Witnessing the future: Kate Mildenhall on ‘The Mother Fault’
Wednesday, 1 July 2020
The Mother Fault (S&S, September), Kate Mildenhall's genre-bending follow-up to her 2016 debut Skylarking (Black Inc.), portrays a 'spine-tingling vision of a future Australia—eerie in its potential realism' as seen...
Community cup: Rawah Arja on ‘The F Team’
Wednesday, 24 June 2020
Rawah Arja is a writer and teacher from Punchbowl, Sydney. In her debut YA novel The F Team (Giramondo, September), which is set in her home suburb, Arja explores family,...
Career Path: Middle Grade Mavens
Wednesday, 24 June 2020
Pamela Ueckerman and Julie Grasso are two self-described ‘author mums’ and the hosts of the podcast Middle Grade Mavens. They review children’s books, interview industry experts and discuss all things...
Every unhappy family: S L Lim on ‘Revenge’
Wednesday, 17 June 2020
S L Lim's second novel Revenge: Murder in Three Parts (Transit Lounge, September) follows teenage Yannie, who is bound by familial obligations to care for her parents instead of going...
Illustrating the truth: Charmaine Ledden-Lewis on ‘Found’
Thursday, 11 June 2020
Bundjalung artist Charmaine Ledden-Lewis was the recipient of the 2019 Kestin Indigenous Illustrator Award, which offered a mentorship and the opportunity to illustrate Bruce Pascoe's first picture book. The result...
The Wheeler Centre’s Next Chapter
Thursday, 11 June 2020
Two years after the Wheeler Centre established its The Next Chapter writers scheme, books by two of its inaugural fellows—Adam Thompson and Evelyn Araluen—have been acquired by the University of Queensland Press. As applications...
Behind closed doors: Victoria Hannan on ‘Kokomo’
Wednesday, 3 June 2020
Kokomo (Hachette, August), the debut novel from Melbourne writer Victoria Hannan, is an intergenerational saga that centres on Mina and her mother Elaine, and their neighbours the Chengs. Reviewer Ellen...
Into the unknown: Zana Fraillon on ‘The Lost Soul Atlas’
Wednesday, 27 May 2020
The Lost Soul Atlas (Lothian, July), Zana Fraillon's return to the middle-grade genre, is a dual-narrative fable that follows Twig's quest through the Afterlife and his memories of his former...
The magic of bricks-and-mortar
Wednesday, 27 May 2020
As Covid-19 restrictions are relaxed and stores begin to reopen, long-time sales rep Mandy Wildsmith argues that bricks-and-mortar bookshops are here to stay. Nineteenth-century Melbourne entrepreneur E W Cole was...
Tourist trap: Luke Horton on ‘The Fogging’
Wednesday, 20 May 2020
Luke Horton's debut novel The Fogging (Scribe, July) follows two Australian academics as their relationship breaks down while on holiday in Bali. Reviewer David Little described The Fogging as 'a...
Online programs to get young people reading and writing at home
Wednesday, 20 May 2020
Junior columnist Adele Walsh shares some of the best online literary programming for young people that has sprung up since the Covid-19 lockdown began. The realisation that we would all...
Making connections: Cath Moore on ‘Metal Fish, Falling Snow’
Wednesday, 13 May 2020
Cath Moore's debut YA novel Metal Fish, Falling Snow (Text, July) is an 'astonishingly original, heartfelt and funny' exploration of self-acceptance, identity and belonging, says reviewer Jacqui Davies. She spoke to...
At your service: Nic Bottomley on creative bookselling
Wednesday, 13 May 2020
Nic Bottomley is president of the UK Booksellers Association (BA) and the owner of Bath bookshop Mr B’s Emporium. He was to be the keynote speaker at the Australian Booksellers...
Browsing online: how has book buying changed during the pandemic?
Monday, 11 May 2020
Isolation, lockdown and the closure of physical bookstores have resulted in a massive spike in online retail. Books+Publishing investigates what book buying looks like during Covid-19 and asks whether the...
