Booker Prize longlist, JobKeeper extended and more

29 July 2020 Books+Publishing

The Booker Prize longlist—which features writers from the UK, US, Zimbabwe, Ireland and Ethiopia—headlines this week’s awards news.

In local awards news, Rodney Hall and Krissy Kneen have received $80,000 Copyright Agency fellowships, and the longlist for the Nib Literary Award has been announced, as have the shortlists for the Queensland Literary Awards people’s choice award and the Educational Publishing Awards.

In other news, the federal government has extended its JobKeeper wage subsidy program through to next year—albeit at a lower rate and with tighter conditions—and supermarket chain Coles has partnered with Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton to offer pocket-sized ‘Treehouse’ books as part of a promotion.

The Melbourne Writers Festival has launched the program for MWF Digital, which kicks off in August. Meanwhile, the new interim board at The Lifted Brow has apologised for past misconduct and announced a complete re-evaluation of the organisation.

Overseas, Scholastic’s revenue dropped 10% for the year to May on the back of school closures and book fair cancellations. European book sales are mostly well below pre-Covid levels, while the UK’s Publishers Association reported that 2019 was the best ever year for the British book market.

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