National Poet Laureate; TitlePage engagement; Wheeler Centre turns 15
Local news
This week, Writing Australia invited applications for the inaugural National Poet Laureate, an appointment created under the Australian Government’s Revive policy; TitlePage’s subscriber engagement figures for December 2025 reflected the importance of word-of-mouth, seasonal habits and the continuing appeal of established favourites, reports the Australian Publishers Association (APA); QBD Books will open at Sydney’s Castle Towers Shopping Centre, replacing the Alfie & Noa Bookshop, which closed after a social media backlash.
Awards
The 2025 finalists in the Aurealis Awards, which recognise “the achievements of Australian science fiction, fantasy and horror writers”, were announced; the Queensland Branch of the English-Speaking Union named the 7 writers recognised in the 14th Roly Sussex Short Story Competition; the longlists for this year’s Ockham New Zealand Book Awards was announced; Australian authors are among the finalists in this year’s Edgar Allan Poe Awards, presented by Mystery Writers of America; and the Foundation for Australian Literary Studies named Terri-ann White as recipient of the $5000 PF Rowland Manuscript Development Grant, which is offered annually to support a book project.
Events
The Clunes Booktown Festival announced 2026 program details this week, with the festival set to run from 21 to 22 March. This year’s festival theme is “defiance and hope” and guests include Bob Brown, Vikki Petraitis, Fiona Hardy, Marieke Hardy, Sofie Laguna, Jane Sullivan, Toni Jordan and more.
Features
In features this week, Books+Publishing spoke with The Wheeler Centre’s chief executive, Erin Vincent, about the centre’s journey 15 years on from its beginning.
Acquisitions
NewSouth acquired Australian publishing rights to The Lady with the Dog, a new novella by Carrie Tiffany, with illustrations by Noel McKenna, in a deal with Curtis Brown literary agent Alex Christie; and Hardie Grant acquired world rights to A–Zzz of Dreams: Decoding Your Dreams and Deciphering Your Future, in a two-book deal with Matt Gelea.
In debut acquisitions, Affirm Press acquired world rights to Judith Katherine’s debut novel, Simply Beside Herself; Allen & Unwin acquired world rights to The Followers, a debut novel by Maree Sprat; and MidnightSun Publishing acquired The Big Things, a YA novel from debut author Meg McDermott.
International
In the US, Simon & Schuster announced job cuts early last week followed by further unspecified cuts later in the week, reported Publishers Weekly (PW); Bloomsbury Publishing announced a new office, Bloomsbury Singapore, “from which to publish for the exploding number of university students in Asia”, reported Bookbrunch; Joachim Kaufmann was named the next president and CEO of the Frankfurt Book Fair (Frankfurter Buchmesse), effective September 2026, reported PW.
Did you know that Books+Publishing runs a daily newsletter, as well as the Weekly Book Newsletter? Be among the first to read news like this by subscribing here.
Category: This week’s news
