Prime Minister’s Literary Awards; Sovereign Texts journal; Magabala publisher Rachel Bin Salleh on Charmaine Papertalk Green
Wednesday, 1 October 2025
This week, Writing Australia announced the winners of the 2025 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards, which included Theory & Practice (Michelle de Kretser, Text); Mean Streak (Rick Morton, Fourth Estate); Critical Care: Nurses...
Berbay Travel and Little Smith imprints launched; PANZ Book Design Awards presented; Creative Australia Fellowships announced
Wednesday, 24 September 2025
In local news, children’s publisher Berbay Publishing announced Berbay Travel, a new imprint dedicated ‘to revealing the hidden and unseen elements of destinations around the globe’; while Smith Street Books...
Myint wins Margaret and Colin Roderick Literary Award; Hachette, EWF reveal Richell Prize longlist; Le Roy leaves Creative Australia
Wednesday, 17 September 2025
In local industry news, Karen Le Roy left Creative Australia after 14 years; among other projects, she oversaw the Visiting International Publishers (VIPs) program. Meanwhile, Pigface Bookstore opened in Perth,...
Meanjin literary journal to close ‘on financial grounds’, NSW History Award winners revealed, Anthropic settles book piracy lawsuit
Wednesday, 10 September 2025
In a move roundly condemned by industry figures and other publications, Melbourne University Publishing shuttered 85-year-old literary journal Meanjin last Thursday ‘on financial grounds’. This was followed by a brief...
Indigenous Literacy Day takes place today; Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards; Aotearoa New Zealand Poet Laureate
Wednesday, 3 September 2025
Happy Indigenous Literacy Day (ILD)! This year, ILD's theme is ‘Strength In Our Stories: For Now & Future Generations’, and live events are being streamed from three Aboriginal Communities. Also...
Allen appointed Dymocks CEO; Ruby Award winners revealed; Blue Mountains Writers’ Festival program announced
Wednesday, 27 August 2025
In local news this week, Dymocks announced the appointment of David Allen as its new CEO, effective from Monday 8 September; editorial agency yinfluence announced an expansion from a solo...
Bendigo Writers Festival updates; NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults; festival programs launched
Thursday, 21 August 2025
Industry news this week featured heavily on the Bendigo Writers Festival, which ran a truncated program 15–18 August 2025 after 50 authors and the festival bookshop withdrew in protest of...
PMLA shortlists; Byrne appointed Writing Australia director; Waitere appointed PANZ president
Wednesday, 13 August 2025
Welcome to this week's news. The Prime Minister's Literary Awards 2025 shortlisted titles were announced this week, with a record 645 titles submitted for consideration. This will be the first year...
Productivity Commission report; El-Zein wins National Biography Award; PANZ Publishing Market Size Report
Wednesday, 6 August 2025
Headlining the news this week, the Australian government Productivity Commission’s (PC) current Harnessing Data and Digital Technology inquiry released an interim report, which called for feedback on ‘the issue of copyrighted materials...
Lu wins Miles Franklin; new NSW ‘lit hub’; LitUp pilot participants
Wednesday, 30 July 2025
Headlining the news this week, Siang Lu won the 2025 Miles Franklin Literary Award for his latest novel, Ghost Cities (UQP). (We at B+P also deeply appreciate his ongoing collection of Siang-ed covers.) Elsewhere...
New ABR editors; Aotearoa New Zealand Book Industry Awards; ILF rebranding
Wednesday, 23 July 2025
Among industry news this week, the Australian Book Review (ABR) announced Felicity Plunkett and Ben Brooker as the new poetry editor and arts editor respectively; Allen & Unwin (A&U) announced Emma...
PRH bookseller grant; ‘The Mushroom Tapes’ by Garner, Hooper & Krasnostein; Johnson wins Indigenous Writer’s Mentorship
Wednesday, 16 July 2025
In features this week, Books+Publishing (B+P) spoke to Australian Publishers Association Rising Star award shortlistee Melena Cole-Manolis (editor, Magabala) about her entry into the industry and where she sees herself...
New publisher, awards launched; BookPeople Roadshow; Rising Star nominees; ACT Literary Award winners
Wednesday, 9 July 2025
In industry news this week, XL Express, one of Australia’s largest independent logistics networks, went into voluntary administration. Meanwhile, Bakers Lane Books, a new publishing venture focusing on diverse and...
Writing Australia Council members; APA Rising Star profiles; SLV fellowship recipients
Wednesday, 2 July 2025
Australian Minister for the Arts Tony Burke launched Writing Australia and announced the Writing Australia Council members this week; QWC launched its new development program, Pitchable – for Australian writers...
