Echo acquisitions cease; Meanjin revived; ABA reverts to former branding
Among local headlines this week, Bonnier Books UK is ceasing new acquisitions for Australian imprint Echo, effective immediately, attributing the decision to “increasingly challenging market conditions”; while in brighter news, literary journal Meanjin has been revived by Queensland University of Technology.
Local news
In other local stories this week, Hardie Grant appointed Janey Martino and Shirley Chowdhary to its board; the Guardian reported that self-published author Lauren Ashley Mastrosa, who writes under the pen name Tori Woods, has been found guilty of possessing, disseminating and producing child abuse material; BookPeople is reverting to its previous branding as the Australian Booksellers Association; and Australia Post has extended its partnership with the Indigenous Literacy Foundation.
Readings revealed its 2025 Best of the Best list, selected by staff and voted on by the public; CBCA announced its 2026 Children’s Book Week theme as “Symphony of Stories”; and Rakuten Kobo released its 2025 Book Report, recording a sharp rise in immersive fiction ebook and audio downloads last year.
Awards
In local awards news, poet Prema Arasu is the inaugural winner of the Forrest Research Foundation and Fremantle Press travel fund for Western Australian writers to promote their work outside the state. Local creators also appeared in UK awards lists this week – Melissa Lucashenko on the Walter Scott Prize longlist for Edenglassie (UQP) and Tull Suwannakit on the Carnegie Medal for Illustration longlist for Higher Ground (New Frontier).
Rights and acquisitions news
In acquisitions announcements this week, Text Publishing acquired world rights to Night Swimming, a psychological thriller in verse by Sharon Kernot, via Martin Shaw at Shaw Literary; Hardie Grant Books acquired world rights to Josh Niland’s Saint Peter: Chapter & Verse; and HarperCollins acquired narrative nonfiction by Kirstin Ferguson in a multi-book deal brokered by Key People Creative Management.
International news
In further awards news from the UK, the Unwin Award finalists and the 2026 Women’s Prize for Nonfiction longlist were announced this week. Also in UK news, BookBrunch reported that nearly 40 members of the Independent Publishers Guild have written to leading generative AI companies flagging potential legal action in response to alleged copyright infringement. Meanwhile, in the US, Publishers Weekly reported that Harlequin plans to discontinue its historical romance imprint, Harlequin Historical, in 2027.
Elsewhere in bookish news
In recent stories from the Conversation, Angela Glindemann wrote on the Meanjin acquisition (“QUT takes on an important responsibility in reviving this 85-year-old publication”); Alice Grundy wrote on the future of writers festivals (“the only solution is a big increase in government funding – so long as it is independent of political interference – and sustained grants that can facilitate planning and growth”); and Caitlin Macdonald listed 6 Australian literary podcasts, noting that “audio has become such an important medium for contemporary reading”.
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Category: This week’s news
