Weekly news | Books+Publishing

‘Missing Marvin’ wins Children’s Peace Literature Award

Tuesday, 12 November 2019
Sue deGennaro’s picture book Missing Marvin (Scholastic) has won this year’s Children’s Peace Literature Award. Convener of the judging panel Kate Prescott described Missing Marvin as a funny and gentle...

Fitzgerald wins 2019 Richell Prize for climate change-inspired stories

Monday, 11 November 2019
Melbourne-based writer Else Fitzgerald has won the 2019 Richell Prize for her entry ‘Nearly Curtains’. Set in a future marked by climate change, the collection of short stories explores the...

The University of Western Australia to close UWA Publishing

Friday, 8 November 2019
The University of Western Australia has decided to close UWA Publishing (UWAP) after almost 85 years of operation, reports the Australian. An internal memo from deputy vice-chancellor Tayyeb Shah said...

Australians nominated for 2020 Carnegie and Kate Greenaway medals

Friday, 8 November 2019
A number of Australian authors and illustrators have been nominated for the 2020 Carnegie and Kate Greenaway medals. Karen Foxlee (Lenny's Book of Everything, A&U), Paul Jennings (A Different Land,...

Fyfe wins 2019 Bragg UNSW Press Prize for Science Writing

Friday, 8 November 2019
Melissa Fyfe's article ‘Getting cliterate’ (Good Weekend) has won this year’s Bragg UNSW Press Prize for Science Writing. Fyfe receives $7000. Her winning article describes the work of urologist Helen...

Speech Pathology Australia book awards 2019 winners announced

Friday, 8 November 2019
The winners of the 2019 Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year awards have been announced. Chosen from shortlists announced in July, the winning titles are: Birth to three years Let’s Go...

Walkley Book Award 2019 shortlist announced

Thursday, 7 November 2019
The Walkley Book Award 2019 shortlist has been announced. The shortlisted titles are: Rusted Off: Why country Australia is fed up (Gabrielle Chan, Vintage) See What You Made Me Do (Jess Hill, Black...

Herrick’s YA novel ‘By the River’ wins German Youth Literature Prize

Thursday, 7 November 2019
NSW-based author Steven Herrick’s YA novel By the River (A&U) has won Germany’s Youth Literature Prize in the young adult division. First published in 2004, By the River follows 14-year-old...

A&U sells ‘Pain and Prejudice’ to US, UK

Thursday, 7 November 2019
Allen & Unwin has sold rights to Gabrielle Jackson’s Pain and Prejudice to Piatkus in the UK and Greystone Books in North America. Published in Australia in October, Pain and...

Pantera acquires new Amal Awad novel

Wednesday, 6 November 2019
Pantera Press has acquired world rights to journalist and author Amal Awad’s third novel, Control on the Way Down, a work of women’s fiction. Awad’s novel is about a Muslim...

Black Inc. acquires El Sayed’s memoir ‘Muddy People’

Wednesday, 6 November 2019
Black Inc. has acquired world rights to Sara El Sayed’s debut memoir Muddy People, a ‘smart, funny, terrifically lively exploration of growing up as a Muslim Australian in the outer...

VanOver returns to PRH amid staff changes

Monday, 4 November 2019
Penguin Random House Australia (PRH) has announced a number of staff changes in its adult publishing division. Brandon VanOver has returned to PRH in the role of commissioning editor, where...

McTiernan wins Barry Award for best paperback original

Monday, 4 November 2019
Dervla McTiernan has won the Barry Award for best paperback original for her 2018 novel The Ruin (HarperCollins). The annual literary crime awards, named for American critic and crime fiction...

Pascoe, Gaiman to headline 2020 Perth Festival Literature & Ideas weekend

Friday, 1 November 2019
The program for Perth Festival’s Literature & Ideas weekend, running from 21–23 February 2020, has been announced. Based around the themes of land, money, power and sex, the literature and...

PRH raises $100k for ILF programs

Friday, 1 November 2019
Penguin Random House Australia (PRH) has presented a $100,000 donation to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF). The $100,000 cheque was presented to the ILF at a book launch this morning,...

Drewe wins 2019 Colin Roderick Literary Award for ‘The True Colour of the Sea’

Friday, 1 November 2019
Robert Drewe has won the $20,000 Colin Roderick Literary Award 2019 and the H T Priestley Medal for his short story collection The True Colour of the Sea (Hamish Hamilton)....

Pomare’s ‘In the Clearing’ sold to US, UK in two-book deal

Thursday, 31 October 2019
US and UK rights to J P Pomare’s In the Clearing (Hachette) have been sold in a two-book deal to global Hachette imprints Mulholland Books US and Hodder UK. The...

Tighe, Walker announced as inaugural ABR Rising Stars

Thursday, 31 October 2019
The Australian Book Review (ABR) has announced the inaugural ABR Rising Stars, a new initiative to support young ABR writers and critics supported by Creative Victoria and Create NSW. Alex...

Lake wins 2019 CHASS Australia Book Prize for ‘The Bible in Australia’

Thursday, 31 October 2019
Meredith Lake has won the 2019 Council for the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences’ (CHASS) Australia Book Prize, for her book The Bible in Australia: A cultural history (NewSouth). Lake’s...

Chowdhury named Beatrice Davis Editorial Fellow

Wednesday, 30 October 2019
The Australian Publishers Association (APA) has announced Penguin Random House audio producer Radhiah Chowdhury as the recipient of the 2019–2020 Beatrice Davis Editorial Fellowship. The fellowship will allow Chowdhury to...

New APA initiative to signify Australian created books

Wednesday, 30 October 2019
The Australian Publishers Association (APA) has begun a campaign to signify books created in Australia with a new logo. Based on the logo for joint-industry group Books Create Australia, the...

First writers announced for Adelaide Writers’ Week

Wednesday, 30 October 2019
The first writers have been announced for next year’s Adelaide Writers’ Week, which runs from 29 February to 5 March. International guests include Nigerian novelist Chigozie Obioma, Omani novelist and...

Winners of 2019 YABBAs announced

Wednesday, 30 October 2019
The winners of the 2019 Young Australians Best Book Awards (YABBAs), Victoria’s children’s choice awards, have been announced. The winning titles are: Picture storybooks Seriously Do Not Open This Book (Andy...

Lit projects account for 2.7% of OzCo arts funding in 2018–19

Tuesday, 29 October 2019
According to the Australia Council’s latest annual report, published last week, literature projects accounted for 2.7% of its arts funding in 2018–19, or $5.1 million out of a total of...

John Flanagan’s ‘Ranger’s Apprentice’ to be adapted for film

Tuesday, 29 October 2019
A film based on YA adventure series ‘Ranger’s Apprentice’ by Australian author John Flanagan (Random House Children’s) has received funding and is expected to begin production in 2020, reports the...

Fair Work approves PRH EBA

Tuesday, 29 October 2019
The Fair Work Commission has approved Penguin Random House Australia's enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA), the first union-negotiated EBA in Australian publishing history. In September, PRH delegates in the editorial and...

Weekly news >