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Transit Lounge acquires Cranston debut novel 

Tuesday, 30 May 2023
Transit Lounge has acquired world rights to Belinda Cranston’s debut novel Not Like Mr Benn. The author ‘beautifully captures the pluck and longing as well as the sadness and bewilderment of...

ABDA announces 2023 award winners, new paid internship

Monday, 29 May 2023
The winners of the 2023 Australian Book Design Awards, presented by the Australian Book Designers Association (ABDA), have been announced. ABDA has also announced the establishment of the 'Baseline' Book...

Ismail, Stewart awarded $50k Marten Bequest scholarship

Monday, 29 May 2023
Rafeif Ismail and Emily Stewart are among the seven recipients of the 2023 Marten Bequest Travelling Scholarships, each worth $50,000. Ismail, who received the prose scholarship, is an emerging award-winning...

HarperCollins acquires Hayes memoir 

Tuesday, 23 May 2023
HarperCollins has acquired world rights to I’m Liz Hayes, the memoir of broadcast journalist Liz Hayes. Hayes has spent over 40 years as a reporter and presenter for Nine Entertainment,...

Davies awarded 2023 Janet Mackenzie Medal

Monday, 22 May 2023
The Institute of Professional Editors (IPEd) has announced Kerry Davies as the winner of the 2023 Janet Mackenzie Medal for services to editing. Davies has worked in publishing and communications since...

UQP acquires Metcalfe debut memoir 

Monday, 22 May 2023
University of Queensland Press (UQP) has acquired world rights to the debut memoir Breath by Carly-Jay Metcalfe, via Jeanne Ryckmans of Cameron’s Management. Breath was the winner of the 2022...

Emerging Writers Festival 2023 program launched

Friday, 19 May 2023
The Emerging Writers Festival (EWF) has launched its 20th anniversary program for 14–24 June, featuring nearly 200 artists in over 60 events in various locations across Melbourne. The opening night...

Ockham NZ Book Awards 2023 winners announced

Thursday, 18 May 2023
The winners of the 2023 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards have been announced. The fiction prize went to Catherine Chidgey for The Axeman’s Carnival (Te Herenga Waka University Press), a...

Davis to retire from Hardie Grant 

Thursday, 18 May 2023
Hardie Grant has announced chief operating officer (COO) Andrew Davis will retire at the end of this financial year, ending 'an enormously successful and distinguished career'. Davis joined Hardie Grant...

The Speedy Sloth to be read for NSS at new Sydney Zoo

Thursday, 18 May 2023
The Speedy Sloth (Rebecca Young, illus by Heath McKenzie, Scholastic) will be read for the 23rd National Simultaneous Storytime (NSS) event at 11am (AEST) on Wednesday, 24 May 2023, with...

WA Premier’s Book Awards shortlists announced

Tuesday, 16 May 2023
The shortlists for the 2023 Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards have been announced. The shortlisted books in each category are: The Western Australian Writer's Fellowship ($60,000) Carolyn Wadley Dowley Madison...

ALS Gold Medal 2023 longlist announced

Tuesday, 16 May 2023
The longlist for the 2023 Australian Literature Society (ALS) Gold Medal has been announced. The longlisted works are: Limberlost (Robbie Arnott, Text) Cold Enough for Snow (Jessica Au, Giramondo) Daisy...

Australian authors on Daggers shortlist

Tuesday, 16 May 2023
In the UK, the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) has announced the shortlists for its Dagger Awards. Authors from Australia are among those shortlisted for the annual crime writing awards. Hayley...

NewSouth acquires Kean science book 

Tuesday, 16 May 2023
NewSouth has acquired world rights to science writer Zoe Kean’s popular science title Why are we like this? What can scuba diving at Shark Bay uncover about the evolution of...

Every Version of You optioned for film 

Monday, 15 May 2023
Cognito Entertainment, a new independent film and television production company launched last week in the United States, has optioned Every Version of You (Grace Chan, Affirm) for adaptation into an international...

Dunn appointed distribution director at ADS 

Monday, 15 May 2023
Riikka Dunn has been appointed distribution director at Alliance Distribution Services (ADS). Dunn, who started at ADS on Monday, 8 May, joins the business from Ikea, where she gained experience...

The Speechwriter wins Russell Prize for Humour Writing

Friday, 12 May 2023
Martin McKenzie-Murray’s 'savage, dark and uproariously funny’ satirical memoir The Speechwriter (Scribe) has won the $10,000 biennial Russell Prize for Humour Writing, Australia’s only humour writing prize. McKenzie-Murray’s fictional debut...

Reid, Ell win 2022 Anne Elder Award

Thursday, 11 May 2023
Australian Poetry has announced Harry Reid’s Leave Me Alone (Cordite Books) and Theodore Ell’s Beginning In Sight (RWP) as the joint winners of the 2022 Anne Elder Award for a first book...