EWF announces Zanoni as artistic director, co-CEO
Monday, 20 January 2025
The Emerging Writers' Festival (EWF) has announced Jess Zanoni as artistic director and co-CEO. Zanoni, who is a writer, producer and musician as well as the organisation's previous program coordinator,...
Ferns to retire, Weir new GM at HarperCollins NZ
Monday, 20 January 2025
HarperCollins New Zealand has announced the retirement of general manager Karen Ferns. In a statement, the publisher said Ferns would retire ‘after an exceptional career spanning decades in the publishing...
Melbourne Books acquires Jensen-Kohl’s ‘Circus Oz’ book
Monday, 20 January 2025
Melbourne Books has acquired world rights to Circus Oz: From the Pram to the World Stage by Jesse Jensen-Kohl. ‘From the origins of Circus Oz in the 1970s, through to the company’s...
Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship 2025 shortlist announced
Friday, 17 January 2025
Writers Victoria has announced the shortlist for the 2025 Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship. The shortlist includes nine writers: Jennifer Martin, ‘writing about Australian journalist Eva Sommer, inaugural winner of the...
Christmas sales up 2% by value
Friday, 17 January 2025
While book sales in Australia for the 2024 year overall were down compared to 2023, Christmas sales – those during the four weeks to 28 December 2024 – were up...
Hardie Grant announces restructure, redundancies
Friday, 17 January 2025
Hardie Grant Publishing (HGP) has announced a restructure of its marketing and communications team and four redundancies. In a statement, the publisher told Book+Publishing: ‘In light of market challenges, one...
Aotearoa New Zealand authors recognised in New Year’s Honours List
Thursday, 16 January 2025
New Zealand Aotearoa authors are among those recognised in the 2025 New Year’s Honours List. Fiction writer and poet Lee Murray has been appointed an Officer of the New Zealand...
Local authors on Dublin Literary Award 2025 longlist
Thursday, 16 January 2025
Several works by authors from Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand have been longlisted for the 2025 Dublin Literary Award, worth €100,000 (A$165,236). The Australian and Aotearoa New Zealand longlisted titles...
Singleton on 2024 Novel Prize shortlist
Thursday, 16 January 2025
Publishers Fitzcarraldo Editions, Giramondo and New Directions have announced the 2024 shortlist for the Novel Prize. Local author Hollen Singleton is among those shortlisted for the prize, for their novel...
Green wins 2025 Margaret Mahy Medal
Thursday, 16 January 2025
The Storylines Children’s Literature Charitable Trust Te Whare Waituhi Tamariki has announced poet Paula Green as the 2025 recipient of the Storylines Margaret Mahy Medal. Said Publishers Association of New...
UQP acquires first work of adult fiction by Abdel-Fattah
Thursday, 16 January 2025
UQP has acquired world rights to a first work of adult fiction by writer and activist Randa Abdel-Fattah. The Occupation is set during Israel’s May 2021 bombing of Gaza, and...
Indie Book Awards 2025 shortlists announced
Wednesday, 15 January 2025
The shortlists for the 2025 Indie Book Awards have been announced. The shortlisted titles in each category are: Fiction Dusk (Robbie Arnott, Picador) Cherrywood (Jock Serong, Fourth Estate) The Ledge (Christian White, Affirm)...
NLA announces 2025 Fellows
Wednesday, 15 January 2025
The National Library of Australia (NLA) has announced its 2025 Fellows, awarded to local and international scholars. The recipients and their research projects are: NLA Fellowships Alexis Bergantz, ‘Whose Pacific?...
New independent publisher Spoor Books launches
Wednesday, 15 January 2025
In Aotearoa New Zealand, Erena and Balamohan Shingade have launched Spoor Books. Spoor Books is ‘an independent publisher, a community-oriented platform, and a bookshop featuring radical publishers from India and...
Pearce wins PF Rowland Manuscript Development Grant
Tuesday, 14 January 2025
James Cook University's Foundation for Australian Literary Studies has announced Lilian Pearce as the recipient of the second $5000 PF Rowland Manuscript Development Grant. The grant is offered in partnership...
