop will soon be opening in the Sydney suburb of Summer Hill. Co-founders Stephanie Beck and Mischa Parkee spoke with Books+Publishing about their vision for the shop....
Milsom appointed AWW director; authors leave UQP over “Bila” cancellation; ABA Book of the Year shortlists
Tuesday, 28 April 2026
Rosemarie Milsom has been appointed director of Adelaide Writers’ Week; UQP authors, including Evelyn Araluen and Randa Abdel-Fattah, as well as UQP staff, have condemned the decision by the University...
UQP staff urge university to reconsider “Bila” cancellation
Monday, 27 April 2026
Several University of Queensland Press (UQP) staff members have signed a letter asking the University of Queensland (UQ) to reconsider its decision to cancel publication of Bila, a River Cycle...
Vale David Malouf
Friday, 24 April 2026
Author and poet David Malouf has died, aged 92. Penguin Random House Australia (PRH) writes: David Malouf wrote across fiction, nonfiction, poetry, libretti and plays and made a significant and...
Books in the media this week
Friday, 24 April 2026
A round-up of books being reviewed and discussed in key media this week, updated as information becomes available. National The Bookshelf, ABC Radio National The Daffodil Days (Helen Bain, Bloomsbury)...
