S&S acquires Behrendt novel
Wednesday, 22 May 2024
Simon & Schuster Australia (S&S) imprint Bundyi has acquired world rights to a new commercial novel by Larissa Behrendt. Friends for nearly four decades, Behrendt and Bundyi publisher-at-large Anita Heiss...
BookUp 2024 first guests announced
Wednesday, 22 May 2024
The Australian Publishers Association (APA) has announced this year’s BookUp conference will take place on 7 August at State Library Victoria in Melbourne, with tickets now on sale. Thames &...
Dao, Morrissey and O’Grady named SMH Best Young Australian Novelists 2024
Sunday, 19 May 2024
The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) has announced the Best Young Australian Novelists for 2024. The writers and their books are: André Dao for Anam (Hamish Hamilton) John Morrissey for Firelight...
Federal budget: APA welcomes government investment in copyright/AI review
Wednesday, 15 May 2024
Following the announcement of the 2024–25 federal budget last night, the Australian Publishers Association (APA) has welcomed an allocation of funding for the Office of the Attorney-General to review copyright...
Hinkler acquires US publisher Piccadilly
Wednesday, 15 May 2024
Melbourne publisher and distributor Hinkler has acquired US-based journal and sketchbook publisher Piccadilly. ‘This is a significant acquisition for Hinkler, aligning with strategic plans for growth in North America and...
SPN to pause operations, gauge ‘ongoing viability’
Wednesday, 15 May 2024
The board of the Small Press Network (SPN) has announced it will halt operations and social media for two months as it seeks to gauge the ongoing viability of the...
Money wins 2024 UQP Quentin Bryce Award
Wednesday, 15 May 2024
UQP has announced that Jazz Money has won the 2024 Quentin Bryce Award for her poetry collection mark the dawn. mark the dawn is described by the publisher as asking...
Wakefield acquires Pollock novel ‘Starry Eyed’
Wednesday, 15 May 2024
Wakefield Press has acquired ANZ rights to a second novel from Katharine Pollock, provisionally titled Starry Eyed, via Benython Oldfield at Zeitgeist Agency. In Starry Eyed, when Addilyn Acker is...
black&write! 2024 fellowship recipients announced
Wednesday, 15 May 2024
The State Library of Queensland (SLQ) has announced that the recipients of the 2024 black&write! fellowships are poets Meleika Gesa-Fatafehi and Lulu Houdini. Gesa-Fatafehi is a Torres Strait Islander and...
Palmer wins 2024 Ernest Scott Prize
Wednesday, 15 May 2024
Unmaking Angas Downs: Myth and history on a Central Australian pastoral station (Shannyn Palmer, MUP) has won the 2024 Ernest Scott Prize for History. Award judges Grace Karskens and Frank...
ALS Gold Medal 2024 longlist announced
Wednesday, 15 May 2024
The longlist for the 2024 Australian Literature Society (ALS) Gold Medal has been announced. Longlisted works include: Frank (Jordie Albiston, NLA Publishing) The Prize (Kim E Anderson, Pantera) Like to...
Levitina shortlisted for UK Historical Novel Society’s First Chapters Competition
Wednesday, 8 May 2024
Sydney author Julia Levitina has been shortlisted for the UK Historical Novel Society’s (HNS) First Chapters Competition. Levitina was shortlisted in the 20th-century historical fiction category for the opening chapters...
Western Sydney council votes to remove same-sex parenting books from libraries
Wednesday, 8 May 2024
Cumberland City Council, in Western Sydney, has passed a motion to remove same-sex parenting books from its library shelves, reports the ABC. In what the ABC described as ‘a heated...
Varuna announces Roderick Centre Fellowship for Regional and Remote Writers
Tuesday, 7 May 2024
Varuna, The National Writers’ House has announced a new fellowship program—the Roderick Centre Fellowship for Regional and Remote Writers. Described by Varuna as ‘the only national literary program in Australia...
NT Writers Festival announces early line-up
Wednesday, 1 May 2024
The NT Writers Festival has announced an early line-up of guests for its 2024 festival, which will run from 27 to 30 June on Larrakia land at the Museum and...
