Weekly news | Books+Publishing

S&S to launch Scribner Australia imprint; acquires literary novel by Olsson

Tuesday, 5 September 2017
Simon & Schuster Australia will launch the literary imprint Scribner in Australia and New Zealand in 2018 with a new novel by Kristina Olsson. Shell is ‘a sweeping literary novel...

CHASS Australia Book Prize 2017 longlist announced

Tuesday, 5 September 2017
The Council for the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (CHASS) has announced the longlist for the 2017 Australia Book Prize. The prize, worth $3500, is part of the CHASS Australia...

Era launches ‘WINGS’ children’s book series in China

Monday, 4 September 2017
South Australia-based publisher Era Publications has partnered with Chinese publisher New Century Publishing to publish 1.7 million copies of its ‘WINGS’ children’s reader series in China. Launched at the Beijing...

McKinty, Harper win 2017 Ned Kelly Awards

Monday, 4 September 2017
The Australian Crime Writers Association (ACWA) has announced the winners for this year’s Ned Kelly Awards for Australian crime writing. The best fiction award was presented to Adrian McKinty for...

Bragg UNSW Press Prize for Science Writing 2017 shortlist announced

Monday, 4 September 2017
The shortlist for this year’s Bragg UNSW Press Prize for Science Writing has been announced. The shortlisted pieces are: James Bradley for ‘Fish Have Feelings Too’ (the Monthly) Jo Chandler...

Winners of the 2017 NSW Premier’s History Awards announced

Monday, 4 September 2017
The State Library of NSW (SLNSW) has announced the winners of the 2017 NSW Premier’s History Awards. The winning works in each category are: Australian History Prize ($15,000) From the...

Comic Art Workshop raises more than $11,500 for artists’ residency

Friday, 1 September 2017
The Comic Art Workshop has successfully raised more than $10,000 on Kickstarter to help fund its 2017 residency program. The Kickstarter campaign was launched on 11 August and successfully reached...

Myer to stock Amazon Kindle

Friday, 1 September 2017
Myer will stock Amazon Kindle devices and accessories in its stores and online as part of a new partnership, reports Inside Retail. ‘We are thrilled to announce our program with...

Page wins 2017 ACU Poetry Prize

Friday, 1 September 2017
Poet Geoff Page has won the 2017 ACU Poetry Prize, worth $10,000, for his poem ‘Charles S. Ryan to Alice E. Sumner’. Judge Chris Wallace-Crabbe said Page’s winning poem, which...

Guest, Riggs win ‘Lifted Brow’ Prize for Experimental Nonfiction

Friday, 1 September 2017
Literary journal the Lifted Brow has selected Stephanie Guest and Kate Riggs as the winners of its 2017 Prize for Experimental Nonfiction for their essay ‘An Architecture of Early Motherhood’....

Avid Reader launches ‘Avid Kitchen + Garden’

Thursday, 31 August 2017
Brisbane bookstore Avid Reader is relaunching its café and courtyard space under the new name Avid Kitchen + Garden. The West End bookstore has hired new management to take over...

Speculative fiction publisher Talem Press launches first book

Thursday, 31 August 2017
New speculative fiction publisher Talem Press, an imprint of the online writers’ platform Writer’s Edit, will release its first book on 31 August. Heart of Mist is the first book...

Australian Centre Literary Awards 2017 winners announced

Wednesday, 30 August 2017
The winners of the University of Melbourne’s Australian Centre Literary Awards were announced at the Melbourne Writers Festival on 26 August. Wesley Michel Wright Prize The Wesley Michel Wright Prize...

Smith Street Books recalls ‘Which Cult Should I Join?’ due to ‘threat of legal action’

Wednesday, 30 August 2017
Smith Street Books is recalling copies of the book Which Cult Should I Join? by Australian author Jo Stewart ‘due to the threat of legal action’. The book, which was...

YA authors to run book club on a train

Wednesday, 30 August 2017
Contributors to the #LoveOzYA anthology Begin, End, Begin (HarperCollins) will be running a book club discussion on a Melbourne train on 14 September as part of Australian Reading Hour. Authors...

MidnightSun sells Swedish rights for ‘A Cardboard Palace’

Wednesday, 30 August 2017
MidnightSun Publishing has sold Swedish rights for Allayne L Webster’s middle-grade novel A Cardboard Palace to B. Wahlströms Bokförlag. This is the publisher’s first middle-grade book to sell overseas. Publishing...

Black Inc. acquires Dovey book on Coetzee

Wednesday, 30 August 2017
Black Inc. has signed Ceridwen Dovey to contribute to its ‘Writers on Writers’ series with a book on Nobel Prize-winning South African and Australian author J M Coetzee. Dovey’s book...

Richell Prize 2017 longlist announced

Tuesday, 29 August 2017
Hachette Australia and the Emerging Writers’ Festival have announced the longlist for the 2017 Richell Prize for emerging writers. The longlisted writers and their works are: Michelle Barraclough for ‘As...

Hamilton appointed CEO of Express Media

Tuesday, 29 August 2017
Lucy Hamilton has been appointed general manager/CEO of Express Media, replacing Pippa Bainbridge in the position. Hamilton was previously partnerships coordinator for Regional Arts Victoria. Express Media chair Tracy O’Shaughnessy...

Crawford named University of Technology Sydney’s New Writer in Residence for 2017-18

Tuesday, 29 August 2017
Writer and artist Anwen Crawford has been selected as the University of Technology Sydney’s New Writer in Residence for 2017-18. Crawford will use the residency to work on her second...

More than 330 libraries, bookshops register for Australian Reading Hour

Tuesday, 29 August 2017
More than 330 libraries and bookshops have registered to participate in Australian Reading Hour on 14 September 2017, with over 100 Australian authors to take part in events in their...

‘Overland’ Victoria University Short Story Prize 2017 winners announced

Tuesday, 29 August 2017
Amanda Niehaus has won the 2017 Overland Victoria University Short Story Prize for new and emerging writers for her story ‘Breeding Season’. Chosen from a shortlist of 10, ‘Breeding Season’...

Government declines support for fair use in Productivity Commission response; industry groups respond

Monday, 28 August 2017
The federal government has declined to support the Productivity Commission’s recommendation to introduce a fair use exception to copyright law, and will instead consult on developing more flexible copyright exceptions next year....