NSW Literary Award winners announced; digiDirect Group acquires James Bennett; Miles Franklin, ALS Gold Medal longlists
In local news, digiDirect Group owner Shant Kradjian has acquired library supplier James Bennett, after acquiring Booktopia in 2024; online bookseller The Nile has appointed John Purcell as head of books – Australia; and State Library Victoria has announced that its World of the Book exhibition is set to open on 31 May and showcase rare bookish items.
B+P spoke with Ruby Wallace, the owner of Enamoured Books – Aotearoa New Zealand’s first dedicated romance bookshop, which opened in Auckland earlier this month; and reviewer Marina Sano spoke with Emma Pei Yin on her novel When Sleeping Women Wake; Pei Yin recommended Hannah Bent’s When Things Are Alive They Hum (Ultimo).
This week has seen a flurry of awards news, including the longlist announcement for both the Miles Franklin Literary Award and the Australian Literature Society (ALS) Gold Medal; on Monday, the NSW Literary Awards announced its 2025 winners, with Nam Le’s poetry collection 36 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese Poem (Scribner) winning the overall $10,000 Book of the Year and the $30,000 Multicultural NSW Award; the Russell Prize for Humour Writing announced Green Dot by Madeleine Gray (A&U) as this year’s winner, and Laughter Is the Best Ending (Maryam Master, illus by Astred Hicks, Pan) as the winner of the Humour Writing for Young People Award; Perth-based writer Rebecca Raisin won the Contemporary Romance Novel Award for her book A Love Letter to Paris (Boldwood); and BookPeople announced the 2025 Bookseller of the Year shortlists, with the winners to be announced in June.
In Aotearoa New Zealand, the NZSA announced the recipients of the NZSA Ngā Kaituhi Māori Mentorship, Kupu Kaitiaki Programmes, and the Youth Mentorship Programme for 2025; and the winners of the 2025 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards were also announced.
In acquisitions, Pantera Press announced the acquisition of The Perimenopause Method by Michelle Bridges; Transit Lounge acquired world rights to Kris Kneen’s new novel, Rite of Spring; and Allen & Unwin announced the acquisition of nonfiction title The Grade Cricketer: Alphas, Champs and Chop Kingsby by cricket and modern life commentators Sam Perry and Ian Higgins.
Around the world this week, the International Booker Prize winner was announced as Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq, translated from Kannada by Deepa Bhasthi (Scribe) – the first collection of short stories to win the £50,000 (A$95,325) prize; Publishers Weekly reported on Amazon’s announcement about an intention to use AI for audiobook narration and translation for Audible; and UK production company Somesuch launched a publishing imprint, Somesuch Editions, with Use the Words You Have by Kimberly Campanello to be the first title released.
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Category: This week’s news
