Varuna announces First Nations fellowship
Thursday, 11 June 2026
Varuna, the National Writers’ House, has announced the recipients of the 2026 Copyright Agency First Nations Fellowship. This year’s recipients are: Gamilaraay and Yuwaalaraay journalist and industry professor Lorena Allam...
Children’s enjoyment of reading and daily reading habits rise in UK for first time in 5 years
Thursday, 11 June 2026
In the UK, children’s enjoyment of reading and daily reading habits have risen for the first time in 5 years, reports the Bookseller. The findings of the UK National Literacy...
Allen & Unwin acquires Hannah Goldstein debut “Dream Girls”
Thursday, 11 June 2026
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired ANZ rights to the debut novel Dream Girls by Hannah Goldstein, in a deal brokered by Rebecca Slater at a4 Literary. Inspired by Shakespeare’s...
Neilma Sidney Literary Travel Fund round 14 recipients announced
Thursday, 11 June 2026
Writers Victoria has announced the recipients of the 14th round of the Neilma Sidney Literary Travel Fund. The 9 recipients – who will share the $50,595 in funding – are:...
Varuna announces 2026 Irish Lamplight Online Fellowship recipients
Thursday, 11 June 2026
Varuna, the National Writers’ House, has announced the selected writers for the 2026 International Lamplight Online Fellowship – Ireland, a 2-week online fellowship for published fiction writers under the combined...
Isabel Staas and Ashleigh Barton launch Hey Author
Thursday, 11 June 2026
Former head of audio and production at Hachette ANZ Isabel Staas and children’s author and former marketing and publicity manager Ashleigh Barton have created Hey Author, an author-support business. Staas...
Melbourne Rare Book Week announces 2026 program
Thursday, 11 June 2026
Melbourne Rare Book Week (MRBW) returns on 23 July, running until 1 August 2026 with a line-up of events, exhibitions, talks and lectures. Book experts will explore topics including the...
Bryan Brown, Siang Lu among authors on Southern Highlands Writers’ Festival 2026 program
Thursday, 11 June 2026
The Southern Highlands Writers’ Festival (SHWF) will celebrate its 15th anniversary with its 2026 festival, which runs from 23 to 26 July in Berrima and Bowral. Guest speakers at the...
Brooke Maddison wins 2026 Penguin Literary Prize for “Driftwood”
Thursday, 11 June 2026
Penguin Random House Australia (PRH) has announced that Driftwood by Brooke Maddison is the winner of the 2026 Penguin Literary Prize. Chosen from a shortlist of 6, Driftwood “explores how traumatic...
Giramondo acquires Amy Crutchfield’s “Asterion”
Thursday, 11 June 2026
Giramondo has acquired world rights to the poetry collection Asterion by Amy Crutchfield. Asterion is the follow-up to Crutchfield’s debut collection The Cyprian, which won the Prime Minister’s Literary Award...
Magabala Books acquires Bruce Pascoe’s “The European Mind”
Thursday, 11 June 2026
Magabala Books has acquired The European Mind: Colonialism, Capitalism, Christianity & How to Recover by Bruce Pascoe. Described by the publisher as the follow-up title to Pascoe’s Dark Emu, the...
Has the number of bookshops in Australia really halved? Probably not, but we should still be worried
Wednesday, 10 June 2026
It’s a dramatic and depressing statistic: that in the decade to 2023, the number of bookshops in Australia roughly halved; but it’s also based on unverified data and unlikely to...
So very many books
Wednesday, 10 June 2026
New ISBN data show the number of books being published in Australia is booming (but published by whom?); the Book Awards for Children and Young Adults 2026 shortlists have been...
UK reaches “highest-ever revenue” in 2025
Wednesday, 10 June 2026
In the UK, the publishing industry “reached its highest-ever revenue in 2025”, reports the Bookseller, with Australia one of the country’s 3 largest markets for book exports. Citing statistics from...
