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Hardie Grant acquires Pantera Press 

Wednesday, 25 September 2024
Hardie Grant has signed an agreement to acquire Pantera Press. Completion of the sale is set for 30 September, subject to customary closing conditions. Founded in 2008 by the Green...

HQ acquires James debut, ‘Second Skin’ 

Wednesday, 25 September 2024
HQ, a division of HarperCollins Australia, has acquired ANZ rights to Arianne James’ debut gothic novel, Second Skin, via Abigail Nathan at Alex Adsett Literary. A finalist in the 2024 ASA/HQ Fiction...

Newcastle Poetry Prize 2024 winners announced

Tuesday, 24 September 2024
The Hunter Writers’ Centre has announced the winners of the 2024 Newcastle Poetry Prize. Winning pieces include: First prize ($15,000) ‘Dombóvár’ by Christopher (Kit) Kelen Second prize ($5000) ‘Welcome Swallow’...

Kostakis appointed to PLR Committee 

Tuesday, 24 September 2024
Author Will Kostakis has been appointed to the Public Lending Right (PLR) Committee for a four-year term as an author representative. Minister for the Arts Tony Burke said: ‘Will is...

Affirm acquires Lefevre’s memoir 

Tuesday, 24 September 2024
Affirm Press has acquired world rights to Carol Lefevre’s memoir Bloomer, via literary agent Fran Moore. Lefevre is a visiting research fellow at the University of Adelaide, where she gained...

Chief Minister’s NT Book Awards shortlist announced

Monday, 23 September 2024
The shortlists for the 2024 Chief Minister’s NT Book Awards have been announced. Shortlisted titles in each category are: Fiction futurespective (Sophie Benkemoun, Travel Maker Press) Hush (Ciella Williams, Playlab...

‘Rewi’ wins best book at PANZ Book Design Awards

Monday, 23 September 2024
The winners in the 2024 New Zealand Te Rau o Tākupu Publishers Association (PANZ) Book Design Awards have been announced, with Māori and Pasifika designers winning the top honours. Winners...

De Tores wins 2024 Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize

Monday, 23 September 2024
In the UK, Australian author Francesca de Tores has won the 2024 Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize for Best Published Novel for her novel Saltblood (Bloomsbury). De Tores’ novel charts...

City of Fremantle Hungerford Award 2024 shortlist announced

Monday, 23 September 2024
The shortlist for the 2024 City of Fremantle Hungerford Award has been announced. Shortlisted manuscripts include: ‘Far From Wonderful’, a fiction work by Howard McKenzie-Murray ‘Screech’, a fiction work by...

Canberra Writers Festival 2024 program announced

Thursday, 19 September 2024
Canberra Writers Festival (CWF) has announced its program for the 2024 festival, to be held on 23–27 October, featuring over 100 guests. Among guests speaking at the event are Tim...

Perth Festival announces new literature festival

Thursday, 19 September 2024
Perth Festival has announced a new literary festival, which it plans to hold for the first time in spring 2026. Organisers said the as yet unnamed festival will take place...

A&U acquires Schmitz debut novel 

Thursday, 19 September 2024
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired world rights to Toby Schmitz’s debut novel, The Empress Murders, via Edwina Stuart at HLA Management. The publisher described The Empress Murders as a...

Barbara Jefferis Award 2024 shortlist announced

Thursday, 19 September 2024
The Australian Society of Authors (ASA) has announced the shortlist for the 2024 Barbara Jefferis Award, worth $50,000. The shortlisted titles are: Salonika Burning (Gail Jones, Text) Edenglassie (Melissa Lucashenko,...

Nib Literary Award 2024 finalists announced

Wednesday, 18 September 2024
The finalists for the 2024 Mark and Evette Moran Nib Literary Award, worth $40,000, have been announced. Shortlisted titles for the award are: Reaching Through Time (Shauna Bostock, A&U) Book...

Echo acquires Maynard novels 

Wednesday, 18 September 2024
Echo Publishing has acquired world rights to two novels by debut author Anna Maynard, via Sally Bird at Calidris Literary Agency. The first novel, Dancing with Bees, is described by...

Hachette acquires Mansour-Nahra debut novel 

Wednesday, 18 September 2024
Hachette Australia has acquired ANZ rights to Jessica Mansour-Nahra’s debut novel, with a working title of The Farm, in a five-way auction, in a two-book deal via Marina de Pass...

ASA appoints Hayward as CEO 

Tuesday, 17 September 2024
The Australian Society of Authors (ASA) board has appointed Lucy Hayward to the role of CEO. Hayward moves up from the position of marketing and communications manager, succeeding Olivia Lanchester,...

Wood shortlisted for 2024 Booker Prize

Cover of Stoneyard Devotional Tuesday, 17 September 2024
Australian author Charlotte Wood has been shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize for her novel Stone Yard Devotional (A&U). The six books shortlisted for the £50,000 (A$97,828) prize are: Creation Lake (Rachel...

Affirm Press to distribute Firefly Press 

Tuesday, 17 September 2024
Affirm Press has made a distribution agreement with independent UK publishing house Firefly Press, beginning in 2025. Firefly Press is an independent children's and YA publisher based in Wales, publishing...

Melbourne Books acquires Tania debut cookbook 

Monday, 16 September 2024
Melbourne Books has acquired world rights to Christy Tania’s first cookbook, Imagine: Creating Desserts with Christy Tania. The publisher said that the cookbook features over 50 base recipes for ‘adventurous and...

Riveted Press acquires Teow illustrated book series 

Monday, 16 September 2024
Riveted Press has acquired worldwide rights to five picture books in the series The Book of Kin by author/illustrator Tamlyn Teow, beginning with the book SoXiety. In this ‘almost-wordless’ picture...

New prize for humour writing added to VPLAs

VPLA logo Monday, 16 September 2024
A new award category, the John Clarke Prize for Humour Writing, has been added to the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards (VPLAs), named in honour of satirist, writer and actor John...

Fogarty Literary Award funding increased

Monday, 16 September 2024
The Fogarty Literary Award for young Western Australian writers has received an increase in funding. In an announcement, Fremantle Press said the Fogarty Foundation increased funding for the award by...

Hepworth, Griffiths chosen as inaugural LYBD ambassadors

Monday, 16 September 2024
BookPeople has announced that authors Sally Hepworth and Andy Griffiths are the inaugural adult and children’s author ambassadors for this year’s Love Your Bookshop Day (LYBD) campaign. As ambassadors, Hepworth...

Danger Awards 2024 winners announced

Monday, 16 September 2024
The 2024 winners of the Danger Awards have been announced. Winners in each category are: Fiction The Tea Ladies (Amanda Hampson, Penguin) Debut fiction   Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder (Kerryn Mayne,...