SWF responds to bookseller criticism, Shakthidharan wins Windham-Campbell Prize, Stella shortlist announced
The Sydney Writers’ Festival (SWF) has stated that it is “supportive, on a case-by-case basis, of an in-store bookshop event with under 50 attendees”, responding to bookseller criticism of its approach to competing events; Magpies magazine will cease operating the children’s literature database the Source at the end of June 2026; the Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) has created a new Lifetime Achievement in Bookselling Award for “an individual who has given extraordinary and sustained service to bookselling in Australia”; Audible has launched a new standard membership tier in Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany and France.
Awards news
In awards, Sydney playwright S Shakthidharan has won a 2026 Windham-Campbell Prize, worth US$175,000 (A$249,000); the shortlist for the $60,000 Stella Prize for works by Australian women and non-binary writers has been announced; the regional shortlists for the 2026 Commonwealth Short Story Prize have been announced; the Australian branch of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) has announced the winners of the 2026 Ena Noël Award; and the Storylines Trust has announced the 2026 winners of the Storylines Awards in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Rights news
Upswell Publishing has acquired world rights for Who’s Afraid of Australian Artists? by Esther Anatolitis.
International news
In Ireland, the shortlist for the 2026 Dublin Literary Award has been announced; in the UK, Adam Weymouth has won the inaugural £10,000 (A$19,043) Sherborne Prize for Travel Writing for Lone Wolf; and in imprint news out of the US, the former parent company of Simon & Schuster, Paramount Global, has launched the new publishing imprint Paramount Global Publishing, Abrams has launched a new wellness imprint, and Farrar, Straus and Giroux is closing its MCD imprint, which was launched in 2016 “to create a space to publish work and experiment with publishing styles, forms, and genres that are at the edges of FSG’s traditions.”
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Category: This week’s news
