Newcastle Writers Festival appoints managing and artistic directors
Thursday, 16 July 2026
Newcastle Writers Festival (NWF) has promoted program manager Amy Lovat to the role of artistic director and appointed Tristan Sharp as managing director, following a national recruitment process. The appointments...
Australian Publishers Association “encouraged” by government signals as Albanese to announce Office of AI
Wednesday, 15 July 2026
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is today expected to deliver a major speech about AI and announce the establishment of the Office of AI in the Department of the Prime Minister...
Cultural Fund latest funding round announced
Wednesday, 15 July 2026
Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund has awarded more than $680,000 in funding to Australian authors, visual artists, teachers and creative organisations through its 2026 grants program, supporting the creation of new...
Shalom Collective Australian Jewish Writer Awards 2026 shortlists
Wednesday, 15 July 2026
The shortlists for the 2026 Shalom Collective Australian Jewish Writer Awards have been announced. In 2026, a poetry award is being presented for the first time. The works are: The...
Kill Your Darlings launches poetry prize
Wednesday, 15 July 2026
Literary journal Kill Your Darlings (KYD) has launched a new poetry prize. The KYD Poetry Prize is “dedicated to creating new space for the beauty, experimentation and radical linguistic potential...
Allen & Unwin acquires Sue Williams historical novel “Macarthur’s Daughters”
Wednesday, 15 July 2026
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired English language rights to the historical novel Macarthur’s Daughters by Sue Williams from Fiona Inglis at Curtis Brown. The novel takes as its subjects...
Local author wins “BookBrunch” Selfie award for hybrid novel
Wednesday, 15 July 2026
Australian author Luke Icarus Simon has won the memoir category of the 2026 Selfies Book Awards in the UK for his hybrid novel The Art in My Palm (Stirling Publishers)....
Stella Prize increases longlist to 16
Wednesday, 15 July 2026
The Stella Prize will increase its longlist from 12 to 16 books in 2027. Each longlisted author will receive $2,000, with shortlisted authors receiving $5,000 and the overall winner awarded...
Sweatshop Hachette scholarship recipients announced
Tuesday, 14 July 2026
Katie Shammas and Mark Mariano have been named the inaugural recipients of the Sweatshop Hachette Australia Scholarship. Announced earlier this year, the annual scholarship program is for two First Nations...
ABA announces Summer Circuit events
Tuesday, 14 July 2026
The Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) has announced Summer Circuit, a new series of networking and presentation events, “designed to bring booksellers together ahead of the summer selling season”. “Whether you...
Hachette launches Reflect RAP
Tuesday, 14 July 2026
Hachette Australia has launched its Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), which has been endorsed by Reconciliation Australia. The publisher’s RAP was launched during NAIDOC Week, which ran 5 to 12...
Creative Australia announces latest funding round
Tuesday, 14 July 2026
Literature organisations and individuals share part of the latest Creative Australia investment of $13.72 million, which will “support ambitious work that connects communities and shares Australian stories”. The literature recipients...
Allen & Unwin acquires debut romantasy trilogy by Claire Benson
Tuesday, 14 July 2026
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired ANZ rights to the debut romantasy trilogy Sigils of Starlight by Claire Benson, via Daniel Pilkington at The Pilkington Agency. In Pillar of Ink,...
ABA estimates 300 bookshops would qualify for proposed tax offset
Monday, 13 July 2026
The Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) has estimated 300 bookshops would be eligible for its proposed Bookshop Vitality Tax Offset (BVTO), which it has outlined in a new policy brief. Previously...
Pip Adam on Ursula K Le Guin Prize for Fiction shortlist
Monday, 13 July 2026
In the US, Aotearoa New Zealand author Pip Adam has been shortlisted for the Ursula K Le Guin Prize for Fiction for the novel Audition. First published in 2023 by...
Margaret and Colin Roderick Literary Award 2026 shortlist announced
Monday, 13 July 2026
The Foundation for Australian Literary Studies (FALS) has announced the shortlist for the 2026 Margaret and Colin Roderick Literary Award, worth $50,000. The shortlisted titles, chosen from 14 longlisted titles and almost...