Byron Writers Festival announces first guests for 2024
Wednesday, 1 May 2024
Byron Writers Festival has made its first announcement of guests due to speak at its 2024 festival, which will run from 9 to 11 August on Bundjalung land at the...
QBD Books opens new Melbourne shop; launches author program
Wednesday, 1 May 2024
QBD Books will open a new shop at the Watergardens Shopping Centre in the suburb of Taylors Lakes in Melbourne’s northwest. The shop will hold opening celebrations on 4 May,...
Open Book 2024 interns announced
Wednesday, 1 May 2024
The successful interns for the 2024 Open Book: Australian Publishing Internship have been announced. Chosen from over 320 applications, the 2024 interns are Olivia Garcia, Tayla Goodman and Nashin Mahee....
Bologna: Local publishers report demand for ‘fun’ amid move away from ‘issues’
Wednesday, 24 April 2024
Bologna Children’s Book Fair, held 8–11 April, was ‘the most upbeat fair for some time’, reported Scholastic senior rights manager Claire Pretyman. 'The mood was enthusiastic and joyful,' agreed Allen...
T&H celebrates 75-year anniversary
Wednesday, 24 April 2024
Thames & Hudson (T&H) is celebrating its 75-year anniversary this year with a series of trade promotions and events. Walter and Eva Neurath founded T&H in 1949 with the ambition...
Upswell acquires Spirovski debut, ‘White Hibiscus’
Wednesday, 24 April 2024
Upswell Publishing has acquired world rights for White Hibiscus: A portrait in words, the debut work of visual artist Loribelle Spirovski. Publisher Terri-ann White described the book as ‘a poetic...
Transit Lounge acquires Dombroski debut novel ‘Xenograft’
Wednesday, 24 April 2024
Transit Lounge has acquired world rights to Xenograft, a debut novel by Western Sydney author Ann Dombroski. In the novel, 40-year-old Alice Kaczmarek wants a baby, but her husband, Daniel, is...
Pantera acquires Sursok memoir
Wednesday, 17 April 2024
Pantera has acquired world rights to an as-yet-untitled memoir from Tammin Sursok. Among many other roles—including producing, directing, writing, music, media appearances, and entrepreneurship—Sursok is known as an actor who...
Local authors on Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2024 shortlist
Wednesday, 17 April 2024
Three Aotearoa New Zealand authors and one Australian writer are among the finalists for the 2024 Commonwealth Short Story Prize. The authors shortlisted for the Pacific region are: M Donato...
BookPeople 2024 Book of the Year shortlists announced
Wednesday, 17 April 2024
BookPeople has announced the shortlists for its Book of the Year awards. The shortlists for each category are: Adult fiction Lola in the Mirror (Trent Dalton, Fourth Estate) Green Dot (Madeleine Gray,...
Catton shortlisted for 2024 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction
Wednesday, 10 April 2024
Eleanor Catton has been shortlisted for the 2024 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, worth US$150,000 (A$226,245). The full list of shortlisted titles includes: Birnam Wood (Eleanor Catton, Granta) Daughter (Claudia...
ARA Historical Novel Prize increases prize pool to $150,000
Wednesday, 10 April 2024
The ARA Historical Novel Prize this year will have a prize pool of $150,000, with the winner of the adult category to receive $100,000—making this 'the richest individual literary prize...
Ambrose joins HarperCollins
Wednesday, 10 April 2024
HarperCollins Australia has appointed Sophie Ambrose to the role of publisher, commissioning nonfiction for the ABC Books and HarperCollins imprints. Ambrose replaces Georgia Frances King, who will leave HarperCollins on...
Huia wins 2024 Bologna Prize, Oceania region
Wednesday, 10 April 2024
Huia Publishers, based in Aotearoa New Zealand, is the 2024 Oceania winner of the Bologna Prize (BOP) for the Best Children’s Publisher of the Year. The Māori-owned independent publisher has...
ILF wins Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2024
Wednesday, 10 April 2024
The Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF) has won the 2024 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (ALMA), worth five million Swedish kronor (A$710,000). The ILF was announced as the winner at a live...