Black Inc. acquires Don Watson book on Dezi Freeman
Wednesday, 10 June 2026
Black Inc. has acquired world rights to a nonfiction book by Don Watson on the case of Dezi Freeman that will build on the theme of Watson’s December 2025 article...
ISBN growth shows Australian book market boom
Wednesday, 10 June 2026
The number of books being published in Australia is booming, according to figures extracted from the ISBN titles recorded in Bowker’s Books in Print, with both the number of publishers...
Local translator on Voices of Today Literary Translation Prize
Wednesday, 10 June 2026
Brisbane-based translator Jenny Lu has been shortlisted for the inaugural Voices of Today Literary Translation Prize. Participants were invited to translate a substantial excerpt from the novel Salty Jokes by...
Visiting International Publishers on commercial fiction trends in Indonesia, Italy and France
Wednesday, 10 June 2026
As part of the Visiting International Publishers (VIPs) program, Writing Australia held an industry forum and networking lunch at the State Library of NSW in Sydney on 20 May. The...
Berkelouw Books Leichhardt confirms move, will remain open
Wednesday, 10 June 2026
Berkelouw Books Leichhardt has confirmed it will move to a new location in Leichhardt, rather than closing as previously announced. In a post on social media, the bookstore said it...
Writers among First Nations Arts d/Deaf and/or Disabilities Project Fund recipients
Wednesday, 10 June 2026
Writers are among the successful applicants to Creative Australia’s First Nations Arts d/Deaf and/or Disabilities Project Fund. Those to receive funding include: Sharleigh Crittenden, for the project “Developing Children of...
Te Pae Tawhiti Awards 2026 shortlists announced
Wednesday, 10 June 2026
The shortlists for the Te Pae Tawhiti Awards for Aotearoa and Pasifika speculative fiction writers have been announced. The shortlisted works in each category are: Outstanding Achievement for Adult Novel...
New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults 2026 shortlists announced
Wednesday, 10 June 2026
The shortlists for the 2026 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults have been announced. The shortlists in each category, chosen from 159 entries, are: BookHub Picture Book...
Text Publishing acquires “What Gentlemen Do” by Todd Babiak
Wednesday, 10 June 2026
Text has acquired ANZ rights to adult fiction What Gentlemen Do by Todd Babiak from Carolyn Buszynski at CookeMcDermid Agency in Canada. The “uplifting and outrageously funny story of a...
Rhiza Press acquires Riveted Press
Tuesday, 9 June 2026
Rhiza Press has acquired Riveted Press in a deal that will come into effect on 1 October. In a statement, Rhiza Press said Riveted Press would continue to publish under...
“Hellions” wins 2026 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction
Tuesday, 9 June 2026
Julia Elliott has won this year’s Carol Shields Prize for Fiction for her short story collection Hellions (Tin House). The prize jury, made up of Carmen Maria Machado (chair), Ivan...
Writers, industry professionals named in King’s Birthday Honours
Tuesday, 9 June 2026
The recipients of the 2026 King’s Birthday Honours have been announced. Various writers and book industry professionals are among those presented with awards. Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) ...
Anna Fienberg, Datsun Tran on 2026 IBBY Honour List
Tuesday, 9 June 2026
IBBY Australia has announced its 2026 selection for the biennial IBBY Honour List: for writing, Anna Fienberg’s Picasso and the Greatest Show on Earth (Allen & Unwin, 2023), and for illustration,...
UQP acquires Tim Loveday’s “your father was a bastard”
Tuesday, 9 June 2026
University of Queensland Press (UQP) has acquired world rights to your father was a bastard, the debut poetry collection by Naarm-based poet and academic Tim Loveday. According to the publisher,...
A&U acquires artist biography by Andrew Bailey
Tuesday, 9 June 2026
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that this article contains the name of a deceased person. Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired world rights to the nonfiction title...
Vannessa Hearman’s “The Good Sea” tops NT Writers Festival bestsellers
Tuesday, 9 June 2026
Ticket sales at this year’s NT Writers Festival were lower than expected, but some sessions did sell out, with performance nights proving to be the most popular events. Held annually,...