Under the covers: Tegan Bennett Daylight on ‘The Details’
Wednesday, 6 May 2020
Tegan Bennett Daylight's new collection of essays The Details: On love, death and reading (Scribner, July) explores her own memories and experiences through the lens of her life in reading and...
US Independent booksellers rally together via Bookshop.org
Wednesday, 6 May 2020
Bookshop.org has raised more than US$1.2 million (A$1.86m) for independent bookstores in the US. Could a similar model work here? Jinghua Qian reports. The book world has watched the rise...
Will Covid-19 permanently change the book industry?
Wednesday, 29 April 2020
As booksellers and publishers innovate their businesses in response to the Covid-19 lockdown, Books+Publishing's columnist Veronica Sullivan looks at which of their measures are only temporary, and which may be...
‘It’s been quite amazing to see the shift’: How Farrells fast-tracked its online store during Covid-19
Wednesday, 22 April 2020
After more than 40 years in the business, Farrells on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula launched their online store last week, fast-tracking a three-month process into three weeks to meet customer demand...
Bookselling in the time of Covid-19
Thursday, 16 April 2020
In late 2019 Readings marketing and events coordinator Ellen Cregan was selected as one of four booksellers to participate in the Melbourne City of Literature’s Bookseller in Residence program. Little...
European markets and Covid-19: Consumers brace for quarantine with ebooks
Wednesday, 8 April 2020
European members of PubMagNet—a network of publishing and bookselling trade publications from across the globe—have shared with Books+Publishing summaries of how their book markets are faring, and how each country's...
In our nature: Robbie Arnott on ‘The Rain Heron’
Wednesday, 1 April 2020
The Rain Heron (Text, June), Robbie Arnott's follow-up to his 2018 debut Flames, blurs the line between reality and myth as its isolated protagonist is drawn to a soldier on...
Ten rules for successful remote working
Wednesday, 1 April 2020
Pantera Press CEO Alison Green has extensive experience in working from home. Here, she shares her 10 rules for WFH success in a time of social distancing, explaining that ‘it's...
Literary awards go digital
Wednesday, 25 March 2020
Following the federal and state governments’ bans on mass gatherings in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, organisers of literary awards are turning to live-streaming their ceremonies to replace their scheduled...
CYL may be gone but YA can still thrive through grassroots advocacy
Wednesday, 25 March 2020
In her first op-ed as Junior columnist for 2020, Adele Walsh investigates the vacuum left by the shuttering of the Centre for Youth Literature last year, and what can be...
Australian bookshops respond to Covid-19
Wednesday, 18 March 2020
Australian booksellers, like many retailers, are facing a big challenge right now. At this stage some shops have moved to online only, but many stores remain open and are trying...
Feeling seen: Kay Kerr on ‘Please Don’t Hug Me’
Thursday, 5 March 2020
Kay Kerr's YA novel Please Don't Hug Me (Text, May) follows 17-year-old Erin as she relays life as a teenager with autism in letters to her brother. Reviewer Charlotte Guest...
‘Knowing your worth’: The UK publication highlighting female leadership in publishing
Wednesday, 4 March 2020
The FLIP is a monthly newsletter that publishes interviews with women who are leading the way in the UK book industry. Andrea Hanke spoke with co-founder Ella Horne about the...
The elephant in the room: Chris Flynn on ‘Mammoth’
Friday, 28 February 2020
Chris Flynn’s third novel Mammoth (UQP, May) handles an ambitious conceit and makes it work, according to reviewer Brad Jefferies. Narrated by the fossil of a 13,000-year-old mammoth, the novel...
The bookseller’s dilemma: What bookstores won’t stock
Wednesday, 26 February 2020
As conversations proliferate about cultural appropriation in literature, debates about whether—and how—bookstores should stock controversial books have been renewed. In her first column for 2020, Books+Publishing's new columnist Veronica Sullivan...
Why are booksellers leaving Leading Edge?
Wednesday, 26 February 2020
A number of Australia’s most prominent independent booksellers are leaving Leading Edge Books in favour of a new buying group set up by the Australian Booksellers Association. Sarah Farquharson reports....
