Inside the Australian and New Zealand book industry

Image. Advertisement:

Local news >

Brett, Byrski, Hocking among Australia Day honours

Friday, 27 January 2023
A number of authors and book industry figures have been recognised in the annual Australia Day honours. Judith Brett, emeritus professor of politics at La Trobe University and the author...

Runcie departs BWF, Ryan appointed artistic director

Friday, 27 January 2023
Brisbane Writers Festival has announced CEO Sarah Runcie will depart the organisation, while Jackie Ryan has been appointed artistic director. Runcie joined the festival in mid-2020, helming the 2021 event...

New UQP initiative seeking titles on sustainability 

Wednesday, 25 January 2023
University of Queensland Press (UQP) has announced Stories for the Future, a new initiative which aims to seek out new titles that advocate for environmental sustainability. Driven by UQP editors...

Daleng leaves Booktopia

Wednesday, 25 January 2023
Booktopia chief marketing officer (CMO) Steffen Daleng will leave the company as part of a restructure that will see 30–40 redundancies made. Daleng leaves after four-and-a-half years in the role....

Online Storytime program ends; 12 most recorded books 

Tuesday, 24 January 2023
The Online Storytime program, which launched as a pilot program in 2020 and was extended a further 12 months to December 2022, has ended. The Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA),...

Redundancies at Booktopia as company looks to lift profits

Booktopia logo Tuesday, 24 January 2023
Booktopia has announced an organisational restructure involving 30–40 redundancies, as the company looks to make an improvement to its earnings. The restructure is one of several initiatives that Booktopia expects...

More companies allowing the option to work January 26

Tuesday, 24 January 2023
More and more Australian publishers are offering staff the option to work on January 26, despite it officially being the Australia Day public holiday. Many Australian companies, including Woolworths, Telstra...

Ultimo acquires Smith debut novel in two-book deal 

Friday, 20 January 2023
Ultimo Press has acquired ANZ rights to Twelve Steps to a Long and Fulfilling Death, a ‘whip-smart comedy’ debut by television drama writer Sarah Smith, in a two-book deal brokered...

Nichol joins A&U NZ as publisher 

Friday, 20 January 2023
Allen & Unwin (A&U) New Zealand has announced the appointment of Tess Nichol as publisher. Nichol, who will be publishing local titles, was most recently deputy editor of North &...

Disney wins 2023 Porter Prize

Friday, 20 January 2023
Seoul-based Australian poet Dan Disney has won the Australian Book Review's (ABR) 2023 Peter Porter Poetry Prize for his poem ‘periferal, fantasmal’. Judges Sarah Holland-Batt, Des Cowley and James Jiang described Disney's...

‘Abomination’ wins Jewish Book Award

Friday, 20 January 2023
In the US, Abomination by Melbourne-based author Ashley Goldberg (Vintage) has won the 2022 National Jewish Book Award for debut fiction. Published in May last year, Goldberg's debut novel follows...

ABIAs add new categories

Thursday, 19 January 2023
Three new categories have been added to the 2023 Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA), which will take place in Sydney on 25 May. In addition to the existing industry and...

Enache shortlisted for Novel Prize

Wednesday, 18 January 2023
Fitzcarraldo Editions, Giramondo and New Directions have announced the shortlist for the Novel Prize, a biennial international award for a book-length work of literary fiction. The shortlisted writers, selected from...

Indie Book Awards 2023 shortlist announced 

Wednesday, 18 January 2023
Leading Edge Books has announced the shortlists for the 2023 Indie Book Awards. The shortlisted titles in each category are: Fiction Limberlost (Robbie Arnott, Text) Horse (Geraldine Brooks, Hachette) Seeing...

BWF announces 2023 curators, Country of Focus

Wednesday, 18 January 2023
The Brisbane Writers Festival has announced the curators of its 2023 festival program. First Nations artist Daniel Browning, a descendent of the Bundjalung and Kullilli peoples of far northern New...

Affirm Press Mentorship Award 2023 winners announced

Tuesday, 17 January 2023
Affirm Press and Varuna, the National Writers’ House have announced the winners of the 2023 Affirm Press Mentorship Award. The winners are: Anne Andrew for ‘Blood Quilt’ Zoe Downing for...

Nielsen: Australian book sales up 7.2% in 2022 

Tuesday, 17 January 2023
Sales of books in Australia grew 7.2% in 2022, according to data from Nielsen BookScan, with total sales by value closing in at $1.4 billion for the year, compared to...

Foster’s ‘The Hush’ optioned for TV

Friday, 13 January 2023
Producer Clark Peterson and his company Story and Film, Inc. have optioned Sara Foster’s 2021 thriller The Hush (HarperCollins) for development as a television series, ‘in a competitive situation’, according...

Hazel Rowley fellowship 2023 shortlist announced

Friday, 13 January 2023
Writers Victoria has announced the shortlist for the 2023 Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship, worth $20,000. The nine shortlisted writers and their projects are: Diane Bell (ACT), for ‘The Queen and...

Hachette acquires Adams debut fantasy ‘Tonight, I Burn’ 

Thursday, 12 January 2023
Hachette Australia has acquired ‘dark and decadent’ debut fantasy Tonight, I Burn by Aotearoa New Zealand-based author Katharine J Adams. Australian rights were acquired by Hachette Australia head of children’s...

Release of issues paper kicks off copyright review

Wednesday, 11 January 2023
The Attorney-General’s Department has released an issues paper on copyright enforcement as part of a review into whether Australia’s current copyright enforcement regime is fit-for-purpose. Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said the...