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HarperCollins acquires Wilson memoir 

Cover image of the book Rebel Rising by Rebel Wilson, featuring a portrait of the actor wearing a sparkling red dress Thursday, 5 October 2023
HarperCollins has acquired UK and Commonwealth rights to actor Rebel Wilson’s memoir Rebel Rising, via Matilda Forbes Watson at WME, reports the Bookseller. HarperCollins UK managing director and publisher Sarah...

Antigny steps down at Pantera, Draper promoted 

Thursday, 5 October 2023
Pantera Press has announced the promotion of senior publicist Lauren Draper to the role of head of publicity and communications, as publicity director Léa Antigny steps down to 'move in...

Affirm acquires Brissenden novel 

An author photograph of Michael Brissenden, who is looking off-camera Thursday, 5 October 2023
Affirm has acquired ANZ rights to Smoke, a new crime thriller from journalist Michael Brissenden, via Shane Salerno and Daniel Pilkington of The Story Factory. The publisher described Smoke as...

Europa Editions acquires new Azar novel 

Tuesday, 3 October 2023
Europa Editions has acquired world rights to a new novel by Iranian-Australian author and journalist Shokoofeh Azar, via Europa editor in chief Michael Reynolds, in a deal brokered by Victoria...

Drama series inspired by ‘Fake’ to screen next year 

Tuesday, 3 October 2023
An eight-part drama series inspired by journalist Stephanie Wood’s 2019 nonfiction book Fake (Penguin) will screen on Paramount+ in 2024. Fake has been created for TV by screenwriter Anya Beyersdorf and...

2023 Ditmar Award winners announced

Monday, 2 October 2023
The winners of the 2023 Ditmar Awards were announced on 30 September, as part of the 2023 Australian National Science Fiction Convention in Canberra. These awards recognise achievement in Australian...

ASA responds to use of Australian books to train AI

Australian Society of Authors logo. Thursday, 28 September 2023
The Australian Society of Authors (ASA) has responded to the large-scale unauthorised use of books by Australian authors in a dataset used to train generative artificial intelligence. The training dataset,...

APA releases AI statement

Thursday, 28 September 2023
The Australian Publishers Association (APA) has released a statement ‘responding to the rapid advances in artificial intelligence’, seeking a focus on ethics, transparency, incentives and protections, and responsibility. Coming amidst...

NT Literary Awards 2023 winners announced

Thursday, 28 September 2023
The winners of the 2023 Northern Territory Literary Awards, which celebrate the unpublished work of established and emerging NT writers, have been announced. Winners in seven categories were announced, including:...

Pung awarded Creative Australia Fellowship for literature

Thursday, 28 September 2023
Writer Alice Pung is the recipient of the 2023 Creative Australia Fellowship for literature. Pung’s writing ‘has focused on people living on the margins—pregnant teenagers, illiterate mothers, poorer Australians and...

Fourth Estate acquires Morton’s book on robodebt 

An author photograph of Rick Morton Tuesday, 26 September 2023
HarperCollins Australia imprint Fourth Estate has acquired world rights to a new nonfiction book from Rick Morton: Mean Streak: A moral vacuum, a dodgy debt generator and a multi-billion government...

Koens wins 2023 Banjo Prize for Fiction 

Tuesday, 26 September 2023
Stefanie Koens has won the HarperCollins Banjo Prize for Fiction for her unpublished manuscript ‘Islands of Secrets’. In ‘Island of Secrets’, ‘a woman searching for answers in her own life...

Transit Lounge acquires Jung novel 

An author photograph of Sun Jung Tuesday, 26 September 2023
Transit Lounge has acquired world rights to My Name Is Gucci, a second novel from Sun Jung. Publisher Barry Scott describes My Name Is Gucci as ‘a charming novel about...

In Other Words 2023 program announced

Monday, 25 September 2023
OzAsia Festival has announced the program for In Other Words, its three-day writing and ideas event, to be held in Adelaide from 3 to 5 November, as part of the festival's...

UWAP acquires Steed’s third book 

Monday, 25 September 2023
UWA Publishing (UWAP) has acquired world rights to Laurie Steed’s third book, short story collection Greater City Shadows. Greater City Shadows previously won the 2021 Henry Handel Richardson flagship fellowship for...

Rockpool acquires Forsyth’s oracle deck 

Friday, 22 September 2023
Rockpool Publishing has acquired world rights to Kate Forsyth’s Fairy Tale Wisdom Oracle. Forsyth’s first oracle deck will ‘spin together myth, folklore and history in new and surprising ways’. The deck...

PANZ Book Design Awards 2023 winners announced

Friday, 22 September 2023
The Publishers Association of New Zealand Te Rau o Tākupu (PANZ) has announced the winners of its Book Design Awards 2023. The winners in each category are: Gerard Reid Award...

HarperCollins acquires Serong novel 

Thursday, 21 September 2023
HarperCollins has acquired ANZ rights to Jock Serong's novel Cherrywood, in an auction brokered by Melanie Ostell of Melanie Ostell Literary. The publisher called the novel ‘an imaginative delight', and...

NewSouth acquires Jacobson memoir 

An author photograph of Anna Jacobson, who is pictured in front of a garden with a range of flowering plants Thursday, 21 September 2023
NewSouth has acquired world rights to How to Knit a Human, a memoir from poet, writer and artist Anna Jacobson. Described by the publisher as a lyrical memoir about ‘Jacobson’s...

Publishers attending Frankfurt 

Tuesday, 19 September 2023
The Australian Publishers Association (APA) has confirmed the publishers that will appear on the Australian Collective Stand at the Frankfurt Book Fair. The publishers to appear on the APA's stand...

Wright honoured for Lifetime Achievement in Literature

Photograph of Alexis Wright Monday, 18 September 2023
Alexis Wright has won the Creative Australia Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature, which ‘acknowledges the achievements of eminent literary writers over the age of 60 who have made an...

Ultimo acquires Goode debut novel

Monday, 18 September 2023
Ultimo Press has acquired world rights to Melissa Goode’s debut novel Ordinary Human Love. Ordinary Human Love follows Mardi McKee, prodigal daughter, who returns to her father’s home in Lithgow...

Ultimo acquires new Snoekstra novel 

Friday, 15 September 2023
Ultimo Press has acquired ANZ rights to The Ones We Love by Anna Snoekstra, after rights were pre-empted in the US and the UK by Dutton, a division of Penguin...

IBBY reveals change to Ena Noël Award

Friday, 15 September 2023
The Australian branch of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) has announced a change to its IBBY Ena Noël Award, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the...

ARA Historical Novel Prize longlists announced

ARA Historical Novel Prize 2023 logo Thursday, 14 September 2023
The Historical Novel Society Australasia (HNSA) has announced the longlists for the 2023 ARA Historical Novel Prize. Featuring ‘a vast tapestry of settings and eras’, this year’s longlisted titles are:...