EWF 2020 to take place ‘entirely online’
2 April 2020
The Emerging Writers Festival (EWF), which runs from 16–23 June, usually in Melbourne, will take place online as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Festival organisers ‘made the proactive decision...
Scholastic sells ‘How Did I Get Here?’ in 17 territories
2 April 2020
Scholastic Australia has sold rights to Philip Bunting's picture book How Did I Get Here? in 17 territories across the US, UK, European and Asian markets. Dutch-language rights were sold...
OzCo re-opens Arts and Disability Mentoring Initiative; Relief Fund to open Friday
1 April 2020
The Australia Council has announced it will re-open applications for the Arts and Disability Mentoring Initiative and has extended the deadline to 14 April. The initiative was among those the...
‘Most’ Dymocks stores remain open as chain announces Top 101
1 April 2020
While a small number of Dymocks stores have decided to close their shopfronts during the Covid-19 outbreak, the national bookselling chain says that most stores remain open at present. Books+Publishing...
CBCA Awards 2020 shortlists announced
31 March 2020
The shortlists for this year’s Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Book of the Year Awards have been announced. The shortlisted titles are: Older readers The Boy Who Steals Houses...
Oz writing bodies call for additional ‘disaster response’ funding, ELR/PLR to expand to digital
31 March 2020
Australia’s writing organisations and the Australian Society of Authors (ASA) are calling on the federal government to provide additional funding to the Australia Council ‘to boost capacity for an effective...
Bookshops, publishers eligible for wage subsidy scheme
31 March 2020
Bookshop and publishing house staff are among the workers who could be eligible for the federal government’s $130 billion JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme. Under the scheme, the Australian Tax Office...
Bothroyd wins ASA/HQ Commercial Fiction Prize
30 March 2020
Sally Bothroyd has won the inaugural ASA/HQ Commercial Fiction Prize for her manuscript ‘Brunswick Street Blues’. Bothroyd, who is a director of the Northern Territory Writers Centre and former journalist,...
Hussein appointed Voiceworks editor
30 March 2020
Express Media has appointed Adalya Nash Hussein as editor of Voiceworks journal for a two-year period. Hussein—a writer, editor and co-editor at Liminal magazine—will replace previous editor Mira Schlosberg. Hussein...
Aurealis Awards 2019 finalists announced
27 March 2020
The finalists for the 2019 Aurealis Awards, presented for science fiction, fantasy and horror writing in Australia, have been announced. The finalists are: Best science fiction novel The Subjects (Sarah...
Besliev joins Affirm Press as kids publisher
27 March 2020
Five Mile commercial director Tash Besliev will join Affirm Press in the newly created role of kids publisher, where she will oversee an expansion of Affirm’s children’s list. Besliev has...
Van Neerven wins inaugural UQP Quentin Bryce Award
27 March 2020
Ellen van Neerven has been named the winner of The University of Queensland Press' (UQP) inaugural Quentin Bryce Award, for their poetry collection Throat. The Quentin Bryce Award recognises a...
OzCo suspends grant programs to support arts sector during pandemic
26 March 2020
The Australia Council has suspended many of its investment programs to concentrate on providing a response package to support artists, arts practitioners, arts groups and arts organisations coping with the...
Brow Books to reissue Tumarkin’s ‘Traumascapes’
26 March 2020
Brow Books has acquired world rights to Maria Tumarkin's nonfiction book Traumascapes, which was originally published by Melbourne University Press in 2005. Tumarkin recently won a Windham Campbell prize for...
Books Create Australia announces agreement for digital library storytimes
26 March 2020
Books Create Australia, the joint industry group comprised of the Australian Booksellers Association, the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA), the Australian Publishers Association (APA) and the Australian Society of...
Dymocks reports over 300% rise in online sales of children’s nonfic
26 March 2020
Dymocks has reported a sharp increase in sales of education books and supplies as parents stock up on learning materials following advice to keep children home from school. Online sales...
Black Inc. postpones ‘Growing Up Disabled in Australia’
26 March 2020
Black Inc. has postponed the publication of Growing Up Disabled in Australia (ed by Carly Findlay) from June this year until February 2021, in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. According to...
PRH, Affirm, Abbey’s and BooksPlus awarded by Leading Edge
25 March 2020
Leading Edge Books (LEB) presented a number of industry awards last night. The annual awards were announced via social media this year, as the LEB Conference, where the awards are...
Hachette acquires Ferguson and Jones book on Catholic Church cover-up
25 March 2020
Hachette has acquired world rights to journalists Sarah Ferguson and Tony Jones’ book Revelation, the tie-in to their ABC TV series on the criminal priests and brothers of the Catholic...
A&U acquires Debra Oswald novel after ‘heated’ auction
25 March 2020
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired world rights to Debra Oswald’s novel The Family Doctor after a ‘heated’ auction. Described as a ‘riveting moral thriller’, The Family Doctor tells the...
ADS, Ingram take precautions in response to Covid-19
24 March 2020
Alliance Distribution Services (ADS) and Ingram have assured customers they remain open and operational following various mandated shutdowns across the country. In a letter to customers yesterday, ADS said it...
McGaughey announced as KYD’s First Nations Editor-in-Residence
24 March 2020
Kill Your Darlings (KYD) has announced writer and editor Jasmin McGaughey as the publication’s new First Nations Editor-in-Residence. The First Nations Editor-in-Residence is a newly created role that has been...
‘There Was Still Love’ wins 2020 Indie Book of the Year
24 March 2020
Favel Parrett’s novel There Was Still Love (Hachette) has been named Book of the Year at the 2020 Indie Book Awards, presented by Leading Edge Books (LEB). The winning titles...
Retailers allowed to remain open as federal, state govts introduce lockdown measures
23 March 2020
Bookshops and other retailers can continue to trade under new lockdown measures announced by the federal government last night in response to the Covid-19 outbreak. The NSW, ACT and Victorian...
NSW Premier’s Literary Awards 2020 shortlists announced
20 March 2020
The shortlists for the 2020 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards have been announced. The shortlisted titles in each category are: Christina Stead Prize for Fiction ($40,000) The White Girl (Tony Birch,...
NewSouth acquires book on journalism for kids
20 March 2020
NewSouth Books has acquired ANZ rights to children's nonfiction book Kid Reporter: The secret to breaking news from Benython Oldfield at Zeitgeist Agency. Written by journalists Dhana Quinn and Saffron Howden,...
Tumarkin wins 2020 Windham Campell prize for nonfiction
20 March 2020
Melbourne-based writer and academic Maria Tumarkin is one of eight winners of the 2020 Windham Campbell Prize, the world's richest literary prize. Each winner receives a cash prize of US$165,000...
ABA asks publishers for support during Covid-19 outbreak
20 March 2020
The Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) is asking publishers to consider a range of assistance measures for member stores in response to the Covid-19 outbreak. In an email to members, ABA...
Mosley to host three-part SBS docuseries on diabetes
20 March 2020
Author and science journalist Michael Mosley will host a three-part SBS TV series with sports physiologist and health educator Ray Kelly, which investigates a new treatment for type 2 diabetes....
Tan shortlisted for 2020 Kate Greenaway Medal
19 March 2020
Shaun Tan has been shortlisted for the 2020 Kate Greenaway Medal for distinguished illustration in a book for children and young people for his book Tales from the Inner City...
