Sissay wins 2019 PEN Pinter Prize
4 June 2019
In the UK, poet and playwright Lemn Sissay has been awarded the 2019 PEN Pinter Prize. Prize judge Maureen Freely said: ‘In his every work, Lemn Sissay returns to the underworld...
Turkish prosecutors put novelists under investigation
3 June 2019
Turkish prosecutors have launched investigations into the country’s fiction writers, including award-winning novelist Elif Shafak, reports the Guardian, with Shafak calling on the international community to support Turkish authors, journalists...
‘Normal People’ to be adapted for TV
31 May 2019
Sally Rooney's novel Normal People (Faber) is being adapted into a 12-part half-hour TV series, reports the Guardian. The series is being produced by Element Pictures (The Lobster, The Favourite, Room) in...
Shortlist announced for 2019 UK Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize
27 May 2019
In the UK, the shortlist for the Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize, recognising the best science books for children, has been announced. The shortlisted titles are: 100 Things to...
PRH buys minority stake in US independent publisher Sourcebooks
24 May 2019
In the US, Penguin Random House (PRH) has bought a significant minority stake in independent publisher Sourcebooks. Sourcebooks will retain its majority ownership of 55% while PRH now owns a...
Wellcome Book Prize suspended after 10 years
23 May 2019
In the UK, the Wellcome Book Prize has been suspended after 10 years of being awarded, reports the Bookseller. Founded in 2009 by UK biomedical research charity the Wellcome Trust,...
Canadian parliamentary review recommends reform of Copyright Act
22 May 2019
A Canadian parliamentary committee has recommended the government undertake broad reform of the country’s copyright policies, following a review of the fallout following the implementation of the 2012 Copyright Modernization...
Alharthi wins Man Booker International Prize 2019
22 May 2019
Omani writer Jokha Alharthi has won the 2019 Man Booker International Prize for her novel Celestial Bodies (trans by Marilyn Booth, Sandstone Press). Alharthi is the first winner from the Arabian...
Antrobus wins Folio Prize for poetry collection ‘The Perseverance’
21 May 2019
In the UK, poet Raymond Antrobus has won the £30,000 (A$55,260) Rathbones Folio Prize for his collection The Perseverance (Penned In The Margins), becoming the first poet to win the...
New US tariffs on Chinese imports to include books
20 May 2019
The office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) has issued a notice that books are among the US$300 billion (A$435bn) in Chinese imports set to face a 25% tariff, reports...
Gunaratne wins 2019 Dylan Thomas Prize
17 May 2019
In the UK, British-Sri Lankan writer Guy Gunaratne has won the 2019 International Dylan Thomas Prize for his debut novel In Our Mad and Furious City (Tinder). In Our Mad...
Edemariam awarded 2019 Ondaatje Prize
15 May 2019
In the UK, Guardian journalist Aida Edemariam has won the Royal Society of Literature’s Ondaatje Prize for her memoir The Wife's Tale: A Personal History (Fourth Estate), which tells the...
Penguin General and Faber win at 2019 British Book Awards; ‘Normal People’ wins book of the year
14 May 2019
In the UK, the winners of the 2019 British Book Awards, known as the 'Nibbies', have been announced. In the trade section of the awards, Penguin General was named publisher...
Armitage named UK poet laureate
13 May 2019
English poet Simon Armitage has been named the UK's poet laureate, after Imtiaz Dharker turned down the position earlier this month. The Guardian reports that Armitage 'had no hesitation whatsoever about...
McGraw-Hill projects up to $529m in annual savings after Cengage merger
9 May 2019
A McGraw-Hill-issued report for investors has projected annual cost savings of US$285–$370 million (A$407–$529m) annually over three years across McGraw-Hill and Cengage after they merge, reports the Bookseller. About 65%...
UK author earnings survey shows lack of diversity, drop in income
8 May 2019
In the UK, the full results of a report on author earnings have been released, revealing that the vast majority of professional authors are white, reports Book Brunch. Only two...
Dharker turns down British poet laureateship
7 May 2019
In the UK, poet Imtiaz Dharker has turned down the British poet laureateship, reports the Guardian. ‘I had to weigh the privacy I need to write poems against the demands...
Baker & Taylor to close wholesale retail business
3 May 2019
In the US, Baker & Taylor (B&T) has announced that it is closing its retail wholesale business in order to align itself with the education focus of its parent company,...
Khaled Lutfi awarded 2019 Prix Voltaire
3 May 2019
The International Publishers Association (IPA) has awarded imprisoned publisher Khaled Lutfi the 2019 Prix Voltaire, which supports defenders of freedom to publish. Lutfi is the founder of Cairo-based Tanmia Bookshop...
Gunaratne wins 2019 Jhalak Prize for ‘In Our Mad and Furious City’
2 May 2019
Guy Gunaratne’s debut novel In Our Mad and Furious City (Tinder) has won the £1000 (A$1860) Jhalak Prize for black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) writers, reports the Bookseller. Gunaratne’s...
Eaves wins 2019 Wellcome Prize for ‘Murmur’
2 May 2019
In the UK, Will Eaves’s novel Murmur (CB Editions) has won the £30,000 (A$55,820) Wellcome Book Prize, awarded to the best new work of fiction or nonfiction centred on medicine...
‘Call me Zebra’ wins 2019 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction
1 May 2019
In the US, Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi has won the 2019 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction for her novel Call me Zebra (Alma Books), reports the Washington Post. The judges...
Stanford University proposes to end funding of university press
30 April 2019
In the US, Stanford University is moving to end its annual US$1.7 million (A$2.4m) in financial support to its university press, reports Inside Higher Ed. University provost Persis Drell told...
Women’s Prize for Fiction 2019 shortlist announced
29 April 2019
In the UK, the shortlist for the 2019 Women’s Prize for Fiction has been announced. The six shortlisted titles are: The Silence of the Girls (Pat Barker, Hamish Hamilton) My Sister,...
Barakat wins US$50,000 International Prize for Arabic Fiction
26 April 2019
Lebanese author Hoda Barakat has won the International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) for her epistolary novel, The Night Mail (Dar al-Adab), reports the Bookseller. Barakat receives US$50,000 (A$70,470) and...
UK publishers report uplift in non-traditional outlet sales
24 April 2019
In the UK, publishers have reported an uplift in sales from non-traditional outlets, reports the Bookseller. While Nielsen’s Books and Consumers research has found that the ‘other shop’ sector, which...
PRH US introduces reader loyalty program
23 April 2019
In the US, Penguin Random House has introduced a loyalty program for customers to earn points that can be redeemed for free books, reports Publishers Weekly. Readers can create a...
Hachette UK releases results of ethnicity pay gap report
18 April 2019
Hachette UK has published an ethnicity pay gap report that compares the average wage earnings of the company's Black, Asian and other Minority Ethnic (BAME) staff to the average earnings...
Powers wins 2019 Pulitzer Prize for fiction for ‘The Overstory’
16 April 2019
In the US, Richard Powers has won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for fiction for his novel The Overstory (Vintage). The Overstory tells the story of nine strangers brought together by...
PwC report shows growth in UK bookshops while high street retail declines
12 April 2019
Bookshops are one of the top retail growth categories in the UK, according to new research from PricewaterhouseCoopers that also shows a record number of UK shops closed in 2018....
