Wakefield launches dedicated YA list
5 February 2019
Adelaide-based small publisher Wakefield Press will launch a dedicated YA list this year, under the direction of newly appointed publisher Margot Lloyd. Wakefield aims to publish three to four YA...
Moriarty’s ‘Bronte Mettlestone’ sold to UK
5 February 2019
Jill Grinberg of Jill Grinberg Literary Management has sold UK and Commonwealth rights (ex ANZ) to The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone (Jaclyn Moriarty, A&U) to Guppy Books, a...
Inaugural summit of Australian Children’s Laureates announced for 2019
4 February 2019
The Australian Children’s Laureate Foundation (ACLF) will hold the inaugural Australian Children’s Laureate Summit on 28 February and 1 March 2019 in Sydney. The event brings together all of Australia’s...
‘KYD’ announces Varuna fellowships
4 February 2019
Kill Your Darlings (KYD) will partner with Varuna to offer a week-long fellowship for the writers shortlisted for KYD’s 2019 unpublished manuscript award. The fellowship will take place at Varuna, the National...
Victorian government calls on university to reverse decision on MUP
1 February 2019
Victorian minister for creative industries Martin Foley has called on the University of Melbourne to reverse its decision to overhaul Melbourne University Publishing (MUP). In his speech at the Victorian...
Echo to publish ‘Tattooist of Auschwitz’ sequel in October
1 February 2019
Echo Publishing will publish a sequel to Heather Morris’ bestselling novel The Tattooist of Auschwitz in October. Cilka’s Journey follows the story of one of the key characters from The...
VPLAs 2019: Manus detainee Boochani wins $100k top prize
1 February 2019
Writer, journalist and Iranian refugee Behrouz Boochani, currently detained on Manus Island, has won the $100,000 Victorian Prize for Literature for his book No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from...
UNSW Bookshop reopens with new cafe and event spaces
31 January 2019
The University of New South Wales (UNSW) has reopened the UNSW Bookshop after a major refurbishment, with a reading room, central room for events, and new Atomic Press cafe. The...
Adler, MUP board directors resign amid university tensions
31 January 2019
Melbourne University Publishing (MUP) CEO Louise Adler and four independent directors of the MUP board have resigned after the university proposed a new focus on scholarly publishing for the press,...
New Zealand Book Awards 2019 longlists announced
31 January 2019
The longlists for the 2019 New Zealand Book Awards have been announced. The longlisted titles in each category are: Fiction The Man Who Would Not See (Rajorshi Chakraborti, Penguin) The Life...
‘Kindred’ anthology to tour, thanks to OzCo funding
30 January 2019
A number of organisations and individuals were among the recipients of the Australia Council’s latest grants round, which awarded $6.6 million to almost 200 projects. Michael Earp, editor of short...
Booktopia counting down ‘Australia’s favourite author’
30 January 2019
Booktopia is running its annual promotion to find ‘Australia’s favourite author’ via a public vote. On 29 January Booktopia announced 75 finalists for Australia’s favourite author, chosen from nominations from...
Book industry figures among 2019 Australia Day honours recipients
29 January 2019
A number of book industry figures have been recognised in the annual Australia Day honours. Children’s author Jennifer Rowe was made a Companion (AC) in the General Division of the...
Dymocks launches Wiggles shop
25 January 2019
Chain retailer Dymocks has become the new retail partner for children’s entertainment group the Wiggles, offering a range of books and merchandise via a dedicated online store. Dymocks negotiated a...
Book sales up marginally in 2018; five Australian titles in top 10
25 January 2019
Book sales grew marginally in Australia in 2018, with like-for-like growth up 1.3% in volume and 1.4% in value on the previous year, according to Nielsen BookScan. This is the...
Scriven wins Margaret River Short Story Competition
25 January 2019
Writer Kit Scriven has won the 2019 Margaret River Short Story Competition for his story ‘We’ll Stand in That Place’. Catherine Noske came in second place with her story ‘Thylacine’,...
Writer and blogger Yang detained in China
24 January 2019
Chinese-Australian writer Yang Hengjun has been detained by Chinese authorities, reports SBS News. A critic of the Chinese government and an advocate for democracy, Yang previously worked in the Chinese...
UQP signs Kurmelovs in two-book deal
24 January 2019
UQP has acquired ANZ rights to two books by Royce Kurmelovs via Melanie Ostell Literary. The first book, Just Money: A Story of Debt and the Bankers and Crooks Who Created It,...
Wheeler Centre to offer new fellowships for regional, interstate writers
23 January 2019
The Wheeler Centre will offer three new fellowships for regional and interstate writers as part of its Hot Desk Fellowships program in 2019. The new fellowships will be offered to...
Tumarkin’s ‘Axiomatic’ sold to US
23 January 2019
Brow Books has sold North American and Spanish-language rights to Axiomatic (Maria Tumarkin). North American rights were sold to California-based nonprofit publisher Transit Books, with publisher Adam Levy describing Tumarkin’s...
ASA ‘outraged’ by unauthorised lending of scanned books
22 January 2019
The Australian Society of Authors (ASA) has joined with international authors’ associations in condemning the activities of the Internet Archive’s Open Library in its unlicensed lending of scanned copies of...
Berbay sells board book series to US, UK
22 January 2019
Berbay Publishing has sold North American and UK rights to a series of three board books by Tokyo-based illustrator Chihiro Takeuchi. Catherine Drayton from InkWell Management sold North American and...
Two Garth Nix novels to A&U; US and UK rights sold
22 January 2019
Allen & Unwin has acquired ANZ rights to two new fantasy novels by Garth Nix, with US and UK rights also selling in a two-book deal. Angel Mage, a high...
Marinov moves to ABA
22 January 2019
Galina Marinov will take up the newly created role of member services development manager at the Australian Booksellers Association (ABA), where she will work on creating new ABA services. Marinov...
Jon Faine to retire at the end of 2019
21 January 2019
ABC Radio Melbourne broadcaster Jon Faine has announced he will retire at the end of 2019, reports ABC News. Faine has hosted the weekday Mornings program for 23 years, in which...
Tan wins ‘KYD’ New Critic Award 2019
21 January 2019
Critic and narrative nonfiction writer Cher Tan has been named the winner of the 2019 Kill Your Darlings (KYD) New Critic Award. Tan receives a $1000 cash prize, plus payment for a...
Faber Writing Academy Scholarships announced
18 January 2019
Allen & Unwin has announced the recipients of the 2019 Faber Writing Academy Scholarships. The recipients are: Chandu Bickford (True Stories Scholarship) has travelled extensively in India and Tibet, and...
Children’s authors honoured on postage stamps
18 January 2019
Australia Post is honouring five children’s authors on its ‘Australian legends of children’s literature’ postage stamp series, as part of its 2019 Legends Awards. Authors and their books featured in...
Western Sydney Emerging Writers’ Fellowships announced
18 January 2019
Western Sydney literature organisation WestWords has announced three recipients of the 2019 Western Sydney Emerging Writers’ Fellowships. The three writers awarded fellowships are: Fiona Murphy for hybrid memoir ‘The Shape of Sound’,...
Hazel Rowley Fellowship 2019 shortlist announced
18 January 2019
Writers Victoria has announced the shortlist for the 2019 Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship, awarded annually to an Australian writer for a proposed biographical work. The shortlisted writers and their projects...
