S&S acquires two books by Kailas Wild
3 June 2020
Simon & Schuster Australia (S&S) has acquired illustrated book The 99th Koala and an as yet untitled memoir by Kailas Wild, the climbing arborist who received widespread attention for his...
EWF 2020 program; CWF plans for live events; BWF confirms ‘small online offering’
3 June 2020
The program for the 2020 Emerging Writers’ Festival (EWF), which usually takes place in Melbourne but this year will take place entirely online, has been announced. The event will run...
Book industry job ads show sharp decline from mid-April
3 June 2020
Data from Books+Publishing's Weekly Book Newsletter (WBN) shows a sharp decline in job advertisements coinciding with the beginning of widespread restrictions related to Covid-19. WBN, published each Wednesday, features job...
Readings YA Book Prize 2020 shortlist announced
3 June 2020
The shortlist for the 2020 Readings Young Adult Book Prize has been announced. The shortlisted titles are: Devil’s Ballast (Meg Caddy, Text) The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling (Wai...
Macleod wins 2020 Commonwealth Short Story Prize, Pacific region
2 June 2020
Australian writer Andrea E Macleod has won the 2020 Commonwealth Short Story Prize in the Pacific category for her story ‘The Art of Waving’. Judge Nic Low, representing the Pacific...
Yves Rees wins 2020 Calibre Essay Prize
2 June 2020
Writer and historian Yves Rees has won the $5000 2020 Calibre Essay Prize for their essay ‘Reading the Mess Backwards’, in which they re-examine their youth in light of coming...
National Simultaneous Storytime attracts ‘more than ever’ as libraries reopen
1 June 2020
Social distancing restrictions did not reduce the number of participants who took part in National Simultaneous Storytime, with ‘more than ever’ joining the 2020 Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA)...
Peter Carey Short Story Award 2020 shortlist announced
1 June 2020
The shortlist for the 2020 Peter Carey Short Story Award has been announced. Chosen from a longlist of 18 by judge Elizabeth Tan, the shortlisted stories are: ‘Tight Lines’ (Allee...
Davitt Awards 2020 longlists announced
1 June 2020
Sisters in Crime Australia has announced the longlists for the 2020 Davitt Awards for the best crime books by Australian women. A total of 124 titles have been longlisted, including...
Avila shortlisted for Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize for Best Unpublished Manuscript
29 May 2020
Brisbane-based writer Jacob P Avila has been shortlisted for the UK’s Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize for Best Unpublished Manuscript, which is open to unpublished and self-published works. Avila has...
Copyright Agency announces additional $125,000 emergency funding
29 May 2020
The Copyright Agency has announced an additional $125,000 of Emergency Action Funding, to be drawn from the Agency’s Future Fund and allocated in part to unsuccessful applicants to the Agency’s...
Fedler novel ‘Things Without a Name’ optioned for screen
29 May 2020
Film and TV rights to Sydney author Joanne Fedler's novel Things Without A Name (Joanne Fedler Media) have been optioned by Bunya Productions, producers of the ABC series Mystery Road....
‘The Whole Fish Cookbook’ named 2020 James Beard Book of the Year
29 May 2020
Sydney chef Josh Niland has won two James Beard Media Awards for his debut book The Whole Fish Cookbook (Hardie Grant). The Whole Fish Cookbook was awarded in the restaurant...
Frankfurt to go ahead, but Australian publishers must wait and see
28 May 2020
Organisers of the Frankfurt Book Fair announced on Wednesday, 27 May that the 2020 fair will go ahead as scheduled from 14–18 October, but at decentralised locations throughout Frankfurt and...
Australian War Memorial establishes $10k Les Carlyon Literary Prize
28 May 2020
The Australian War Memorial has established a new literary prize in honour of the late historian, author and journalist Les Carlyon. The $10,000 Les Carlyon Literary Prize will be awarded...
MidnightSun acquires Gold’s debut novel ‘The Breaking’
28 May 2020
MidnightSun Publishing has acquired debut novel The Breaking by Irma Gold. ‘Vivid and sharply observed, The Breaking is an intensely moving story about the magnetic bond between two young women,...
NLA among institutions able to reopen 30 May
27 May 2020
The National Library of Australia is among the national collecting institutions that will be able to reopen to the public from 30 May, according to an announcement from Minister for...
A&U acquires Bowditch’s ‘The Day the Diet Died’
27 May 2020
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired ANZ rights to a new nonfiction title from musician Clare Bowditch, from Pippa Masson at Curtis Brown. The Day the Diet Died will explore...
Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne writers fests among latest recipients of Copyright Agency emergency funding
26 May 2020
Among the latest successful recipients of the Copyright Agency’s Covid-19 Emergency Action Fund are the Brisbane and Canberra writers festivals, which have each received funding to move online, and Word...
Blanchard historical fiction novels top sales of 100k
26 May 2020
Simon & Schuster Australia (S&S) has announced that Tania Blanchard’s debut novel The Girl from Munich and its follow-up Suitcase of Dreams have sold more than 100,000 copies in Australia....
Shilton, Tan, Jonsberg win 2020 Chief Minister’s NT Book Awards
26 May 2020
The NT Writers’ Centre has announced the winners of the 2020 Chief Minister’s NT Book Awards. The winners in each category are: Best fiction book Walking With Camels: The story...
Library index: popularity of Aus books grows, ‘huge spike’ in ebook, audiobook borrowing
25 May 2020
Books by Australian authors make up 12 of the top 20 most borrowed books according to the 2020 Civica Libraries Index, produced by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA)...
‘Bruny’ and ‘Smashed Avocado’ optioned for TV
22 May 2020
Television rights to Heather Rose's 2019 novel Bruny (A&U), which recently won the ABIA award for general fiction, have been optioned by Film Art Media, and Good Thing Productions has...
Booksellers’ Choice 2020 Book of the Year Awards longlists announced
22 May 2020
The longlists for 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 will be presented...
Environment Award for Children’s Literature 2020 shortlist announced
22 May 2020
The Wilderness Society has announced the shortlist for the 2020 Environment Award for Children’s Literature. The shortlisted books in each category are: Picture fiction: One Tree (Christopher Cheng, illus by...
Bloomsbury profits up 9% in 2019
21 May 2020
Bloomsbury’s full-year financial report to the end of February 2020 shows the publisher’s revenues for the year increased from £162.7m to £162.8m, with profits up by 9% to £15.7m (from...
Paterson wins 2020 Text Prize for ‘Rainfish’
21 May 2020
Far North Queensland-based writer and doctor Andrew Paterson has won the 2020 Text Prize for his middle-grade novel Rainfish. Rainfish tells the story of Aaron, who lives with his single...
Day, Merrison awarded 2020 black&write! fellowships
20 May 2020
The 2020 black&write! fellowships for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers have been awarded to Eunice Day and Carl Merrison. Day, whose mother’s tribe is the Yimen Eaglehawk people from...
Dymocks reduces online range amid eight-week delays
20 May 2020
Dymocks has ‘significantly’ reduced the range of products available on its website as it processes a backlog of orders amid delivery delays of up to eight weeks. In a statement...
ALS Gold Medal 2020 shortlist announced
20 May 2020
The shortlist for the 2020 Australian Literature Society (ALS) Gold Medal has been announced. The shortlisted titles are: Element (Jordie Albiston, Puncher & Wattmann) Nganajungu Yagu (Charmaine Papertalk Green, Cordite)...
