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Local publishers on Bologna Prize shortlist

Wednesday, 11 February 2026
Local publishers have been shortlisted for the 2026 Bologna Prize for the Best Children’s Publishers of the Year. Publishers shortlisted in the Oceania category are: Affirm Press (Australia) Hardie Grant Children's...

Ruffino joins Keeperton as head of commercial strategy 

A photo of Dan Ruffino. Wednesday, 11 February 2026
Keeperton has appointed Dan Ruffino to the newly created role of head of commercial strategy. Ruffino has over 30 years in the publishing industry, with roles in sales, publicity, marketing and...

Hachette Australia announces “Belonging and Storytelling” event

Hachette Australia logo. Wednesday, 11 February 2026
Hachette Australia, Australian Publishers Association (APA), Media Diversity Australia (MDA) and Diversity Arts Australia (DARTS) have partnered to present “Belonging and Storytelling: Diversity in Publishing”. A dedicated space for First...

PRH acquires Hannan’s next novel

A photo of Victoria Hannan. Wednesday, 11 February 2026
Penguin Random House Australia (PRH) has acquired Australian rights to I Love the Whole World! by Victoria Hannan, a novel about friendship, ageing and the extra/ordinary act of deciding to...

Griffiths announced as Australian Children’s Laureate

A photo of Andy Griffiths. He is leaning against a bookshelf and smiling at the camera. Wednesday, 11 February 2026
Andy Griffiths has been named the Australian Children’s Laureate for 2026 and 2027. Griffiths is author of over 30 books, including the JUST! series, the Treehouse series (both illus by...

Affirm acquires Blue-eyed Kayla Jade’s memoir

Blue-Eyed Kayla Jade Wednesday, 11 February 2026
Affirm Press has acquired world rights to Call Girl Confidential by Blue-Eyed Kayla Jade, via a deal brokered by Lem Zakharia from Bedou. According to the publisher, Call Girl Confidential...

Riveted Press acquires Roe’s middle-grade novel

A photo of Katrina Macdonald Roe. Wednesday, 11 February 2026
Riveted Press has acquired world rights to The Stolen Bairn, a middle-grade historical fantasy by children’s author and media professional Katrina Macdonald Roe. Set 200 years ago in Scotland and...

Hardie Grant acquires Galea book on dreams

Photo of Matthew Galea. Wednesday, 4 February 2026
Hardie Grant has acquired world rights to A–Zzz of Dreams: Decoding Your Dreams and Deciphering Your Future, in a two-book deal with Matt Galea. A–Zzz of Dreams is a guide...

MidnightSun acquires McDermott’s debut YA

A photo of Meg McDermott. Wednesday, 4 February 2026
MidnightSun Publishing has acquired The Big Things, a YA novel from debut author Meg McDermott. According to the publisher, The Big Things is story about the unbreakable bond between teen...

FALS announces Rowland Manuscript Development Grant winner

Terri-ann White Wednesday, 4 February 2026
The Foundation for Australian Literary Studies (FALS) has named Terri-ann White as recipient of the $5000 PF Rowland Manuscript Development Grant, which is offered annually to support a book project....

Authors recognised in Australian of the Year awards

Wednesday, 28 January 2026
Ultramarathon runner Nedd Brockmann and tour guide Sita Sargeant, both published authors, have been named in this year’s Australian of the Year awards. Brockmann is the recipient of the Young...

Adelaide Writers’ Week cancelled 

Adelaide Writers' Week logo Wednesday, 14 January 2026
The outgoing Adelaide Festival board announced yesterday that Adelaide Writers’ Week (AWW) will not be held this year. The decision follows the withdrawal of more than 100 writers from the...

HarperCollins acquires Mason’s next novel

A photo of Meg Mason. Wednesday, 14 January 2026
HarperCollins has acquired ANZ rights to Sophie, Standing There by Meg Mason, via a deal brokered by Felicity Blunt at Curtis Brown. Sophie, Standing There is a novel about “love, loneliness...