Miles Franklin shortlist; WA Premier Book Award shortlists; 2025 Rising Stars; SWF ‘recording-breaking’ numbers
Wednesday, 25 June 2025
The Miles Franklin Literary Award shortlist was announced this week – get ready to debate around the tea trolley; the 2025 Rising Star shortlist has been announced, with the winner...
TitlePage upgrades; BookPeople award winners; ACT Literary Awards
Wednesday, 18 June 2025
At Books+Publishing (B+P) this week, our monthly Book Club round up included new release adult fiction and nonfiction; Cat Colwell, head of TitlePage at the APA, spoke to B+P about...
PANZ withdraws as Bologna Guest of Honour, King’s Birthday Honours announced, 2025 DANZ award winners revealed
Wednesday, 11 June 2025
The Publishers Association of New Zealand/Te Rau o Tākupu (PANZ) has withdrawn its commitment to be the Bologna Children’s Book Fair 2027 Country Guest of Honour, ‘due to lack of...
Roberts-Orr wins Anne Elder; Raven wins Fogarty Literary Award; Hardie Grant relocates; Bookshops on succession planning, social media
Wednesday, 4 June 2025
The Australian book industry this week saw Hardie Grant announce the relocation of Melbourne offices from Richmond to Collingwood; B+P reviews editor Jess Lomas spoke to a new Melbourne independent...
Industry responds to rescinded black&write! fellowship, de Krester wins 2025 Stella Prize, ABDA winners announced
Wednesday, 28 May 2025
Across the industry this week, B+P reported on the State Library Victoria’s published ‘Ways of Working Commitment’ and outlined the events leading up to this document including the cancellation of...
NSW Literary Award winners announced; digiDirect Group acquires James Bennett; Miles Franklin, ALS Gold Medal longlists
Wednesday, 21 May 2025
In local news, digiDirect Group owner Shant Kradjian has acquired library supplier James Bennett, after acquiring Booktopia in 2024; online bookseller The Nile has appointed John Purcell as head of books...
ABIA, Age winners; bookseller survey; industry hopes after the election; VIPs’ Australian expectations
Wednesday, 14 May 2025
Across the industry this week, BookPeople CEO Robbie Egan spoke with B+P about the cross-Tasman survey designed to provide data about booksellers in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, and the...
Tonelli appointed Walker Books publisher, Global Book Crawl a local success, Pulitzer Prize winners announced
Wednesday, 7 May 2025
Headlining local news this week, Walker Books announced the appointment of Eve Tonelli to the role of publisher, Australia and New Zealand. Meanwhile, in a surfeit of awards news this...
Lloyd O’Neil, Pixie O’Harris recipients; Open Book 2025 interns; Maehashi makes plagiarism claims
Wednesday, 30 April 2025
Lots of news from the industry this week. Beginning with good news, B+P and the Australian Publishers Association (APA) congratulate the winners of the 2025 ABIA Hall of Fame awards....
Anti-Racism in the book sector; Bologna ‘cautiously optimistic’; Crime, science fiction and short story awards
Wednesday, 23 April 2025
In the news this week, we speak to Lena Nahlous, CEO of Diversity Arts Australia (DARTS) about the recently released ‘How to be Anti-Racist in the Arts’ program with a...
NT Writers Festival program; Aurealis, Hugo finalists; Global Book Crawl destinations
Wednesday, 16 April 2025
Some event details were released this week – so have your calendars ready: The Northern Territory Writers Festival has announced its 2025 program, which will run 29 May–1 June on...
Stella Prize, Women’s Prize for Fiction, International Booker among a busy week for prize shortlists
Wednesday, 9 April 2025
The 2025 Stella Prize shortlist made history this week, with judging chair Astrid Edwards noting that this is the first shortlist in the prize's 13-year history to be entirely made...
ABIA business shortlists, Books Create Australia’s Election 2025, Writing Australia funded
Wednesday, 2 April 2025
We at Books+Publishing had some news of our own this week, as we welcome Jasmin McGaughey to our team in the newly created role of editorial and production coordinator. Jasmin commences on...
Joint statement on LibGen; 2025 VPLA winners; MWF, BookPeople programs; S&S opens new office
Wednesday, 26 March 2025
In the news this week, the Australian Publishers Association, the Australian Society of Authors, and the Copyright Agency have released a joint statement and plan of action for Australian authors...
ABIA shortlists announced; New graphic novel publisher; BookPeople’s top 100; Festival programs
Wednesday, 19 March 2025
The ABIA shortlists have been announced! Also in industry news, Wombat Books founder Rochelle Stephens and teacher and author Bethany Loveridge announced the establishment of new publishing venture Perentie Press,...
Sector gender pay gaps released; Australia Reads announces LitUp; ABDA longlists revealed
Wednesday, 12 March 2025
The Australian Government’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency has published data on gender pay gaps for the second year in a row, indicating that many large publishing houses continue to have...
