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The Waiting Place (Megan Jacobson, Lothian)
Released September 2026
Traversing the afterlife is an uncommon subgenre in the YA space, making The Waiting Place by Megan Jacobson (Yellow, Big Love) a unique foray. Emily is a sheltered 16-year-old raised... Read more
Massif (Garth Nix, Allen & Unwin)
Released September 2026
Against the backdrop of an interstellar war, humanity must reckon with an inscrutable alien presence in Massif, Garth Nix’s return to adult science fiction. Humanity has spread throughout the galaxy... Read more
Hell Days: Into the Inferno of Hormonal Mood Disorder (Laura Elizabeth Woollett, Scribe)
Released September 2026
Laura Elizabeth Woollett’s nonfiction debut, Hell Days: Into the Inferno of Hormonal Mood Disorder, arrives only months after Emma Hardy’s Periodic Bitch, suggesting that premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) is finally... Read more
Foreign Return: On Art and Inhabitation (Neha Kale, NewSouth)
Released September 2026
Neha Kale’s debut, Foreign Return: On Art and Inhabitation, is an elegantly rendered work of literary nonfiction stylised as a memoir-in-essays, revealing a life as told through encounters with art.... Read more
Common Places (Gillian Hagenus, University of Queensland Press)
Released September 2026
Gillian Hagenus’s short story collection Common Places is a journey through the shadowy ruthlessness of Australian suburbia, where ghosts haunt the living in the brutal Australian landscape. The stories travel... Read more
On Nanna’s Boat (Anna Pignataro, illustrated by Max Hamilton, Windy Hollow Books)
Released September 2026
In On Nanna’s Boat, Anna Pignataro (It’s Hard to Love a Tiger) delivers a cosy picture book with all the warmth of a hug from Grandma. Readers are welcomed aboard... Read more
Hate You to Love You (Joshua Hortinela, Atria Australia)
Released September 2026
Joshua Hortinela’s debut novel, Hate You to Love You, is a queer romance following Carlos, a journalist and self-confessed rom-com fanatic, grappling with heartbreak, grief and mounting work stress. An... Read more
Web of Spies (S.I.G.M.A. #1) (Tim Ayliffe, Affirm Kids)
Released September 2026
Bestselling crime author Tim Ayliffe’s children’s debut, Web of Spies (S.I.G.M.A. #1), is a fast-paced and gripping middle-grade mystery that captivates readers from the very first chapter. Ollie Speed is... Read more
God AI: Boom or Doom? What to Expect When Machines Outsmart Us (Toby Walsh, La Trobe University Press)
Released September 2026
As AI spreads throughout society, its uses and implications are increasingly hard to ignore. For those looking to cut through the hype and grasp the true state of things, Toby... Read more
Sick Note (Olivia De Zilva, Pink Shorts Press)
Released September 2026
Sick Note is Olivia De Zilva’s (Plastic Budgie, Eggshell) debut poetry collection, exploring capitalism, work, chronic illness, un/underemployment and identity politics. The collection is almost irrefutably “zillennial”, occupying the peculiar... Read more
the long cloud (Hector MacKenzie, Scribe)
Released September 2026
Written entirely in lowercase and with minimal punctuation, Hector MacKenzie’s debut novel, the long cloud, follows narrator Xander Alexander as he returns to Hawkes Bay for the first time in... Read more
In Plain Sight (Robyn Dennison, Text Publishing)
Released September 2026
In Plain Sight by Robyn Dennison (Blind Spot) is a compelling literary crime novel filled with complex relationships and strong-willed characters. Identical twins Lucy and Violet Sanasoray are hiding a... Read more
I Call the Ocean Wardan (Ebony Froome, illustrated by Dellas Bennell & Korrine Bennell-Yarran, Fremantle Press)
Released September 2026
Wardandi Noongar author Ebony Froome (Djinang Bonar: Seeing Seasons) has created another exquisite dual-language picture book, I Call the Ocean Wardan. Noongar is widely spoken by First Nations peoples across... Read more
Five Voices (Tamara Moss, Allen & Unwin Children)
Released September 2026
Tamara Moss’s Five Voices is an addictive, high-stakes YA murder mystery that will hook readers from its opening pages. When William Drax-Du Pont dies after a heated podcast recording session,... Read more
Otis Ottley and the School in the Sky (Will Kostakis, Allen & Unwin Children’s)
Released September 2026
Otis Ottley and the School in the Sky, the debut middle-grade novel from award-winning YA author Will Kostakis (We Could Be Something), is a fast-moving comic fantasy with subtle themes... Read more
The Wreck (Riley James, Allen & Unwin)
Released September 2026
The Wreck by Riley James is a tense, atmospheric and altogether chilling survival thriller. Its cleverly plotted narrative centres on the mysterious 1977 disappearance of pilot Donovan “Van” Spector over... Read more
The Good Decision (Jo Dabrowski, illus Cate James, Affirm Kids)
Released September 2026
Jo Dabrowski and Cate James’s The Good Decision reminds readers that good intentions don’t always lead to good outcomes. This adorably funny picture book follows Albert, a young boy who... Read more
Scion (Book One) (James Islington, Text Publishing)
Released September 2026
Best known for his epic fantasy novels, James Islington ventures into thrilling science fiction with Scion, the first in a new series. Readers are drawn in from the opening scene,... Read more
The Boy Who Loved Dolls (John A Scott, Puncher & Wattmann)
Released September 2026
Set in 1987 in Victoria, The Boy Who Loved Dolls by John A Scott (N, What I Have Written) initially follows the conversations between two protagonists: Jean-Jacques Baille, a lauded, retired... Read more
What the Flora?: Incredible Stories from the Brilliant and Bizarre World of Plants (Vanessa Fuchs, Pantera Press)
Released September 2026
In What the Flora?: Incredible Stories from the Brilliant and Bizarre World of Plants, science communicator Vanessa Fuchs, who works at Botanic Gardens of Sydney, takes readers on an exploration... Read more
