Industry pushes for early Christmas shopping; Australia Reads to stream on YouTube

The ABA and APA have launched a new campaign to encourage Australians to do their Christmas shopping early as the global supply chain strains under the pressure of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Australia Reads campaign is hosting a series of live YouTube events ahead of this year’s Australian Reading Hour on 12 November. In other news, online bookseller Booktopia is reportedly planning a December IPO, Audible has partnered with local arts bodies for new Australian content, and programs have been announced for the Bad Sydney Crime Writers and Word for Word Nonfiction festivals.

In awards news, Grace Lucas-Pennington won Overland’s Nakata Brophy Short Fiction and Poetry Prize, while shortlists were announced for the Bragg Prize for Science Writing and the Deborah Cass Prize, as was the longlist for the inaugural Historical Novel Prize. Overseas, US poet Louise Glück was awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize for Literature, and the shortlists for the National Book Awards were revealed.

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Category: This week’s news