‘Why I’ll be at LBF’: Meet the Australians attending in 2026

Meet the Australian visitors attending LBF this year.

University of Queensland Press (UQP)

UQP rights and contracts manager Erin Sandiford will be talking with international publishers about a range of “bold, globally resonant titles from UQP’s list that speak to urgent contemporary questions while offering strong commercial and critical appeal.” This includes The Rot by Evelyn Araluen (2025), winner of the Victorian Prize for Literature, which Sandiford describes as “a blistering poetry collection confronting colonial violence, climate crisis and resistance with extraordinary force.”

Sandiford will be highlighting Discipline by Randa Abdel-Fattah (2025), which UQP has just sold to Juliet Mabey at Oneworld (world English ex ANZ), and Phantom Days by Angela O’Keeffe (May 2026), which she describes as “an eerie, formally inventive work that explores vulnerability, intimacy and the strange ways stories can both harm and protect us”, which UQP has already sold to Dundurn Press (North America).

Other highlights include Jordan Prosser’s new novel, Blue Giant (July 2026), “a sharp, satirical novel about millennial disillusionment and climate anxiety,” said Sandiford, which UQP has already sold to Dead Ink Books (UK/Comm ex ANZ) and the nonfiction book The Sky Is Concave by Majedah Awawdah (October 2026), “a powerful memoir of survival, patriarchy and education from a Palestinian-Australian perspective.”

Rockpool Publishing

Rockpool CEO Paul Dennett said that when talking to international counterparts, “Rockpool will discuss strategies to expand its titles in UK high street bookstores, launch Major Street Publishing in the UK and US, and address growing demand for English-language books in Europe.”

Rockpool acquired the Melbourne-based Major Street Publishing business in December, taking over its brand, frontlist, backlist and author relationships.

Dennett said, “This year, we’re especially focused on hybrid business titles combining sport, business and personal development, plus alcohol books, perfect for Christmas and special occasions.”

Shaw Literary

Shaw Literary agent Martin Shaw said, “I will be talking about the extraordinary What We Left Behind, a novel of Western Sydney by Linda Atkins that will be published by Summit in August; Adam Ouston’s just as extraordinary Mine, a novel composed in a single sentence, out from Transit Lounge (also August); and Michelle Johnston’s nonfiction debut, a book on the wonders of medicine entitled Fifty Beating Wonders: a Doctor’s Search for Meaning, out from HarperCollins in November.”

“And finally, I will also be barracking strongly for UQP, as the cover of their rights guide features the cover of my author Angela O’Keeffe’s wondrous May release, Phantom Days!”

Category: Think Australian profile