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Riwoe wins inaugural $50k ARA Historical Novel Prize

Wednesday, 11 November 2020
Brisbane writer Mirandi Riwoe has won the $50,000 ARA Historical Novel Prize for Stone Sky Gold Mountain (UQP). Selected from more than 185 entries and a shortlist of three announced in...

Thammavongsa wins Canada’s $100k Giller Prize

Wednesday, 11 November 2020
In Canada, Souvankham Thammavongsa has won this year’s C$100,000 (A$106,150) Giller Prize for her short story collection How to Pronounce Knife (Bloomsbury). Of Thammavongsa’s collection, the prize jury said: ‘How...

Chowdhury releases Beatrice Davis Editorial Fellowship report

Wednesday, 11 November 2020
Penguin Random House Australia senior audio producer and commissioning editor Radhiah Chowdhury has released her Beatrice Davis Editorial Fellowship report on the experiences and perspectives of BAME (Black, Asian and...

Christmas closing list: Submissions due

Wednesday, 11 November 2020
Publishers and distributors are asked to submit their Christmas closing dates by 5pm Friday, 20 November. A full list will appear in the Weekly Book Newsletter on Wednesday, 25 November....

Viva La Novella announces regional focus

Tuesday, 10 November 2020
Seizure has partnered with the Foundation for Australian Literary Studies (FALS) for its annual Viva la Novella competition, and has announced one of the winners of the 2021 competition will...

FutureBook Conference to run as virtual event

Tuesday, 10 November 2020
This year’s FutureBook Conference, run by the UK’s Bookseller, will run as a virtual event from 16–20 November. The program includes more than 40 sessions and 100 speakers, including the...

UK audiobook sales surge in lockdown

Monday, 9 November 2020
In the UK, audiobook sales are expected to show 15.8% growth in volume by the end of the year according to Nielsen, reports the Bookseller. Nielsen projected UK audiobook sales...

Smith wins 2020 Richell Prize for ‘Petrichor’

Monday, 9 November 2020
Aisling Smith has won the 2020 Richell Prize for Emerging Writers for her fiction manuscript ‘Petrichor’. The judges said ‘Petrichor’ ‘announces an assured and evocative new Australian literary voice’. ‘Smith,...

NZ book sector campaign to promote creative rights

Friday, 6 November 2020
The New Zealand Society of Authors, the Publishers Association of New Zealand, and Copyright Licensing New Zealand (CLNZ) have launched a new campaign to promote creative rights. The ‘Creative Rights...

‘Literary Plus’ a trend at Frankfurt

Thursday, 5 November 2020
‘People are hunting feel-good, upmarket fiction—defined as either “book club” or “reader’s group” but with great plots. We’ve heard it called a few things but “Literary Plus” seems to fit...

Reviews round-up

Thursday, 5 November 2020
In October Books+Publishing reviewed more than a dozen forthcoming titles due to be published in December 2020 and January 2021. In adult fiction, lighthearted summer reads The Funny Thing About...

My Parents’ Daughter

Thursday, 5 November 2020
My Parents’ Daughter retells the recent mobbing bullying heaped on Victoria Hartmann (pseudonym) by one Victorian state school’s whole Principal Class. This confronting tale reflects courage whilst calling for action....

Change for Cameron and Company

Thursday, 5 November 2020
Publisher: Cameron and Company Old distributor: NewSouth Books New distributor: Thames & Hudson Changeover date: 1 September 2020 Returns cut-off: 30 November 2020

Out of the box: Rebecca Lim on ‘Tiger Daughter’

Thursday, 5 November 2020
Rebecca Lim says her forthcoming novel Tiger Daughter (A&U, February) is 'a lot more personal' than the urban fantasy or mystery novels the author usually writes. Reviewer Mischa Parkee describes...

LBF moved to June 2021; new director named

Thursday, 5 November 2020
In the UK, the London Book Fair (LBF) has announced next year’s event will take place from 29 June to 1 July, according to the Bookseller. The fair was originally scheduled...

Bloomsbury to repay pandemic pay cuts

Thursday, 5 November 2020
Bloomsbury Australia’s parent company in the UK has announced it will repay almost £700,000 (A$985,000) to staff who took a pay cut during the first months of the Covid-19 pandemic,...

Serong shortlisted for 2020 Staunch Book Prize

Wednesday, 4 November 2020
Australian author Jock Serong has been shortlisted for the 2020 Staunch Book Prize, having won the inaugural award in 2018 for On the Java Ridge (Text). Serong is shortlisted for...

‘The Killing Streets’ wins 2020 Danger Prize

Wednesday, 4 November 2020
The Killing Streets by Tanya Bretherton (Hachette) has won the 2020 Danger Prize. Bretherton, who has been shortlisted for the prize for each of her three books, thanked prize administrators...

Bookshop.org makes £65,000 in UK launch

Wednesday, 4 November 2020
In the UK, online retailer Bookshop.org made sales of around £65,000 (A$119,000) in its first day of trade on 2 November, reports the Bookseller. Around 150 independent bookshops have signed...

Hicks wins inaugural SBS Emerging Writers’ Competition

Wednesday, 4 November 2020
Papua New Guinean–Australian digital content maker, writer, director and producer Alana Hicks has won the inaugural SBS Emerging Writers’ Competition. Hicks’s entry was chosen as the winner from more than...

Ngaio Marsh Award 2020 winners announced

Monday, 2 November 2020
Debut novelist Becky Manawatu has won the 2020 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel for Auē (Makaro Press). A novel portraying domestic violence and gang life, the book is...

No ‘Daily’ on Tuesday

Monday, 2 November 2020
Please note that, due to the Melbourne Cup holiday on Tuesday, the next Daily newsletter will be published on Wednesday, 4 November. This week's Weekly Book Newsletter will be published...