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Richell Prize 2021 longlist announced

Logo for the Richell Prize, featuring a swooping bird Monday, 6 September 2021
Hachette Australia and the Emerging Writers’ Festival (EWF) have announced the longlist for the 2021 Richell Prize for emerging writers. The longlisted writers will be judged on the first three...

NSW Premier’s History Awards 2021 winners announced

Monday, 6 September 2021
The State Library of NSW (SLNSW) has announced the winners of the 2021 NSW Premier's History Awards, worth $15,000 each. Selected from shortlists announced in August, the winning titles in...

Wright wins 2021 Carmel Bird Digital Literary Award

Friday, 3 September 2021
David Thomas Henry Wright has won the 2021 Carmel Bird Digital Literary Award for A Condensed History of the Australian Camel. Judge Roanna Gonsalves described Wright’s entry as ‘a work...

New bookshop opens in Melbourne’s west 

Friday, 3 September 2021
New independent bookshop The Chestnut Tree has opened in West Footscray, a suburb in Melbourne’s inner west. Located on a corner of the main street in West Footscray, The Chestnut...

‘Ghost Bird’ sells to UK

Thursday, 2 September 2021
UK independent publisher Old Barn Books has bought UK and Commonwealth (ex Canada and ANZ) rights to Lisa Fuller's YA novel Ghost Bird from University of Queensland Press (UQP). The...

Writers SA, Liminal announce new partnership

Thursday, 2 September 2021
Writers SA has partnered with literary platform Liminal magazine to launch two new initiatives that will provide writing and mentorship opportunities for Asian-Australian writers and editors based in South Australia....

Stella Prize rebrands, expands eligibility

Thursday, 2 September 2021
The Stella Prize has revealed a new identity and website in a rebranding announcement to mark 10 years of the prize. Under its new identity the organisation has announced changes...

Hachette acquires Albany debut in two-book deal 

Wednesday, 1 September 2021
Hachette Australia has acquired world rights to two novels by Northern Rivers journalist and songwriter Megan Albany. The deal was brokered between Hachette Australia head of fiction Rebecca Saunders and...

Booktopia revenue up 35%, profit up 125% 

Booktopia logo Tuesday, 31 August 2021
Booktopia has posted revenue growth of 35% for the 2021 financial year—its first full year results since listing on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) in December last year. Revenue grew...

BWF engages curators to build 2022 program

Tuesday, 31 August 2021
Brisbane Writers Festival (BWF), which will celebrate its 60th year in 2022, has engaged five curators to build its festival program for the event. They are Ellen van Neerven, Anne-Marie...

Hachette acquires two Jordan novels

Tuesday, 31 August 2021
Hachette has acquired world rights for two novels by Toni Jordan, in a deal struck between head of fiction Rebecca Saunders and Jane Novak of Jane Novak Literary Agency. The...

Drewe, Krien awarded Copyright Agency fellowships

Monday, 30 August 2021
Robert Drewe and Anna Krien have received writers fellowships, worth $80,000 each, from the Copyright Agency's Cultural Fund. Drewe was awarded the Author Fellowship to write his novel Nimblefoot, which...

Davitt Awards winners announced

Monday, 30 August 2021
Sisters in Crime Australia has announced the winners of the 2021 Davitt Awards for the best crime books by Australian women. The winners in each category are:  Adult crime novel...

Hardie Grant Travel renamed Hardie Grant Explore 

Monday, 30 August 2021
Hardie Grant is rebranding its Hardie Grant Travel division as Hardie Grant Explore. According to the publisher, the rebrand 'better reflects the publishing strategy going forward, whilst giving a nod...

Nib Literary Award 2021 longlist announced

Monday, 30 August 2021
The longlist for the $20,000 Mark and Evette Moran Nib Literary Award, known as ‘the Nib’, has been announced. The longlisted titles are: The Truth about China: Propaganda, patriotism and...

Ned Kelly Awards 2021 winners announced

Thursday, 26 August 2021
The Australian Crime Writers Association (ACWA) has announced the winners of the 2021 Ned Kelly Awards. Crime novels released by Text Publishing swept the fiction categories, with the winning titles...

S&S acquires two books by Heiss 

Thursday, 26 August 2021
Simon & Schuster Australia (S&S) has acquired two new books by First Nations writer and cultural activist Anita Heiss. The first book is a picture book for young readers about...

WA Premier’s Book Awards announced

Thursday, 26 August 2021
The winners of the 2020 Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards have been announced. Chosen from shortlists announced in June, the winners in each category are: Premier’s Prize for an Emerging...

Pantera acquires Scott book on mental health 

Wednesday, 25 August 2021
Pantera Press has acquired world rights to The One Thing We’ve Never Spoken About by journalist, writer and presenter Elfy Scott. Scott's debut nonfiction book is, according to the publisher,...

Nielsen: Indies ‘key to supporting local authors’ 

Wednesday, 25 August 2021
Nielsen BookScan data prepared for the Australian Booksellers Association shows that Australian authors account for over half of the top 50 fiction bestsellers sold through independent bookshops this year to...

Malwatta wins 2021 Thomas Shapcott Poetry Prize

Wednesday, 25 August 2021
Queensland Poetry has announced that Janaka Malwatta has won the 2021 Thomas Shapcott Poetry Prize for his manuscript blackbirds don’t mate with starlings. Malwatta receives $2000 and a publishing contract...

Ultimo acquires new Featherstone novel 

Tuesday, 24 August 2021
Ultimo Press has acquired ANZ rights to My Heart is a Little Wild Thing by Nigel Featherstone, in a deal brokered by Gaby Naher of Left Bank Literary. My Heart...

CBCA Book of the Year 2021 winners announced

Friday, 20 August 2021
The winners of the 2021 Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Book of the Year Awards have been announced. The winning titles and honour books in each category are: Older...