Byron Writers Fest, Create NSW offer new $40k writers residency
9 July 2020
Byron Writers Festival and Create NSW have partnered to offer a new writing group residency worth almost $40,000. The Write North Writers’ Group Residency for mid-career to established writers will...
ABA: 2020 Booksellers’ Choice awards announced; Huber, McDonald named booksellers of the year
9 July 2020
The winners of the Australian Booksellers Association’s (ABA) 2020 Booksellers’ Choice Book of the Year Awards have been announced. This year for the first time the awards are presented in...
ANZ writers to feature in online literary event series ‘Comfort Food’
8 July 2020
Dinner Party Press, a new not-for-profit literary events organisation, has launched a four-part web series featuring writers from Australia and Europe. The event series, titled Comfort Food, will celebrate food,...
Melbourne libraries re-close as second lockdown begins
8 July 2020
In line with the stage three restrictions announced by Victorian premier Daniel Andrews on Tuesday, Melbourne libraries including State Library Victoria (SLV) and all City of Melbourne Library branches will...
Walker launches biannual ‘Walker Wednesday’ to discover new writers
8 July 2020
Walker Books will accept unsolicited manuscripts on two specific dates in 2020 via an online portal as part of its new ‘Walker Wednesday’ initiative to ‘discover new Australian stories for...
‘Real Pigeons’ to be adapted for TV by James Corden
8 July 2020
Real Pigeons Fight Crime (Andrew McDonald, illus by Ben Wood, Hardie Grant Egmont) is being developed by host of the The Late Late Show James Corden as a TV series...
Australian book sales down 2% for year to June
8 July 2020
Strong sales during the second quarter of 2020 have largely cushioned the overall Australian book market from the effects of Covid-19, with Australian book sales down by just 2% for...
ABA: Online conference commences, Love Your Bookshop Day on 3 October
8 July 2020
The first of the Australian Booksellers Association's (ABA) 2020 online conference events took place on Monday, 6 July, with ABA CEO Robbie Egan in conversation with Meryl Halls and Nic...
Verity La announces publishing break, apologises for ‘grave error’
7 July 2020
Online literary journal Verity La has announced it is taking a break from publishing to ‘reflect on the ways in which the journal has been complicit with systemic racism, sexism...
Furphy Literary Award 2020 shortlists announced
7 July 2020
The shortlists for the inaugural Furphy Literary Award has been announced. The six shortlisted stories and writers in the open category are: 'Ando Gets Plastered' by Cate Kennedy 'Awakening' by...
Pham’s ‘The Coconut Children’ to be adapted for stage
7 July 2020
A stage adaptation of Vivian Pham's debut novel The Coconut Children (Vintage) has been commissioned as part of Playwriting Australia's Ignition program. The Coconut Children is one of seven major...
O’Callaghan longlisted for Edge Hill Short Story Prize
7 July 2020
Amanda O’Callaghan has been longlisted for the UK's £10,000 ($A17,900) Edge Hill Short Story Prize, for her collection This Taste of Silence (UQP). O’Callaghan is one of 12 authors on...
New Ingram Melbourne plant to open by September
7 July 2020
Ingram Content Group, parent company of Lightning Source Australia, has announced it is building a new printing plant in Melbourne which it expects to be operational in the Australian spring....
‘Taking Tom Murray Home’ optioned for screen
7 July 2020
Sydney-based production company Soft Tread Enterprises has optioned Tim Slee's novel Taking Tom Murray Home (HarperCollins) for the screen. Taking Tom Murray Home was the inaugural winner of the Banjo...
‘Inclusive Publishing in Australia’ publisher survey launched
6 July 2020
A new research project is seeking to better understand the issues affecting the production of accessible content in Australia and asking publishers to contribute by completing a survey. ‘Inclusive Publishing...
UQP acquires new Chong poetry collection
6 July 2020
The University of Queensland Press (UQP) has acquired Eileen Chong’s poetry collection A Thousand Crimson Blooms. Chong is the author of nine books, including her most recent poetry collection Rainforest, which...
Speech Pathology Australia book awards 2020 shortlists announced
3 July 2020
The shortlists for the 2020 Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Awards have been announced. The shortlisted titles in each category are: Birth to three years Are These Hen's...
Queensland Poetry Festival Awards 2020 shortlists announced
3 July 2020
The shortlists for the 2020 Queensland Poetry Festival (QPF) awards have been announced. The shortlisted poets in each category are: Thomas Shapcott Poetry Prize for an Unpublished Manuscript Hailey Bonner...
Write-ability fellowships 2020 recipients announced
2 July 2020
Writers Victoria has announced the recipients of its 2020 Write-ability fellowships. The organisation this year awarded two additional fellowships: a poetry fellowship supported by an anonymous donor, and a one-off...
KYD Unpublished Manuscript Award 2020 longlist announced
2 July 2020
The longlist for the 2020 Kill Your Darlings (KYD) Unpublished Manuscript Award has been announced. The longlisted authors and their works are: 'Mood' by Roz Bellamy (nonfiction) 'Abomination' by Ashley Goldberg...
John Marsden prize renamed Hachette Australia Prize for Young Writers
1 July 2020
Hachette and Express Media have confirmed YA author Will Kostakis will take over from John Marsden as mentor of the 2020 John Marsden/Hachette Australia Prize for Young Australian Writers, which...
Ballarat Books, Warrnambool Books, Link Educational to rebrand as Campion Education
1 July 2020
Following its acquisition of Victorian educational specialists Ballarat Books, Warrnambool Books and Mount Waverley-based Link Educational last year, the Campion Group will rebrand all three businesses as Campion Education. Ballarat...
WA Premier’s Book Awards shortlists announced
1 July 2020
The shortlists for this year’s Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards have been announced. The shortlisted titles in each category are: Premier’s Prize for an emerging writer ($15,000) Fabulous Lives (Bindy Pritchard,...
Ngaio Marsh Award 2020 longlist announced
30 June 2020
The longlist for this year’s Ngaio Marsh Award for New Zealand crime fiction has been announced. The longlisted titles are: Shadow of Doubt (S L Beaumont, Paperback Writers) Trust Me,...
Colin Roderick Award 2020 longlist announced
30 June 2020
The longlist for the 2020 Colin Roderick Award, administered by the Foundation for Australian Literary Studies at James Cook University, has been announced. The longlisted titles are: Turn Left at...
Papertalk Green wins 2020 ALS Gold Medal
30 June 2020
Charmaine Papertalk Green has won the 2020 Australian Literature Society (ALS) Gold Medal for her poetry collection Nganajungu Yagu (Cordite). Papertalk Green’s work was chosen from a shortlist that included...
Llewellyn appointed Wheeler Centre CEO
30 June 2020
The Wheeler Centre has announced the appointment of Caro Llewellyn as CEO. Llewellyn, whose memoir Diving into Glass (Hamish Hamilton) was shortlisted for the 2020 Stella Prize, was announced as...
OverDrive acquires RBmedia’s library business
29 June 2020
Library provider OverDrive has announced it is acquiring RBmedia’s library business. The deal will see OverDrive acquire the RBdigital platform in the UK, US and Australia. RBmedia's other businesses, including...
Van Neerven, Sakr to host new UQP poetry podcast
29 June 2020
The University of Queensland Press (UQP) will launch its new monthly poetry podcast Extraordinary Voices for Extraordinary Times on 10 July. The podcast, supported by Copyright Agency funding, will be...
Federal government announces $250 million creative support package
26 June 2020
The federal government has announced a $250 million package to support the cultural and creative industries following the Covid-19 pandemic. The support comprises four components: $75 million in grants of...
