Australian Government blocks attempts to change copyright law; BWF breaks records; Children’s Booker to be awarded
Major local news
The Australian Government announced this week that it won’t change the law to allow tech companies to train artificial intelligence models using copyright material, Australian media outlets reported. Multiple publishing industry organisations have reacted enthusiastically to the news.
Further local news
The Brisbane Writers Festival recorded more than 16,000 attendees at its 2025 program, held in its new venue partner, the Brisbane Powerhouse; literary journal Southerly has returned after 3-year hiatus with issue 80.1, “First, the Future”, guest-edited by KA Ren Wyld and new Southerly editor Roanna Gonsalves; Creative Australia’s inaugural national giving-to-the-arts day, AusArt Day, took place on 23 October; Libby Jackson-Barrett and Ben Paganoni have joined Fremantle Press’s board of directors; and Amba Press announced it will acquire 38 educational titles under an agreement with ACER Press.
Awards
In awards this week, author Luke Carman was named the 2025 Judy Harris Writer-in-Residence Fellow, receiving $100,000 to support a year-long residency at the Charles Perkins Centre; Darren Rix and Craig Cormick won the ACT Book of the Year award for Warra Warra Wai (Scribner); Ann-Marie Priest was named the 2025 recipient of the $35,000 Blake-Beckett Trust Scholarship, with Lenny Bartulin named runner-up; UWA Publishing announced the shortlist for the inaugural Spiers Prize, as well as some changes to the award; and the nominees for the 2026 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award were announced.
The State Library of NSW announced its 2026 fellowships, with a total of $314,000 awarded across 9 categories; and the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund announced the recipients of its 2025 fellowships for established and emerging Australian writers.
Features
Feature articles published by Books+Publishing (B+P) this week include a story on The Little Bookroom, which recently reopened its doors at a new location in Brunswick East, Victoria. New owner Michael Earp spoke with B+P about his experience with the store so far and his vision for the future.
B+P editorial and production coordinator Jasmin McGaughey shared her reflections as a panellist and attendee of the 2025 Brisbane Writers Festival; 2025 Open Book intern Rebecca Zhong spoke with B+P about this year’s program; and Anna Spies of Simpsons Solicitors wrote about the ramifications of the Al Muderis v Nine Network Australia Pty Limited defamation case for book publishers.
Events
In events news this week, the Blak & Bright First Nations Literary Festival announced that its 2026 festival will run from 3 to 6 September 2026; and the Historical Novel Society Australasia released the full program for the History Unbound festival, which will take place from 1 to 2 November in Parramatta.
Other local news
In response to the ABC’s Top 100 books poll, author and academic Melanie Saward (Love Unleashed, Penguin) shared the top ten First Nations books from the past 25 years that she would nominate for the books of the century.
Acquisitions
Bakers Lane Books acquired world rights to Violet Town, a young adult novel by Bryony McGuinness; Allen & Unwin acquired world rights to The Angry Wives Club by Gabbie Stroud; and Upswell Publishing acquired world rights to Six Days by Amanda Curtin.
In nonfiction acquisitions news, HarperCollins acquired Australian rights to Where the Light Gets In, a nonfiction book by Ben Crowe; Hachette Australia acquired The Titanic Story of Evelyn by journalist, broadcaster and author Lisa Wilkinson, via the Fordham Agency; and Hardie Grant Books acquired world rights to former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce’s memoir, in a deal brokered by Robert Joske at Robert Joske Management.
International
This week, news outside Australia includes the Booker Prize Foundation launching the inaugural Children’s Booker Prize, an award “celebrating the best contemporary fiction for children aged 8 to 12 years old”; Kate Elton’s formal appointment as CEO of HarperCollins UK after the recent departure of Charlie Redmayne; and the Hachette Book Group recording strong third-quarter sales and revenue, via reporting from Publishers Weekly (PW).
Just in time for Halloween, the UK’s BookBrunch reported on the rise of horror fiction. “The world feels like a very scary place right now,” Orbit publisher Anna Jackson told the publication. “Horror fiction offers the chance to face your fears in a controlled, safe way, allowing you to confront some of the darkest scenarios the imagination can fathom, but without any real-world consequences.”
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Category: This week’s news
