Pulitzer Prize winners announced
16 June 2021
In the US, the winners of the Pulitzer Prizes were announced at a virtual ceremony on 11 June, reports Publishers Weekly. Louise Erdrich won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for...
Waterstones profit down 8.4% in 2020
15 June 2021
UK bookselling chain Waterstones’ after-tax profit fell 8.4% to £20.8 million (A$38m) in the year to 25 April 2020, reports the Bookseller. Revenue was down 4.3% on 2019 to £376...
Frankfurt plans for in-person event
11 June 2021
Frankfurt Book Fair organisers are planning on hosting an in-person fair this year from October 20–24, reports Publishers Weekly. Fair director Juergen Boos told Publishers Weekly the fair ‘will be...
Hazareesingh wins £40,000 Wolfson History Prize
10 June 2021
In the UK, Sudhir Hazareesingh has won the £40,000 (A$73,045) Wolfson History Prize for Black Spartacus: The epic life of Toussaint Louverture (Allen Lane), reports the Bookseller. Black Spartacus is...
UK book industry unites for ‘Save Our Books’ copyright campaign
9 June 2021
In the UK, publishing industry organisations have launched a campaign against mooted changes to copyright laws they claim would lead to a flood of cheap copies of UK books coming...
Bloomsbury records ‘outstanding’ results in 2020
8 June 2021
In the UK, Bloomsbury recorded an ‘outstanding’ financial year, as shown in its 2020 preliminary results, with sales up 14% to £185.1 million (A$338.2m) and profit up 22% to £19.2 million...
UK backlist titles up during lockdowns
7 June 2021
In the UK, Nielsen BookScan data has found demand for backlist titles increased over lockdown, reports the Bookseller. A report from Enders Analysis covers the shift in demand from frontlist...
US audiobook sales grows 12%
4 June 2021
In the US, an Audio Publishers Association report found audiobook revenue grew 12% to US$1.3 billion (A$1.7 billion) last year, reports Publishing Perspectives. The result is the ninth year in...
French author Diop wins International Booker Prize
3 June 2021
French author David Diop has won the £50,000 (A$91,400) International Booker Prize for his novel At Night All Blood is Black (trans by Anna Moschovakis, Pushkin). The judges described At...
‘World first’ UK plan to pay authors royalties on used book sales
2 June 2021
In the UK, a collaboration between online retailers and writers’ organisations will pay authors royalties on used book sales for the first time, reports the Bookseller. The agreement between the...
UK author, illustrator earnings take hit in 2020
31 May 2021
In the UK, 63% of authors and illustrators saw a fall in their income in 2020 compared to 2019, according to a survey by the Bookseller. The drop in income...
Bonnier Books UK introduces industry-first pregnancy loss policy
28 May 2021
Bonnier Books UK has introduced the UK publishing industry’s first pregnancy loss policy to help ‘break the silence’ around the issue, reports the Bookseller. The policy, developed in consultation with...
Makumbi, Lawrence win 2021 Jhalak prizes
27 May 2021
In the UK, the winners of the 2021 Jhalak prizes, which recognise ‘authors who feel that their work is often marginalised unless it fulfils a romantic fetishisation of their cultural...
Barjas wins US$50k International Prize for Arabic Fiction
26 May 2021
Jordanian poet and novelist Jalal Barjas has won the International Prize for Arabic Fiction for his novel Notebooks of the Bookseller (Arabic Institute for Research and Publishing). Barjas receives US$50,000...
Hughes wins £10k Encore Award for ‘The Wild Laughter’
25 May 2021
In the UK, Caoilinn Hughes has won the £10,000 ($18,260) Royal Society of Literature (RSL) Encore Award, presented annually to the best second novel of the year, for her book...
Luiselli wins 2021 International Dublin Literary Award for ‘Lost Children Archive’
21 May 2021
Mexican author writer Valeria Luiselli has won the €100,000 (A$157,230) Dublin International Literary award for her novel Lost Children Archive (Fourth Estate). Lost Children Archive, which also won last year’s Rathbones...
Von Reinhold wins Republic of Consciousness Prize for ‘Lote’
20 May 2021
In the UK, Shola von Reinhold and Jacaranda Press have won this year’s Republic of Consciousness Prize for Small Presses for von Reinhold's debut novel Lote, reports the Bookseller. Von Reinhold’s novel explores...
Beijing Book Fair to run as hybrid event
18 May 2021
This year’s Beijing International Book Fair (BIBF), which runs from 25–29 August, will be held as a hybrid fair, with physical presence limited to Chinese and China-based publishers. International publishers...
Leilani wins Dylan Thomas prize for ‘Luster’
17 May 2021
In the UK, American writer Raven Leilani has won the £20,000 (A$36,240) Dylan Thomas Prize for her debut novel Luster (Picador). Luster follows Edie, a young Black woman who begins...
‘Shuggie Bain’ wins Book of the Year at the British Book Awards
14 May 2021
Douglas Stuart’s Booker Prize-winning debut novel Shuggie Bain (Picador) has won book of the year at the British Book Awards, reports the Bookseller. Stuart’s novel, which also won the debut...
UK’s CMA clears Bertelsmann’s S&S acquisition
13 May 2021
In the UK, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has cleared Penguin Random House (PRH) owner Bertelsmann’s acquisition of Simon & Schuster (S&S) following an investigation, reports the Bookseller. Bertelsmann...
Gilligan wins Ondaatje Prize for ‘The Butchers’
12 May 2021
In the UK, Ruth Gilligan has won the £10,000 (A$18,000) Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize for The Butchers (Atlantic), a literary thriller set in the Irish Borderlands during the 1996...
Oseman wins YA Book Prize for ‘Loveless’
7 May 2021
Alice Oseman has won the Bookseller’s 2021 YA Book Prize for Loveless (HarperCollins), a ‘joyful’ coming out story about a romance-obsessed teenager who realises she is aromantic and asexual. Loveless tells the...
Shortlist announced for £40k Wolfson History Prize
3 May 2021
In the UK, the shortlist for the £40,000 (A$76,200) Wolfson History Prize shortlist has been announced. The shortlisted titles are: Survivors: Children’s lives after the Holocaust (Rebecca Clifford, Yale University Press)...
Lagardère makes ‘peace agreement’ between shareholders
30 April 2021
In France, Hachette Livre parent company Lagardère has confirmed the group’s transformation into a joint-stock company as part of a ‘peace agreement’ to end all legal disputes between shareholders, reports...
Women’s Prize for Fiction 2021 shortlist announced
29 April 2021
In the UK, the shortlist for the 2021 Women’s Prize for Fiction has been announced. Now in its 26th year, the £30,000 (A$53,600) prize is presented annually to the best...
UK publisher consumer sales up 7% in 2020
28 April 2021
In the UK, Publishers Association (PA) figures show UK book sales—particularly fiction and audiobooks—soared in 2020, with consumer sales up 7% on 2019 despite bookshop closures, reports the Guardian. The...
Lagardère in discussions to revamp company governance
27 April 2021
In France, the Lagardère group, owner of Hachette Livre, has confirmed that negotiations are under way to transfer the group into a joint stock company, reports the Bookseller. The move...
Publisher halts Philip Roth biography after sexual assault allegations
26 April 2021
In the US, publisher W W Norton has halted the distribution and promotion of Blake Bailey’s Philip Roth: The biography after several women accused Bailey of grooming and sexual assault....
International Booker Prize shortlist announced
23 April 2021
The shortlist for the 2021 International Booker Prize for translated fiction has been announced. The six shortlisted titles are: At Night All Blood is Black (David Diop, trans from French by...
