Weekly news | Books+Publishing

170 stores take part in second NZ Bookshop Day

Wednesday, 2 November 2016
Around 170 stores ‘from Whangarei to Invercargill’ participated in the second New Zealand Bookshop Day on 29 October, which ran under the theme ‘Your Place, Your Bookshop’. Among the highlights...

Over 1000 attend first Australian Short Story Festival; 2017 event planned for Adelaide

Monday, 31 October 2016
Around 1100 people attended the first Australian Short Story Festival, which was held in Perth from 21-23 October. The festival, which was announced in February, was founded by Margaret River...

Arts NSW announces funding recipients for 2017

Friday, 28 October 2016
Several literary organisations are among the recipients in the latest funding round of the NSW government’s Arts and Cultural Development Program, administered by Arts NSW. The program will provide a...

Inaugural ‘Hope Prize’ winners announced; S&S to publish collection

Friday, 28 October 2016
The winners of the inaugural Hope Prize for short stories, administered by the Brotherhood of St Laurence, has been announced. Catherine Moffat won the $5000 first prize for her story...

New Zealand Education Awards finalists announced

Friday, 28 October 2016
The finalists for the New Zealand Content Counts Education Awards have been announced. The finalists in each category are: Primary NZ Curriculum Mathematics: Connecting All Strands—Level 3B (Maryanne Tipler, Caxton...

First authors announced for Adelaide Writers’ Week

Friday, 28 October 2016
The first line-up of authors has been announced for Adelaide Writers’ Week, which runs from 4-9 March 2017. Among the international guests are UK true-crime writer Kate Summerscale; US essayist...

NZ publishing projects awarded CLNZ funds

Thursday, 27 October 2016
A number of New Zealand publishers and authors have received funding in the latest round of Copyright Licensing New Zealand’s (CLNZ) Contestable Fund. Established in 2014, the fund supports ‘strategic...

New literary podcast to launch in November

Thursday, 27 October 2016
A new literary podcast featuring Australian writers talking about the craft of writing will be launched in November. The Garret podcast is hosted by Nicolas Brasch, author and chair of...

Labor MP calls for retention of PIRs

Wednesday, 26 October 2016
Federal Labor MP and opposition spokesperson for tourism Anthony Albanese has written an opinion piece for the Fairfax papers arguing against the repeal of parallel import restrictions (PIRs). In his...

YABBAs 2016 winners announced

Wednesday, 26 October 2016
The winners of the 2016 Young Australians Best Book Awards (YABBAs), Victoria’s children’s choice awards, have been announced. The winning titles are: Picture storybooks Pig the Fibber (Aaron Blabey, Scholastic) Fiction...

OzCo literature funding drops to 2.7%

Wednesday, 26 October 2016
Funding for literature has dropped to 2.7% of the Australia Council’s overall funding in 2015-16, according to the Australia Council’s recent annual report. In 2015-16, literature received $4.6m in funding...

More than 50 guests announced for Sisters in Crime’s 25th-anniversary convention

Wednesday, 26 October 2016
Sisters in Crime Australia will celebrate its 25th anniversary at a one-day convention at the St Kilda Town Hall in Melbourne on 19 November, with more than 50 guests appearing...

Frew wins Barbara Jefferis Award for ‘Hope Farm’

Wednesday, 26 October 2016
Peggy Frew has won the 2016 Barbara Jefferis Award for her second novel, Hope Farm (Scribe). The $50,000 award, which is administered by the Australian Society of Authors (ASA), is presented...

Voss Literary Prize 2016 shortlist announced

Wednesday, 26 October 2016
The shortlist for the 2016 Voss Literary Prize has been announced. The shortlisted titles are: Coming Rain (Stephen Daisley, Text) The Life of Houses (Lisa Gorton, Giramondo) A Guide to Berlin (Gail Jones,...

Affirm announces new kids’ list to launch in 2017

Tuesday, 25 October 2016
Affirm Press is introducing a new list of books for children and young adults in March 2017. Publishing director Martin Hughes told Books+Publishing that he is ‘really pumped about it, and...

Australians nominated for 2017 Carnegie and Kate Greenaway medals

Tuesday, 25 October 2016
Several Australian authors and illustrators have been included in the 2017 Carnegie and Kate Greenaway medals nominations, which were announced in the UK on 24 October. The three Australian titles...

Publishing software company Typefi wins Qld Premier’s Export Award

Tuesday, 25 October 2016
Publishing software company Typefi has won the Small Business Award in the Queensland Premier’s Export Awards, recognising its ‘outstanding success and contribution’ to the state’s trade output. The Sunshine Coast-based...

Australian author’s middle-grade trilogy acquired at auction

Monday, 24 October 2016
A middle-grade trilogy from debut Australian author Jessica Townsend has been acquired at auction by Hachette UK, US and Australia, reports the Bookseller. The first book in the trilogy tells...

Nine Australian authors and illustrators nominated for 2017 Astrid Lindgren Award

Monday, 24 October 2016
Nine Australian authors and illustrators have been nominated for the 2017 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. Randa Abdel-Fattah, Ursula Dubosarsky, Libby Gleeson, Morris Gleitzman, Gus Gordon, Leigh Hobbs, Alison Lester, Kirsty...