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Saleh wins 2021 Peter Porter Poetry Prize

Thursday, 28 January 2021
The Australian Book Review (ABR) has announced Sara M Saleh as the winner of the 2021 Peter Porter Poetry Prize, for her poem ‘A Poetics of Fo(u)rgetting’. The judges said of...

Roffey wins Costa Book of the Year 2020

Wednesday, 27 January 2021
In the UK, Monique Roffey has won the £30,000 (A$53,000) Costa Book of the Year for her novel The Mermaid of Black Conch: A Love Story (Peepal Tree Press). The Mermaid...

Kapil wins T S Eliot Prize 2020

Wednesday, 27 January 2021
In the UK, Bhanu Kapil has won the £25,000 (A$44,330) T S Eliot Prize for Poetry for her collection How to Wash a Heart (Pavilion Poetry). Drawn from a performance...

McDougall wins NZ Sunday Star-Times short story prize

Wednesday, 27 January 2021
Wellington author Kirsten McDougall has won the NZ$5000 (A$4672) New Zealand Sunday Star-Times short story competition open category for her story ‘Walking Day’. McDougall, a publicist and literary manager whose...

No ‘Daily’ on Tuesday

Monday, 25 January 2021
Please note that, due to the public holiday on Tuesday, the next Daily newsletter will be published on Wednesday, 27 January. This week's Weekly Book Newsletter will be published on...

UK print market up 5% in volume, value

Monday, 25 January 2021
In the UK, Nielsen BookScan has estimated the 2020 print book market rose 5.2% in volume and 5.5% in value compared to 2019, reports the Bookseller. BookScan used its Books...

UK indies struggle with Brexit costs, delays

Friday, 22 January 2021
In the UK, indie publishers are struggling with increased costs and delays caused by Brexit, reports the Bookseller. Among the most pressing is the extra costs from increased bureaucracy, while...

The Book Dispensary opens in Forbes, NSW

Friday, 22 January 2021
A new independent bookshop has opened in the town of Forbes, Central West NSW. Owner Debbie Prior opened The Book Dispensary in early December and told Books+Publishing she 'welcomed the...

Naver to acquire Wattpad

Thursday, 21 January 2021
South Korean internet platform Naver will purchase online social writing and reading platform Wattpad for more than US$600 million (A$775 million) in cash and stock, reports Publishers Weekly (PW). Naver,...

Next ‘WBN’ to be published on Thursday

Wednesday, 20 January 2021
Please note that, due to the public holiday on Tuesday, 26 January, the next Weekly Book Newsletter will be published on Thursday, 28 January. The deadline for classifieds and job...

Vale Brian Yates

Wednesday, 20 January 2021
Logistics manager Brian Yates passed away on the weekend. Yates's career in book publishing spanned three decades. He managed the Universal Publishers (UBD Gregory’s) warehouse for many years from the...

Hold Your Fire (Chloe Wilson, Scribner)

Wednesday, 20 January 2021
Hold Your Fire is the incisive and darkly funny fiction debut by Melbourne poet Chloe Wilson, author of Not Fox Nor Axe and The Mermaid Problem. The 17 stories in...

HarperCollins Publishers and Egmont Books (UK)

Wednesday, 20 January 2021
Further to previous announcements relating to the acquisition of Egmont Books (UK), HarperCollins Publishers is pleased to confirm the list’s transfer from Hardie Grant. Effective 28 December 2020, Egmont Books...

Change for JOVIS

Wednesday, 20 January 2021
Publisher: JOVIS Old distributor: Peribo New distributor: Books at Manic Changeover date: 1 January 2021

Indie Book Awards 2021 shortlists announced

Wednesday, 20 January 2021
Leading Edge Books has announced the shortlists for the 2021 Indie Book Awards. The shortlisted titles in each category are: Fiction All Our Shimmering Skies (Trent Dalton, HarperCollins) The Living Sea...

Chinese book market down 5% in 2020: Beijing OpenBook

Wednesday, 20 January 2021
Beijing OpenBook has reported a 5% downturn on book sales in the Chinese market in 2020—the first drop in value since OpenBook began its tracking in 2001, reports Publishing Perspectives....

New writers festival for Central Coast

Tuesday, 19 January 2021
The first guests have been announced for the inaugural Words on the Waves Writers Festival, a new literary event that will take place in Umina Beach on the Central Coast...

Griffith Review launches new writing competition

Monday, 18 January 2021
Griffith Review has announced a new award for new and emerging writers. The Long and Short of It competition is open to submissions of fiction and nonfiction from 3500 to...

Pippos debut chosen for inaugural NSW Reads program

Friday, 15 January 2021
The New South Wales Public Library Association has chosen Lucky’s (Andrew Pippos, Picador) for its first state-wide reading program, NSW Reads. Described as a state-wide ‘book club’, NSW Reads will...

Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship 2021 shortlist announced

Friday, 15 January 2021
Writers Victoria has announced the shortlist for the 2021 Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship, awarded annually to an Australian writer for a proposed biographical work. The shortlisted writers and their projects...

KYD partners with Desperate Literature Short Fiction Prize

Friday, 15 January 2021
Kill Your Darlings has signed on as a partner journal for the Desperate Literature Short Fiction Prize. The international experimental fiction award, launched by the Madrid-based bookshop Desperate Literature in...

Overland creates new prize in honour of Reed-Gilbert

Thursday, 14 January 2021
Overland literary journal has created a new prize in honour of the late Wiradjuri elder, poet, writer, activist and artist Kerry Reed-Gilbert. The Kuracca Prize for Australian Literature is intended...