Hardie Grant Children’s launches new illustrated imprint
25 November 2020
Hardie Grant Children's Publishing (HGCP) has announced the creation of Bright Light, a new illustrated imprint that will publish 20 titles a year exploring privilege, race, equality, the environment, bodies...
Booktopia, Amazon Australia to use robots for fulfilment
25 November 2020
Booktopia and Amazon will implement the use of robots in their Australian fulfilment centres in 2021. Booktopia announced it will trial autonomous robots at its Lidcombe Distribution Centre in Sydney...
Hueston awarded 2020 Medal for Excellence in Translation
25 November 2020
Text Publishing director and a senior editor Penny Hueston is the winner of the 2020 Australian Academy of the Humanities Medal for Excellence in Translation for Being Here: The life...
Wright resigns from PRH
25 November 2020
Penguin Random House Australia (PRH) head of trade sales Kaye Wright has resigned after almost 12 years in the role. Wright told Books+Publishing the role was ‘my most favoured in...
CBCA restructures board, confirms 2021 Book Week theme
24 November 2020
The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) has appointed Wendy Rapee as its new chair, and restructured its board, reducing its size from 12 directors to eight. The restructure of...
Simsion, Baxter novel adaptations receive Screen Aus funding
24 November 2020
A film adaptation of Graeme Simsion's novel The Best of Adam Sharp (Text) and a series based on Ella Baxter's forthcoming debut New Animal (A&U, March) are among 42 projects sharing...
Silvey, Gillard, Bennett among first guests announced for 2021 Perth Festival Literature & Ideas program
24 November 2020
Perth Festival has announced the first guests scheduled to appear as part of its 2021 Literature & Ideas program, which will be spread across 12 days from 5–28 February 2021....
ASA: More than half of full-time writers earn below $15k per year
23 November 2020
A survey of writers by the Australian Society of Authors (ASA) has found that author earnings are ‘disastrously low’. The survey found that 53.6% of respondents who said they were...
Morris-Marr’s ‘Fallen’ wins 2020 Walkley Book Award
23 November 2020
Investigative journalist, writer and broadcaster Lucie Morris-Marr has won the 2020 Walkley Book Award for Fallen: The inside story of the secret trial and conviction of Cardinal George Pell (A&U)....
Melbourne City of Literature Office supports #vicbookshopbingo competition
20 November 2020
The office of the Melbourne City of Literature is encouraging Victorians to support local booksellers as part of a Bookshop Bingo initiative conceived by writer Imbi Neeme. Participants download a...
Speech Pathology Book of the Year 2020 winners announced
20 November 2020
The winners of the 2020 Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year awards have been announced. Chosen from shortlists announced in July, the winning titles are: Birth to three years...
ABA, APA plan in person conferences in 2021
20 November 2020
The Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) has announced it will hold its 2021 national conference from 20 to 22 June at the Wheeler Centre in Melbourne. The event, which will include...
‘The Sydney Wars’ wins inaugural Les Carlyon Literary Prize
20 November 2020
Stephen Gapps has won the inaugural Les Carlyon Literary Prize for his 2018 work The Sydney Wars: Conflict in the early colony 1788–1817 (NewSouth). Chosen from more than 60 entries,...
Voss Literary Prize 2020 shortlist announced
19 November 2020
The shortlist for the 2020 Voss Literary Prize has been announced. The shortlisted novels are: Crossings (Alex Landragin, Picador) The Rich Man’s House (Andrew McGahan, A&U) The Palace of Angels...
Treloar wins 2020 Barbara Jefferis Award
19 November 2020
Lucy Treloar has won the 2020 Barbara Jefferis Award for her novel Wolfe Island (Picador). The $50,000 award, which is administered by the Australian Society of Authors (ASA), is presented...
Giggs shortlisted for ALA Andrew Carnegie Medal
18 November 2020
Australian writer Rebecca Giggs has been shortlisted for the American Library Association's (ALA) 2021 Andrew Carnegie Medal for nonfiction for Fathoms: The world in the whale (Scribe). Giggs's consideration of whales...
S&S to publish Kerr children’s series and World Cup diary
18 November 2020
Simon & Schuster Australia (S&S) has acquired world rights to a new children’s series by Sam Kerr, captain of the Australian national women’s soccer team the Matildas, in a six-book...
Pan Macmillan ‘finalising contractual relationship’ with Evans
17 November 2020
Pan Macmillan has stated it is ‘finalising its contractual relationship’ with celebrity chef Pete Evans and ‘will not be entering any further publishing agreements moving forward’. The publisher lists 17...
UQP Writing Mentorship inaugural recipient announced
17 November 2020
UQP and the University of Queensland’s (UQ) School of Communications and Arts have announced that Martine Kropkowski is the inaugural recipient of the UQP Writing Mentorship. Kropkowski will receive editorial...
The Next Chapter 2020 recipients announced
17 November 2020
The Wheeler Centre has announced the recipients of the 2020 Next Chapter grants for developing writers, worth $15,000 each. The 10 recipients are: Sharlene Allsopp (fiction, QLD) Bigoa Chuol (poetry,...
UQP acquires Norman debut story collection
17 November 2020
University of Queensland Press (UQP) has acquired ANZ rights to debut short story collection Permafrost by visual artist, performer and writer S J Norman via Curtis Brown. Norman, under the...
Prime Minister’s Literary Awards 2020 shortlists announced
16 November 2020
The shortlists for the 2020 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards have been announced. The shortlisted titles in each category are: Fiction The Death of Jesus (J M Coetzee, Text) Exploded View...
HarperCollins acquires Baird book on grace
16 November 2020
HarperCollins Australia has acquired ANZ rights to Bright Shining by Julia Baird, from Amanda Urban at ICM Partners. Baird's nonfiction book on grace—what it is, what it looks like in our...
Australian First Nations and People of Colour in Publishing Network launched
13 November 2020
Publishing professionals Camha Pham, Grace Lucas-Pennington and Radhiah Chowdhury have created and launched the Australian First Nations and People of Colour (FNPOC) in Publishing Network. ‘It can be lonely and...
New Amplify Bookstore to specialise in BIPOC books
13 November 2020
A new online-only bookshop, launched by masters of publishing and communications students Marina Sano and Jing Xuan Teo, will specialise in books by Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC)...
Cover of new Heiss novel to feature title in Wiradjuri
13 November 2020
Simon & Schuster (S&S) has revealed the cover for Anita Heiss's forthcoming novel Bila Yarrudhang-galang-dhuray (River of Dreams, May 2021). According to Heiss, it is the first Australian commercial fiction release...
Dymocks Book of the Year 2020 shortlist announced
13 November 2020
The shortlist for the 2020 Dymocks Book of the Year has been announced. The six shortlisted books, as voted by Dymocks booksellers across the country, are: All Our Shimmering Skies...
Authors, industry researchers to appear at parliamentary inquiry
12 November 2020
Book industry researcher David Throsby, the Sydney Review of Books and authors Helen Garner, Charlotte Wood and Christos Tsiolkas are among those who will appear at the first virtual public...
Screen Canberra invests in book-to-screen adaptations
12 November 2020
Adaptations of Peter Papathanasiou's memoir Little One (A&U) and Kaaron Warren's fantasy novel The Grief Hole (IFWG Publishing Australia) are among several projects to receive investment from Screen Canberra. Papathanasiou's...
Leaf Mag launches to demystify book industry
12 November 2020
A new online publication that aims to 'demystify, equitise and diversify' publishing, bookselling, libraries and other book-related work in Australia has been launched by two university students and a recent...
