McCartney wins Waterstones Book of the Year for ‘The Lyrics’
3 December 2021
In the UK, Waterstones has named Paul McCartney’s The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present (Allen Lane) its Book of the Year for 2021, reports the Bookseller. Waterstones MD James Daunt said,...
Distribution of Sebold memoir halted after man jailed for her rape exonerated
2 December 2021
The UK and US publishers of Alice Sebold’s bestselling memoir Lucky (Picador) have stopped the book’s distribution following the author’s apology to the man who was last week exonerated of...
Sheldrake wins 2021 Royal Society Science Book Prize
30 November 2021
In the UK, Merlin Sheldrake has won the £25,000 (A$46,600) Royal Society Science Book Prize for Entangled Life: How fungi make our worlds, change our minds and shape our futures...
UK PA data find growth in audiobook, fiction sales
29 November 2021
In the UK, data from the Publishers Association (PA) shows substantial growth in audiobook and fiction sales, reports the Bookseller. The figures show audiobook sales in the first six months...
HarperCollins UK book found to have defamatory claims
25 November 2021
A UK high court judge has ruled that numerous passages in Catherine Belton’s book Putin’s People, published in the UK by William Collins, are defamatory of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich,...
Costa Book Awards shortlists announced
24 November 2021
In the UK, the shortlists for the 2021 Costa Book Awards have been announced. Shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award are: Unsettled Ground (Claire Fuller, Fig Tree) The High House...
Publishers accuse Internet Archive of ‘stonewalling’ discovery
23 November 2021
In the US, lawyers representing publishers in a copyright lawsuit against the Internet Archive over the scanning and lending of print library books are claiming that the Internet Archive is...
National Book Awards 2021 winners
19 November 2021
In the US, the winners of the 2021 National Book Awards have been announced. The winning titles in each category are: Fiction Hell of a Book (Jason Mott, Trapeze) Nonfiction All...
Keefe wins 2021 Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction
18 November 2021
In the UK, Patrick Radden Keefe has won the £50,000 (A$92,850) Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction for his book Empire of Pain: The secret history of the Sackler dynasty (Picador)....
Storytel buys Audiobooks.com; Spotify moves into US market
15 November 2021
Stockholm-based audiobook streaming company Storytel is buying Audiobooks.com from RBmedia for an undisclosed amount, reports Publishers Weekly. The acquisition is Storytel’s first entry into the English-language market. The company, which...
WHSmith eyes return to profitability after stronger FY21 results
12 November 2021
UK-based bookselling chain WHSmith has revealed its preliminary results for the financial year ending 31 August, as it eyes a return to 'meaningful profitability'. After posting a £69 million (A$125m)...
Waidner wins Goldsmiths Prize for ‘Sterling Karat Gold’
11 November 2021
In the UK, Isabel Waidner has won the £10,000 (A$18,300) Goldsmiths Prize for their third novel Sterling Karat Gold (Peninsula Press). The publisher describes Waidner’s novel as ‘Kafka’s The Trial...
El Akkad wins 2021 Giller Prize for ‘What Strange Paradise’
10 November 2021
Omar El Akkad has won the C$100,000 (A$110,000) Giller Prize, Canada's richest literary award, for his second novel What Strange Paradise (Picador). El Akkad's novel depicts the relationship between a...
Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair postponed
9 November 2021
The Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair (CCBF) has been postponed until March 2022, reports the Bookseller. The fair, which was originally scheduled to run from 19–21 November, will now run...
Galgut wins Booker Prize for ‘The Promise’
4 November 2021
South African author Damon Galgut has won the £50,000 (A$91,830) Booker Prize for his ninth novel The Promise (Chatto & Windus), reports the Bookseller. Galgut’s novel, set in South Africa during the...
US DoJ sues to block Bertelsmann’s acquisition of S&S
3 November 2021
The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has sued to block Penguin Random House (PRH) parent company Bertelsmann’s proposed acquisition of Simon & Schuster (S&S), reports Publishers Weekly. The lawsuit, filed...
Souhami, Zaidi win 2021 Polari Prizes
1 November 2021
In the UK, writers Diana Souhami and Mohsin Zaidi have won the 2021 Polari Prizes for work that explores the LGBT experience, reports the Bookseller. Souhami won the £2000 (A$3642)...
‘Waves Across the South’ wins British Academy Book Prize
28 October 2021
In the UK, Cambridge historian Sujit Sivasundaram has won the £25,000 (A$46,750) British Academy Book Prize for Global Cultural Understanding for Waves Across the South: A new history of revolution...
Bonnier UK to launch ‘disruptive’ new publisher
27 October 2021
In the UK, Bonnier Books is launching a new ‘independently run, disruptive publisher of literary fiction and narrative nonfiction’, Footnote Press, in partnership with founders Vidisha Biswas and Sujoy Roy,...
Frankfurt reports 73,500 in-person attendees
26 October 2021
Frankfurt Book Fair has reported that 36,000 trade visitors from 105 countries, and 37,500 public visitors, attended this year’s event, which ran from 20–24 October, reports Publishing Perspectives. Visitors came...
Authors boycott Frankfurt over right-wing publisher
22 October 2021
A handful of authors have cancelled their appearances at this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair to protest the presence of German New Right publisher Jungeuropa, reports the Bookseller. Jungeuropa is run...
US$75k Cundill History Prize finalists announced
21 October 2021
The three finalists for the 2021 Cundill History Prize, which rewards ‘the best history writing in English’, have been announced. The finalists are: Survivors: Children’s lives after the Holocaust (Rebecca Clifford,...
Strubel wins 2021 German Book Prize
20 October 2021
In Germany, Antje Rávik Strubel has won the 2021 German Book Prize for her novel Blaue Frau (S Fischer). Blaue Frau, which translates as Blue Woman in English, was chosen...
Winner of €1m Spanish prize revealed to be three men
19 October 2021
In Spain, the winner of the €1 million (A$1.57m) Planeta Prize, Carmen Mola, has been revealed as a pseudonym for three men, reports the Bookseller. Carmen Mola won the prize...
Baillie Gifford Prize 2021 shortlist announced
18 October 2021
In the UK, the shortlist for this year’s Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction, formerly the Samuel Johnson Prize, has been announced. The six shortlisted books are: Islands of Abandonment: Life...
T S Eliot Prize shortlist announced
15 October 2021
In the UK, the shortlist for this year’s T S Eliot Prize for Poetry, worth £25,000 (A$46,100) has been announced. The 10 shortlisted poetry collections are: Eat Or We Both...
Rooney turns down translation rights offer from Israeli publisher
13 October 2021
Irish novelist Sally Rooney has turned down an offer to have her latest novel, Beautiful World, Where Are You (Faber), translated into Hebrew by Israeli publisher Modan, reports the Guardian....
Bloomsbury withdraws Haigh cookbook
12 October 2021
In the UK, Bloomsbury has withdrawn a cookbook by Michelin-starred chef and former MasterChef contestant Elizabeth Haigh from circulation, reports the Bookseller. Makan: Recipes from the heart of Singapore was...
Italian book sales rise 29%
11 October 2021
In Italy, book sales have risen by 29% in the first nine months of the year, compared to the same period in 2020, reports Publishing Perspectives. According to data from...
Gurnah awarded the 2021 Nobel Prize for Literature
8 October 2021
Zanzibar-born British novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah has been awarded the 2021 Nobel Prize for Literature, reports Publishers Weekly. Gurnah was named winner at a ceremony at the Swedish Academy in Stockholm...
