MWF program, latest award winners

Melbourne Writers Festival has revealed this year’s program, which runs from 3–12 September. Meanwhile, Writing NSW and the NT Writers Centre, as well as the NSW Central Coast’s Words on the Waves Writers Festival are among the latest recipients of the federal government’s RISE funding.

Brisbane’s Folio Books has announced its closure. Melbourne bookshops have banded together on a new initiative to support booksellers and authors, while Adam Suckling and Kate Torney have stepped down as CEOs of the Copyright Agency and State Library Victoria respectively.

The winners of the Text Prize, ACT Book of the Year and Overland’s Kuracca Prize were all announced, as was the shortlist for the revived Age Book of the Year.

In the UK, more than 2600 authors and illustrators signed an open letter against mooted changes to copyright and trade laws, while in the US, reading time was up 21% last year. The shortlists for the UK’s Polari Prize for LGBTQ+ literature were also announced.

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Category: This week’s news