Weekly news | Books+Publishing

Amazon’s Sydney warehouse to open mid-late 2018

Friday, 4 May 2018
Amazon will open a Sydney-based warehouse in the second half of 2018, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. The US retailer announced on Thursday that it would open its new Sydney...

OzCo to send Australian delegation to Shanghai

Friday, 4 May 2018
The Australia Council has announced it will support up to five Australian publishing delegates to attend the China Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair (CCBF) in 2018. Expressions of interest are...

HarperCollins and Thames & Hudson win at 2018 ABIAs, ‘Nevermoor’ named Book of the Year

Friday, 4 May 2018
The winners of the 2018 Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIAs) were announced in Sydney on 3 May. HarperCollins won Publisher of the Year, while Thames & Hudson Australia won Small...

Dark Mofo announces full program for ‘literature, film and ideas’ event

Thursday, 3 May 2018
Tasmania’s midwinter festival Dark Mofo has announced the program for the Dark and Dangerous Thoughts (DDT) two-day symposium, a showcase of ‘literature, film and ideas’ that runs from 9 to...

Australian comics artist Whyte nominated for Eisner Award

Thursday, 3 May 2018
Perth-based comics artist Campbell Whyte has been nominated for the 2018 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards for his book Home Time: Under the River (Top Shelf Productions). Whyte’s book was...

Brio announces new unpublished manuscript prize for mystery writing

Thursday, 3 May 2018
Brio Books has announced a new unpublished manuscript prize, the Carter Brown Mystery Writing Award. Established in conjunction with the Carter Brown Foundation and US-based Stark House Press, the new...

UWAP expands Dorothy Hewett award

Thursday, 3 May 2018
University of Western Australia Publishing (UWA Publishing) has announced it will expand the eligibility of the next Dorothy Hewett Award for an Unpublished Manuscript to all Australian writers and permanent...

Australians report ‘calm’ and ‘optimistic’ LBF, feminism and big data key trends

Wednesday, 2 May 2018
Australian publishers who attended the London Book Fair (LBF) reported a ‘relatively calm’ fair, with interest across a broad range of titles and plenty of discussion around the future of...

NZ government to introduce ‘Amazon tax’

Wednesday, 2 May 2018
The New Zealand government has announced that foreign retailers will be required to pay GST on goods under the value of NZ$400 (A$370) sold online into New Zealand. Foreign retailers...

Australians shortlisted for Locus Awards

Wednesday, 2 May 2018
Several Australians have been named as finalists for the Locus Awards for science-fiction and fantasy writing. Garth Nix is a finalist in the young adult category for his novel Frogkisser!...

Hachette acquires world rights to Richell Prize shortlisted debut

Wednesday, 2 May 2018
Hachette Australia has acquired world rights to 2017 Richell Prize finalist Triptych by debut novelist Julie Keys. Triptych traces two timelines from the perspectives of two headstrong women: Muriel Kemp,...

Shortlist announced for inaugural Michael Gifkins Prize

Wednesday, 2 May 2018
The shortlist for the inaugural Michael Gifkins Prize for an unpublished novel has been announced. The shortlisted works, and their authors, are: ‘When Curlews Call’ (H E Crampton) ‘Caught Between’...

Melbourne City of Lit announces ‘Parliament’ event for 10th anniversary

Wednesday, 2 May 2018
The Melbourne City of Literature, as part of its 10th anniversary, has announced it will partner with the Wheeler Centre to present a two-day event in November to ‘celebrate where...

NSW Premier’s Literary Awards 2018 winners announced

Tuesday, 1 May 2018
The winners of the 2018 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards were presented at a ceremony at the State Library of NSW on 30 April. Kim Scott’s Taboo (Picador), which tells the...

Affirm reprints ‘The Silver Sea’; projects $40,000 in profits for Royal Children’s Hospital

Tuesday, 1 May 2018
Affirm Press has ordered a reprint of ‘profit-for-purpose’ picture book The Silver Sea (Alison Lester, Jane Godwin & the children at the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne), after selling out the...

Wilson awarded 2018 Lloyd O’Neil award; Covernton awarded Pixie O’Harris

Monday, 30 April 2018
Independent bookseller and Indigenous literacy advocate Suzy Wilson and Working Title Press publisher Jane Covernton will be inducted into the ABIA Hall of Fame at the Australian Book Industry Awards...

Edwards named patron of Society of Women Writers Victoria

Monday, 30 April 2018
Author Hazel Edwards has been named as the next patron of the Society of Women Writers Victoria (SWWVic). Edwards was announced as patron at the SWWVic committee meeting on 27...

ALS Gold Medal 2018 shortlist announced

Monday, 30 April 2018
The shortlist for the 2018 Australian Literature Society (ALS) Gold Medal has been announced. The shortlisted titles are: A Long Way from Home (Peter Carey, Hamish Hamilton) The Agonist (Shastra...

Norma K Hemming Award 2018 shortlists announced

Monday, 30 April 2018
The shortlists for the 2018 Norma K Hemming Award have been announced. The award is presented by the Australian Science Fiction Foundation for a work of speculative fiction published in...

Kenwood wins 2018 Text Prize

Friday, 27 April 2018
Melbourne-based writer Nina Kenwood has won the 2018 Text Prize for Young Adult and Children’s Writing for her YA manuscript 'It Sounded Better in My Head'. The ‘tender, funny and joyful...

Tusk Books gains representation by The Rights Hive

Friday, 27 April 2018
Animal rights publisher Tusk Books has gained international rights representation through rights agency The Rights Hive. Director of The Rights Hive Natasha Solomun said that two Tusk Books picture books—titled...

black&write! Writing Fellowship 2018 winners announced

Thursday, 26 April 2018
The 2018 black&write! Fellowships for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers have been awarded to Gold Coast writer Lystra Bisschop and Sydney-based writer Nardi Simpson. Bisschop, a descendant of the...

O’Neill’s forthcoming ‘Drover’s Wives’ sold to UK

Thursday, 26 April 2018
Prime Minister’s Literary Award-winner Ryan O’Neill has sold UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Australia and New Zealand) to his Henry Lawson-inspired short-story collection, The Drover’s Wives, to UK publisher Lightning...