Aotearoa New Zealand market down 6.6% in value
Tuesday, 14 January 2025
In Aotearoa New Zealand, the book market in 2024 was down by 6.6% in value and 3.2% in volume, according to figures from Nielsen BookScan NZ. Nielsen’s 2024 snapshot for...
HarperVia acquires two Tsao novels
Tuesday, 14 January 2025
Alexa Frank at HarperVia has acquired world English rights to two novels by 2023 PEN Translation Prize winner Tiffany Tsao, in a pre-empt deal from Daniel Lazar at Writers House...
Text Prize discontinued
Tuesday, 14 January 2025
Text Publishing has announced that the Text Prize has been discontinued. In a statement, the publisher said it had ‘made the reluctant decision’ that Caroline Stills’ A Gift from the...
Inaugural Varuna Trans and Gender Diverse Fellowship announced
Tuesday, 14 January 2025
Varuna, the National Writers’ House has announced a new fellowship program – the Varuna Trans and Gender Diverse Fellowship. Varuna described the fellowship as being open to ‘trans and gender...
Peter Porter Prize 2025 shortlist announced
Monday, 13 January 2025
The shortlist for the 2025 Australian Book Review (ABR) Peter Porter Poetry Prize has been announced. Shortlisted poems include: ‘The Orphan’ by Sarah Day ‘Hook, Grandmother, Line, Marlin’ by Jennifer Harrison...
Australian market down 3% in value
Friday, 10 January 2025
The book market in Australia in 2024 was down by 3% in value and 1.2% in volume, according to figures from Nielsen BookData’s BookScan service. Nielsen’s 2024 snapshot, covering 31...
Tasmanian Literary Awards 2025 longlists announced
Friday, 10 January 2025
The longlists for the 2025 Tasmanian Literary Awards have been announced. Longlisted titles have been announced in four award categories, worth $25,000 each. The books longlisted in each of these...
Creative Australia announces New York Publishers Program 2025 delegates
Friday, 10 January 2025
Creative Australia has announced the delegates for the 2025 New York Publishers Program. The delegates, who will visit New York from 3 to 7 March 2025, are: Sandra Buol, A&U...
Riveted Press acquires middle-grade fantasy trilogy
Friday, 10 January 2025
Riveted Press has acquired worldwide rights to the middle-grade fantasy series Farwood by Jayne McIntyre, in a three-book deal via Debbie Golvan at Golvan Arts Management. The first book in...
Berberovic wins inaugural WestWords Prize
Friday, 10 January 2025
Vahida Berberovic has won the inaugural WestWords Prize for her novel Piggy Tales. Berberovic receives a publication deal with WestWords Books, the adult trade imprint of WestWords. Piggy Tales was chosen...
‘In Too Deep’ is Aotearoa New Zealand’s number-one Christmas bestseller
Monday, 6 January 2025
In Too Deep (Lee Child & Andrew Child, Bantam) is the top Christmas bestseller for Aotearoa New Zealand, selling just under 2500 copies in the week ending 14 December, according...
‘RecipeTin Eats: Tonight’ is Australia’s number-one Christmas bestseller
Monday, 6 January 2025
Nagi Maehashi’s RecipeTin Eats: Tonight (Macmillan) has topped the 2024 Australian Christmas bestsellers list, having sold 27,916 copies in Australia in the week ending 14 December, according to data from...
Best of the best books of 2024
Friday, 13 December 2024
Across five major ‘best books of 2024’ articles published this December, we counted the most-mentioned Australian books. From end-of-year lists published by the Age/Sydney Morning Herald, Australian Book Review, Guardian...
Osborne-Crowley longlisted for Gordon Burn Prize
Friday, 13 December 2024
In the UK, British–Australian author Lucia Osborne-Crowley has been longlisted for the £10,000 (A$20,011) Gordon Burn Prize. Osborne-Crowley was longlisted for her book The Lasting Harm: Witnessing the Trial of...
Indie Book Awards 2025 longlists announced
Friday, 13 December 2024
The longlist for the 2025 Indie Book Awards has been announced. The longlisted titles in each category are: Fiction Dusk (Robbie Arnott, Picador) Safe Haven (Shankari Chandran, Ultimo) The Valley...