Silvey charged over child exploitation material 

Wednesday, 14 January 2026
Author Craig Silvey has appeared in court on charges of possessing and distributing child exploitation material, reported the ABC yesterday. Silvey was charged by police after a search of his...

Indie Book Awards 2026 shortlists announced

The logo for the Indie Book Awards. Wednesday, 14 January 2026
The shortlists for the 2026 Indie Book Awards have been announced. Chosen from the longlist announced in December, the shortlisted titles in each category are: Fiction Mad Mabel (Sally Hepworth, Macmillan)...

Canelo acquires Puckboys MM romance series

Wednesday, 14 January 2026
UK publisher Canelo has acquired world English print rights to the Puckboys series by Eden Finley and Saxon James, in a 10-book deal between Canelo editorial director Emily Bedford and...

S&S ANZ appoints Curry as MD

Photo of Jane Curry with book and coffee on desk. Wednesday, 10 December 2025
Simon & Schuster Australia and New Zealand (S&S ANZ) has named Jane Curry as its new managing director, after the departure of Dan Ruffino. UK-born Curry, currently managing director of...

UQP acquires Wyld’s third novel

Photo of KA Ren Wyld. Wednesday, 10 December 2025
University of Queensland Press (UQP) has acquired world rights to KA Ren Wyld’s new novel, Whichway Shimmering Dust. This multi-generational novel follows an Aboriginal girl and a sentient willy-willy who...

Arts Queensland Poetry Award winners announced

Queensland Writers Centre logo Wednesday, 10 December 2025
The Queensland Writers Centre (QWC) has announced the winners of this year’s Arts Queensland Poetry Awards. The winners in each category are: Oodgeroo Noonuccal Prize for Indigenous Poetry Winner ($3500...

A&U acquires Silvey and Acton’s latest Runt story

Photo of Craig Silvey and Sara Acton. Wednesday, 10 December 2025
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired ANZ rights to Craig Silvey and Sara Acton’s Annie and Runt from Lesley Thorne at Aitken Alexander Associates and Margaret Connolly at Margaret Connolly &...

UWAP acquires McWilliams’s “Bandoola”

Photo of author Beverley McWilliams. Monday, 8 December 2025
UWA Publishing (UWAP) has acquired world rights to Bandoola, a middle-grade historical fiction novel by Beverley McWilliams, following an Australian Society of Authors’ Virtual Literary Speed Dating event in March...

Meerkat acquires Bacon’s first Sauútiverse novel

Cover of Eugen Bacon’s 'Crimson in Quietus'. Wednesday, 3 December 2025
Meerkat Press has acquired African-Australian author and editor Eugen Bacon’s Crimson in Quietus, the first novel set in the speculative Afrocentric Sauútiverse. Crimson in Quietus spans the five-planet Sauútiverse, which...

A&U acquires Wilkinson’s new YA novel

Photo of author Lili Wilkinson. Wednesday, 3 December 2025
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired ANZ rights to YA novel Lavender and Hemlock by Lili Wilkinson, in a deal negotiated by Katelyn Detweiler and Sam Farkas at Jill Grinberg...

Grattan releases PM summer reading list

Cover of Cordelia Fine's 'Patriarchy, Inc.'. Wednesday, 3 December 2025
Melbourne-based think tank Grattan Institute has announced its 2025 Summer Reading List for the Prime Minister. Grattan Institute selects five books each year which it recommends to the prime minister,...

A&U acquires Hardy’s memoir and novel

An image of Emma Hardy. Wednesday, 26 November 2025
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired ANZ rights to Emma Hardy’s memoir Periodic Bitch and a planned novel, in a two-book deal brokered by Michaela McGuire at a4 Literary. According...

Ticket sales double at Readings’s A Day In Carlton 

'A Day in Carlton' logo, with blue lettering on orange background. Wednesday, 26 November 2025
Readings Bookshop’s annual A Day in Carlton festival (“actually a day and a bit,” said the organisers) was held in Melbourne from 13 to 15 November. Attracting 2800 attendees —...

 

 

 

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