Q-Lit 2026 festival: high attendance numbers, book sales
Monday, 7 September 2026
The 2026 Q-Lit festival, which was held in Naarm/Melbourne from 16 to 19 July under the theme “queer nostalgia”, attracted 1,684 attendees and sold an estimated $27,000 in books. Q-Lit...
Australian Booksellers Association event grant recipients announced
Monday, 7 September 2026
The Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) has announced the 26 recipients of its inaugural Bookseller Events Program grants. The successful bookshops and their projects, chosen from 77 applications, are: New South...
Amplify Bookstore receives threats of arson, violence
Monday, 7 September 2026
Amplify Bookstore has received threats of arson and violence, and its shopfront has been vandalised, following “anti-woke post” on social media platform X, according to the Australian Booksellers Association (ABA),...
Paperchain Bookstore to open in Braddon
Monday, 7 September 2026
Canberra bookshop Paperchain Bookstore, located in the suburb of Manuka, has announced it will open a store in Braddon. The new store will be located at 2/18 Lonsdale Street in...
South Australian Literary Awards 2026 shortlist announced
Monday, 7 September 2026
The 2026 South Australian Literary Awards shortlists have been announced. The shortlists in selected categories, chosen from 766 entries, are: Fiction Award ($15,000) Discipline (Randa Abdel-Fattah, University of Queensland Press) Arborescence...
Second APA Sustainability Survey finds number of publishers setting carbon targets has doubled
Thursday, 3 September 2026
The Australian Publishers Association (APA) has released the results of its second Sustainability Survey, reporting “an encouraging increase in publishers setting sustainability targets, and nominating staff to drive their sustainability...
Readings New Australian Fiction Prize 2026 shortlist announced
Thursday, 3 September 2026
Readings has announced the shortlist for the 2026 Readings New Australian Fiction Prize. This year’s 6 shortlisted titles are: Desolation (Hossein Asgari, Ultimo Press) Mantle (Romy Ash, Ultimo Press) Arborescence...
Armadale Writers’ Festival program announced
Thursday, 3 September 2026
The Armadale Writers’ Festival will run from 7 to 11 September 2026 in the Perth suburb of Armadale, offering “a feast of conversation, literature and the sheer joy of words”....
Queensland Writers Centre reverts to previous Aurealis fee structure following criticism
Thursday, 3 September 2026
The Queensland Writers Centre (QWC) has announced entry fees to the Aurealis Awards will revert to the awards’ previous structure, as part of a number of changes the organisation has...
Bakers Lane Books acquires middle-grade novel by Emma Greville
Thursday, 3 September 2026
Bakers Lane Books has acquired world rights to the middle-grade novel The Girl in the Corner by Emma Greville. The Girl in the Corner tells the stories of Anne, in 1869,...
Allen & Unwin acquires “Making It Up As I Go” by Sophie Shaw
Thursday, 3 September 2026
Allen & Unwin has acquired world rights to nonfiction title Making It Up As I Go by Sophie Shaw from Bruce Kaider at One Sports & Entertainment. In Making It...
ARA Historical Novel Prize 2026 longlists announced
Wednesday, 2 September 2026
The longlists for the 2026 ARA Historical Novel Prize have been announced. The longlisted titles in each category are: Adult The Names of a Hare (Bernice Barry, Fremantle Press) The...
LitUp 2027 host communities announced
Wednesday, 2 September 2026
Australia Reads has announced the 31 communities in New South Wales and Queensland that will host events as part of the LitUp live literature program in 2027. The program will...
Hachette acquires Smith Street Books
Wednesday, 2 September 2026
Hachette Australia has acquired lifestyle and gift book publisher Smith Street Books, effective immediately. Founded in Melbourne/Naarm in 2016, Smith Street Books publishes across food and drink, lifestyle, art, pop...
Volume symposium first speakers announced
Wednesday, 2 September 2026
The first guest speakers have been announced for Volume, the national reading symposium, held online from 21 to 22 October. Author Jess Scully will host day one of Volume, “looking...