Gabriel Rolfe wins 2026 Fitzcarraldo Editions/Mahler & Lewitt Studios Essay Prize
Thursday, 9 July 2026
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article refers to an Indigenous person who has died. Australian writer Gabriel Rolfe has won the 2026 Fitzcarraldo Editions/Mahler &...
Bri Hassett named 2026 Reading Australia Fellow
Thursday, 9 July 2026
The Copyright Agency has awarded Gippsland Grammar teacher Bri Hassett the 2026 Reading Australia Fellowship for her project “Writerly Reading: Developing Authentic Australian Student Voices in the Age of AI”....
A&U acquires Mark Tedeschi’s “The Gentleman Bushranger”
Thursday, 9 July 2026
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired world rights to the nonfiction title The Gentleman Bushranger: The True Story of Edward Davis, Australia’s Colonial Robin Hood by Mark Tedeschi. The Gentleman...
2026 Rising Star shortlist announced
Thursday, 9 July 2026
The Australian Publishers Association (APA) has announced the shortlist for its 2026 Rising Star award. The shortlisted professionals, who each began their publishing careers in the past 10 years, are:...
ASAL award winners announced
Thursday, 9 July 2026
The Association for the Study of Australian Literature (ASAL) has announced winners of awards, including the ALS Gold Medal. Winners in each category are: ALS Gold Medal (outstanding literary work)...
WA Premier’s Book Awards 2026 shortlists announced
Wednesday, 8 July 2026
The shortlists for the 2026 Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards have been announced by the State Library of Western Australia. The shortlisted books in each category are: Fiction Book of...
Celeste Wong and Melanie Bakewell awarded 2026 Writers SA Fellowships
Wednesday, 8 July 2026
Writers Celeste Wong and Melanie Bakewell have been named recipients of the 2026 Writers SA Fellowships. The fellowships, offered through a partnership between Writers SA and Varuna, the National Writers’...
Hardie Grant to integrate Pantera Press titles across imprints, staff to depart
Wednesday, 8 July 2026
Hardie Grant has announced that future Pantera Press titles will be published across its existing Australian publishing imprints, including Ultimo Press, Hardie Grant Books and Hardie Grant Explore. Hardie Grant...
Bridie Noonan wins EWF Speculate Prize
Wednesday, 8 July 2026
Bridie Noonan has won the 2026 Speculate Prize for Emerging Writers for “The Inbetween”. Speculate Prize judges said, “Judging this award is both an honour and an exciting glimpse into...
Surf Coast Writers Festival starts strong
Wednesday, 8 July 2026
The inaugural Surf Coast Writers Festival wrapped up a successful program on Saturday 27 June in the Victorian town of Torquay. Organisers said the event attracted “hundreds of readers, aspiring...
Hachette to publish CFMEU exposé by Nick McKenzie and Ben Schneiders
Tuesday, 7 July 2026
Hachette Australia has acquired world rights to Building Bad, a work of investigative nonfiction by Nick McKenzie and Ben Schneiders. Building Bad focuses on the scandal surrounding the Construction, Forestry...
A&U acquires Natalie Murray rom-com “Love Your Enemy”
Tuesday, 7 July 2026
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired world rights to Natalie Murray’s “steamy rom-com” Love Your Enemy from Sarah McKenzie at Sarah McKenzie Literary Management. The enemies-to-lovers romance brings together Dr...
Ubud Writers & Readers Festival first line-up announced
Tuesday, 7 July 2026
Ubud Writers & Readers Festival has announced the first line-up for the program set to run 21 to 25 October 2026 in Bali, Indonesia. This year’s festival theme is “Samarasā:...
Varuna announces 2027 residential fellowships
Tuesday, 7 July 2026
Varuna, the National Writers’ House has announced the recipients of its residential fellowships for 2027. The writers and their projects are: Eleanor Dark Fellowship for Fiction André Dao for “Joseph...
