Simon & Schuster restructures; Miles Franklin shortlist announced; new literary fellowships
Simon & Schuster Australia has announced the departures of Cate Blake and Kelly Doust amid a publishing team restructure; Vicki McDonald has been appointed State Library Victoria CEO; publishing revenue and book sales in Aotearoa New Zealand increased in 2025; McGraw Hill has reported higher profits in its first full financial year since going public in 2025; independent bookshop Fino Books has opened in Melbourne; QBD has opened a new store in Perth; and Aotearoa New Zealand has released a Southern Hemisphere counterpart to the Guardian’s top 100 novels
Events
Blak & Bright has announced the first speakers for its 2026 program; Melbourne is set to host a new kids literature festival in October; the Festival of Dangerous Ideas has unveiled its 2026 program; and Sarah Wilson has topped the Words on the Waves Writers Festival bestseller list.
Awards and fellowships
The shortlist for the 2026 Miles Franklin Literary Award has been announced; Adam Sharp has been named the 2026 Hedberg Writer-in-Residence; and Create NSW and Writing Australia have launched a new literary fellowship program.
International
More than 250 UK publishers have opted in to a collective AI licensing scheme; London will host a new Australian literature festival; Karen Bartlett and Ben Lerner have won the 2026 Orwell Prizes; the winners of the 2026 Carnegie Medals have been announced; and the Commonwealth Foundation says it is satisfied AI was not used to write the shortlisted stories in this year’s Commonwealth Short Story Prize.
Rights
Allen & Unwin has acquired Lachlan and Stefan Lamble’s One More Step and Gyton Grantley’s memoir Il Dolce Fiasco; Upswell has acquired Declan Fry’s Fantasy Ransom and Emily Ballou’s poetry collection Wait Here; Pink Shorts Press has acquired Lara Da’s memoir Abakada; and Ultimo Press has acquired SK Lynch’s crime novel Something He Did.
Features
Books+Publishing profiles Evercreech Editions, the Tasmanian micro-publisher shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award with its first book; reviewer Alex Durac talks with author John A Scott; and the Conversation examines why, despite strong public demand for Australian history books, academic historians are increasingly pressured to publish overseas rather than locally.
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Category: The week that was
