Local news | Books+Publishing

Inside the Australian and New Zealand book industry

Thursday, 4 May 2017
Adelaide-based author Adam Cece has won the 2017 Text Prize for Young Adult and Children’s Writing for his middle-grade manuscript ‘The Extremely Weird Thing That Happened in Huggabie Falls’. The...

Four publishers selected for Austrade China-Korea trip

Thursday, 4 May 2017
Representatives from four Australian publishers have been selected to participate in the 2017 Austrade China-Korea Publisher Visits program. The delegation, led by Penguin Random House senior rights manager Nerrilee Weir,...

EWF Monash Writing Prize 2017 shortlist announced

Wednesday, 3 May 2017
Fifteen writers have been shortlisted for the 2017 Emerging Writers’ Festival’s (EWF) Monash Undergraduate Prize for Creative Writing. The shortlisted stories and their authors are: ‘Femina’ by Aimee-Jane Anderson-O’Connor ‘Unmoored’...

A&U sells North American rights to microbe picture book

Wednesday, 3 May 2017
Allen & Unwin has sold North American rights to Idan Ben-Barak and Julian Frost’s picture book about microbes, Do Not Lick This Book, in a two-book, six-figure pre-empt to publisher...

Foxlee wins 2017 Readings Children’s Book Prize

Tuesday, 2 May 2017
Karen Foxlee has won the 2017 Readings Children’s Book Prize for her middle-grade novel A Most Magical Girl (Piccadilly). Foxlee’s title was chosen from a shortlist of six. She receives $3000. The...

Miles Franklin Literary Award 2017 longlist announced

Tuesday, 2 May 2017
The longlist for the 2017 Miles Franklin Literary Award has been announced. The longlisted titles are: The Easy Way Out (Steven Amsterdam, Hachette) An Isolated Incident (Emily Maguire, Picador) The...

‘The Garret’ podcast announces episodes with publishers, editors, booksellers, critics

Tuesday, 2 May 2017
The Australian writers podcast ‘The Garret’ has announced a series of special episodes with publishers, editors, booksellers and critics, beginning with Text publisher Michael Heyward on 4 May. In his...

Byron Writers Festival unveils StoryBoard Bus

Tuesday, 2 May 2017
The Byron Writers Festival has launched its StoryBoard Bus, a travelling creative writing program that will take authors and illustrators into schools across NSW’s Northern Rivers region. The bus, which...

Two writers named as winners of the SA Hachette Mentoring Program

Tuesday, 2 May 2017
Writers Dee Ayer and Jessie Byrne have been named as the winners of the second South Australian Hachette Mentoring Program. Ayer and Byrne will work with Hachette publisher Sophie Hamley...

ABIA 2017 shortlists announced

Monday, 1 May 2017
The shortlists for the 2017 Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIAs) have been announced. The titles in each category are: General fiction book of the year The Birdman’s Wife (Melissa Ashley,...

McKinty wins 2017 Edgar Award

Monday, 1 May 2017
Melbourne-based Irish author Adrian McKinty has won the 2017 Edgar Allan Poe Award for best paperback original for his novel Rain Dogs (Serpent’s Tail). Rain Dogs is the fifth book...

Industry bodies back Australian Reading Hour campaign

Monday, 1 May 2017
Five industry bodies are backing the Australian Reading Hour campaign, which will promote the idea of ‘picking up a book and reading for an hour’ on 14 September, and hopes...

Melbourne Prize announces new award to acknowledge Melbourne’s UNESCO City of Literature status

Friday, 28 April 2017
The Melbourne Prize Trust and the Melbourne UNESCO City of Literature Office have announced a new award to acknowledge Melbourne’s City of Literature status. The $10,000 ‘Public Artwork Design Concept...

New Melbourne Jewish Book Week to host inaugural event in May

Thursday, 27 April 2017
The newly established Melbourne Jewish Book Week will host its first event on the 28 May, ahead of its first full program in May 2018. Curated by Gary Abrahams, the event...

Copyright Agency confirms fund for advocacy, legal cases

Thursday, 27 April 2017
The Copyright Agency has confirmed it has amassed a fund to help to support advocacy and run legal cases in the event of changes to copyright law, reports Fairfax. Fairfax...

Peričić wins Vogel for ‘The Lost Pages’

Thursday, 27 April 2017
Melbourne writer Marija Peričić has won the 2017 Australian/Vogel’s Literary Award for The Lost Pages, a fictional memoir of Czech writer Max Brod. The Lost Pages is set in Prague in...

NSW Premier’s Literary Awards 2017 shortlists announced

Wednesday, 26 April 2017
The shortlists for the 2017 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards have been announced. The shortlisted titles in each category are: Christina Stead Prize for Fiction ($40,000) Vancouver: Wisdom Tree Book...

New children’s and YA publisher launches in NZ

Wednesday, 26 April 2017
Two New Zealand publishers, Christine Dale and Jenny Nagle, have launched a new independent children’s and YA publisher, OneTree House. In a statement, Dale and Nagle said they are ‘committed...

‘Who’s Afraid?’ optioned for TV

Wednesday, 26 April 2017
Maria Lewis’ supernatural novel Who’s Afraid? (Hachette) has been optioned for television by Queensland production company Hoodlum Entertainment. The deal, which was negotiated by Alex Adsett Publishing Services, was announced...