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One Hundred Days (Alice Pung, Black Inc.)

Thursday, 8 April 2021
Is there a right way to love? Karuna feels suffocated by her mother—and her entrapment multiplies when her dad leaves and she’s forced to move away from private school and...

Alice Pung on ‘One Hundred Days’

Wednesday, 7 April 2021
One Hundred Days (Black Inc., June), Alice Pung's first novel for adults, is described as a fractured fairytale about 16-year-old Karuna, who is locked in her family's housing commission flat...

PRH revenue up 4.6%, earnings up 23.3% in 2020

Wednesday, 7 April 2021
Penguin Random House’s (PRH) global sales in 2020 were up 4.6% and its operating EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) was up 23.3%, according to PRH parent company...

Romei steps down as literary editor

Wednesday, 7 April 2021
The Australian newspaper’s literary editor Stephen Romei has left the role, with his last column published in the newspaper on Saturday, 3 April. ‘I have decided to step back from...

Australian Book Design Awards 2021 shortlists announced

Tuesday, 6 April 2021
The shortlists for the Australian Book Design Awards, presented by the Australian Book Designers Association (ABDA), have been announced. Shortlisted titles in some of the categories are: Best Designed Commercial...

Aurealis Awards 2020 finalists announced

Tuesday, 6 April 2021
The finalists for the 2020 Aurealis Awards, presented for science fiction, fantasy and horror writing in Australia, have been announced. The finalists are: Best horror novel Soul Survivor (Daniel de...

Hachette Livre CEO replaced

Thursday, 1 April 2021
Long-time Hachette Livre CEO Arnaud Nourry has been replaced by Pierre Leroy, co-managing partner of Hachette's parent company Lagardère. Nourry, who had run Hachette since 2003, was replaced on Monday,...

Next ‘WBN’ to be published Thursday

Wednesday, 31 March 2021
Please note that, due to the Easter Monday public holiday on 5 April, the next Weekly Book Newsletter will be published on Thursday, 8 April. The deadline for classifieds and...

Gunk Baby (Jamie Marina Lau, Hachette)

Wednesday, 31 March 2021
Leen has opened up a massage and ear cleaning studio in the suburban wastelands of Par Mars. Her shop is housed in the second-best shopping mall in the district—Topic Heights....

International Booker Prize longlist announced

Wednesday, 31 March 2021
The longlist for the 2021 International Booker Prize for translated fiction has been announced. The 13 longlisted titles are: I Live in the Slums (Can Xue, trans from Chinese by...

New writing prize for Western Sydney

Wednesday, 31 March 2021
WestWords and WestLit Libraries have announced a new writing competition for Western Sydney residents. With a prize pool of over $10,000, supported by Create NSW as part of Arts Restart,...

Ultimo appoints Nordlyset as international agent

Wednesday, 31 March 2021
Ultimo Press has appointed Nordlyset Literary Agency as its exclusive agent representing the license of audio (ex ANZ), film & television, translation and English-language rights (on specific titles) for its...

Shirley Marr on ‘A Glasshouse of Stars’

Wednesday, 31 March 2021
Perth author Shirley Marr's fourth children's book, A Glasshouse of Stars (Puffin, May), is a semi-autobiographical middle-grade novel inspired by Marr's experiences growing up as a first-generation Chinese–Australian migrant. Reviewer...

Call for entries for maritime history prizes

Wednesday, 31 March 2021
Nominations are invited for two biennial maritime history prizes—the Frank Broeze Memorial Maritime History Book Prize of $6000 and the Australian Community Maritime History Prize of $2000. Nominations close on...

Bayfield joins S&S

Wednesday, 31 March 2021
Jack Bayfield has joined Simon & Schuster as field sales account manager NSW, replacing Kay Drury in the position of national field sales manager. Bayfield began the position on 29...

HarperCollins congratulates CBCA-shortlisted creators

Wednesday, 31 March 2021
With the announcement of the 2021 CBCA Book of the Year shortlists, the team at HarperCollins Children’s Books is delighted to see Freya Blackwood’s The Unwilling Twin (ISBN 9781460757536, $24.99,...

CBCA 2021 Book of the Year shortlists announced

Tuesday, 30 March 2021
The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) has announced its 2021 Book of the Year shortlists. The shortlisted books in each category are: Older readers The End of the World...

FWF announces closure

Tuesday, 30 March 2021
The biennial Feminist Writers Festival (FWF) has announced its closure due to lack of funding. The inaugural FWF was held during Melbourne Writers Festival in 2016 and in 2018 the...

National Book Critics Circle Awards winners announced

Monday, 29 March 2021
In the US, the winners of the 2020 National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) Awards have been announced. The winners include: Fiction Hamnet (Maggie O’Farrell, Tinder Press) Nonfiction Island on Fire: The...

SPN announces 2021 conference dates

Monday, 29 March 2021
The Small Press Network (SPN) has announced the dates for the 2021 Independent Publishing Conference, which is scheduled to run from 25–27 November. The conference will take place in-person at...

StoryFest 2021 guests announced

Friday, 26 March 2021
The guests for the second StoryFest festival, which will run from 18 to 20 June in Milton, Mollymook and Ulladulla on the NSW South Coast, have been announced. Guests include...

Dublin Literary Award shortlist announced

Friday, 26 March 2021
The shortlist for the 2021 Dublin Literary Award, worth €100,000 (A$155,200), has been announced, reports the Bookseller. The shortlisted titles are: Girl, Woman, Other (Bernardine Evaristo, Hamish Hamilton) Lost Children...