Keefe wins 2021 Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction
Thursday, 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
Monday, 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
Friday, 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’
Thursday, 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’
Wednesday, 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
Tuesday, 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’
Thursday, 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
Wednesday, 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
Monday, 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
Thursday, 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
Wednesday, 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
Tuesday, 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
Friday, 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
Thursday, 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
Wednesday, 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
Tuesday, 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
Monday, 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
Friday, 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
Wednesday, 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
Tuesday, 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%
Monday, 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
Friday, 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...
Giller Prize 2021 shortlist announced
Thursday, 7 October 2021
In Canada, the shortlist for the C$100,000 (A$109,250) 2021 Giller Prize for the best Canadian fiction published in English has been announced. The shortlisted novels are: What Strange Paradise (Omar...
Goldsmiths Prize 2021 shortlist announced
Thursday, 7 October 2021
In the UK, the shortlist for the 2021 Goldsmiths Prize, worth £10,000 (A$18,700), has been announced. The shortlisted novels are: Checkout 19 (Claire-Louise Bennett, Jonathan Cape) Assembly (Natasha Brown, Hamish Hamilton) A...
National Book Awards 2021 shortlists announced
Wednesday, 6 October 2021
In the US, the finalists for the 2021 National Book Awards have been announced. The shortlisted titles are: Fiction Cloud Cuckoo Land (Anthony Doerr, Fourth Estate) Matrix (Lauren Groff, William...
Whitfield wins Glass Bell Award for ‘People of Abandoned Character’
Tuesday, 5 October 2021
In the UK, Clare Whitfield has won the £2000 (A$3650) Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award for her debut novel People of Abandoned Character (Head of Zeus), reports the Bookseller. Described...
Canadian book sales up 11%
Monday, 4 October 2021
In its annual look at Canadian publishing, Publishers Weekly reports that print sales for the first six months of this year were up 11.2% over the same period in 2020,...
France proposes minimum rates for book deliveries
Friday, 1 October 2021
In France, lawmakers are considering a draft law that would stop Amazon from offering virtually free delivery for book purchases, reports Politico. The draft law, which has the backing of...
Frankfurt expecting up to 800 international delegates
Thursday, 30 September 2021
The Bookseller reports that Frankfurt Book Fair organisers are expecting between 700 and 800 international delegates to attend this year’s event, which runs from 20–24 October. The number is down...
US$75k Cundill History Prize shortlist announced
Tuesday, 28 September 2021
The shortlist for the 2021 Cundill History Prize, which rewards ‘the best history writing in English’, has been announced. The shortlisted books are: The Loss of Hindustan: The invention of...