Allen & Unwin acquires “Neil the Seal” under Albert Street Books imprint
Wednesday, 2 September 2026
Albert Street Books, an imprint of Allen & Unwin, has acquired world rights to the picture book Neil the Seal by Lucinda Gifford. In the book – inspired by “the...
Keeperton expands commercial fiction program with US appointment
Wednesday, 2 September 2026
Keeperton, the publisher established by Australian author TL Swan, is expanding its commercial fiction program, appointing senior acquisitions editor Kate Roddy to its US team. “The appointment comes as Keeperton...
UWA Publishing acquires “Laughing River” by NJ Madden
Wednesday, 2 September 2026
UWA Publishing has acquired world rights to the novel Laughing River, a literary fiction work by NJ Madden. Shortlisted for the Dorothy Hewett Award in 2025, Laughing River is a historical...
Australian Political Book of the Year Award 2026 longlist announced
Tuesday, 1 September 2026
The longlist for the 2026 Australian Political Book of the Year Award has been announced. Longlisted titles include: Gough Whitlam: The Vista of the New (Troy Bramston, HarperCollins) Angertainment (Ed Coper, Summit...
Hachette partners with the Footpath Library on literacy kit initiative
Tuesday, 1 September 2026
Hachette Australia has partnered with the Footpath Library to deliver literacy kits to children experiencing homelessness and living in temporary crisis accommodation, shelters and refuges across parts of New South...
Love Your Bookshop Day campaign launched
Tuesday, 1 September 2026
Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) has launched Love Your Bookshop Day (LYDB) for Saturday 10 October, under the theme “Ask a bookseller. Shake up your shelf”. Drawing on Australia Reads research...
Text Publishing acquires Jade Timms’s “The Good Boys”
Tuesday, 1 September 2026
Text Publishing has acquired ANZ rights to contemporary YA novel The Good Boys by Jade Timms, in a two-book deal brokered by Bella Suckling at Annabel Barker Agency. The Good...
Deborah Abela to receive 2026 Lady Cutler Award
Monday, 31 August 2026
Deborah Abela is the recipient of the 2026 Lady Cutler Award, a biennial award presented by the New South Wales branch of the Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) for...
Flame Tree acquires 3 novels by Eugen Bacon
Monday, 31 August 2026
UK publisher Flame Tree has acquired world rights to 3 “Afro-surreal” books by Eugen Bacon. The titles acquired are murder mystery novella Jintu, to be published in September 2027; Betwixt,...
Canberra Writers Festival 2026 program announced
Monday, 31 August 2026
The Canberra Writers Festival (CWF) has announced its 10th anniversary program, which will run 15 to 18 October 2026, showcasing more than 110 events and 200 artists. International guest speakers...
Writers Assemble! program announced
Monday, 31 August 2026
The program for the free 3-day South Australian festival Writers Assemble!, which will run from 11 to 13 September, has been announced. The festival, which is dedicated to the craft...
Mark and Evette Moran Nib Literary Award 2026 longlist announced
Monday, 31 August 2026
The longlist for the 2026 Mark and Evette Moran Nib Literary Award, worth $40,000, has been announced. Longlisted works include: Apron-Sorrow/Sovereign-Tea (Natalie Harkin, Wakefield Press) Being (Rachel E Menzies &...
Summit acquires debut novel “People Will Get Hurt by This” by Katie Newton
Thursday, 27 August 2026
Simon & Schuster Australia imprint Summit Books has acquired ANZ rights to “darkly funny and startlingly original upmarket commercial debut” People Will Get Hurt by This by Katie Newton, in...
Bundyi acquires two novels by Tasma Walton
Thursday, 27 August 2026
Simon & Schuster Australia imprint Bundyi has acquired world rights to two novels by Tasma Walton. Walton is a Boonwurrung woman from the saltwater country of Melbourne and an actor...
QBD to open in Eaton
Thursday, 27 August 2026
QBD Books will open a store in Eaton, Western Australia, as part of an expansion of the Eaton Fair shopping centre. “We are absolutely thrilled to be bringing QBD Books to...
