A&U acquires Keane’s “Seize the Moment”

Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired world rights to Seize the Moment, a nonfiction title by Bernard Keane.

According to the publisher, the book examines “how Australia can prosper in the next quarter century” in a world shaped by multiple forces including military and economic conflicts, technological disruption, an ageing population and the “Trump Moment”.

Keane is the politics editor of online news publication Crikey, and he has training as a historian and experience working in government policy. He is the author of nonfiction work The Mess We’re In (A&U, 2018) and a novel, Surveillance (A&U, 2015), and co-author, with Helen Razer, of A Short History of Stupid (A&U, 2016).

In this new work, Keane argues that Australia has crucial advantages it can leverage if the country makes smart decisions now. Keane said, “Those who read my regular work might be surprised, indeed shocked, to see me use a word like ‘optimism’. It’s about seeing what appear to be significant problems as, instead, opportunities.”

A&U publisher Elizabeth Weiss said, “Seize the Moment is not another account of our challenges; it is that rare thing: a clear-eyed, well-informed rational map, from one of the most respected political journalists in the country. It is essential reading for anyone who wants to know what to fight for rather than just against.”

A&U plans to publish Seize the Moment in August 2026.

Category: Local news Rights and acquisitions