Byron Writers Festival 2026 first authors announced
Wednesday, 29 April 2026
Byron Writers Festival, which will run in Byron Bay, NSW from 14 to 16 August 2026, has made its first author announcement, ahead of the full 2026 program release. Australian...
Affirm Press acquires Byrt’s “Dying Days”
Wednesday, 29 April 2026
Simon & Schuster imprint Affirm Press has acquired world rights to spy novel Dying Days by Aotearoa New Zealand author Anthony Byrt, via Nadine Rubin Nathan at High Spot Literary. Dying...
Rabah wins 2026 Calibre Essay Prize
Wednesday, 29 April 2026
The Australian Book Review (ABR) has announced Sahar Rabah as the 2026 winner of the $10,000 Calibre Essay Prize for her essay “Between Reality and Dreams”. “Between Reality and Dreams”...
HarperCollins acquires Johnston nonfiction title “Fifty Beating Wonders”
Wednesday, 22 April 2026
HarperCollins has acquired ANZ rights to the nonfiction title Fifty Beating Wonders by Michelle Johnston, via Martin Shaw at Shaw Literary. Publisher Catherine Milne said, “This is the book that...
Bakers Lane acquires Strauss’s “Holding Space”
Wednesday, 22 April 2026
Bakers Lane Books has acquired world rights to the nonfiction title Holding Space by Gina Strauss. The publisher described Holding Space as a “hybrid memoir and professional guide offering reflections...
Lai’s “Cannon” shortlisted for Carol Shields Prize for Fiction
Wednesday, 22 April 2026
Australian cartoonist Lee Lai, who currently lives in Canada, has been shortlisted for the US$150,000 (A$209,673) Carol Shields Prize for Fiction for the graphic novel Cannon (Giramondo). The full 2026...
PANZ to host AWF festival director speed dating event, copyright workshop
Wednesday, 22 April 2026
The Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o Tāmaki (AWF) and the Publishers Association of New Zealand Te Rau o Tākupu (PANZ) will host an event to connect publishers and international festival...
Messy Press wins Bologna Prize for Oceania
Wednesday, 15 April 2026
Aotearoa New Zealand children’s publisher Messy Press has won the 2026 Bologna Prize for the Best Children’s Publishers of the Year in the Oceania region, announced as part of the...
The Age Book of the Year 2026 shortlists announced
Wednesday, 15 April 2026
The shortlists for the 2026 Age Book of the Year awards have been announced. Shortlisted works in each category are: Fiction Fierceland (Omar Musa, Penguin) The Immigrants (Moreno Giovannoni, Black Inc.) Out of the...
Ball appointed UQP publishing director
Wednesday, 15 April 2026
University of Queensland Press (UQP) has announced the appointment of Ben Ball as publishing director “after an extensive recruitment process”. Ball takes over from Madonna Duffy who was appointed UQP...
ALIA National Conference 2026 program announced
Wednesday, 8 April 2026
The Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) will hold its national conference on 11 to 14 May 2026 at Rosehill Gardens in Sydney. ALIA has decided not to have an...
Cultivate mentorship 2026 winners announced
Wednesday, 8 April 2026
Writing NSW has announced the winners of the 2026 Cultivate Mentorship Program for First Nations and Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Emerging Writers. Developed by Writing NSW to “help build equity...
A&U acquires Keane’s “Seize the Moment”
Wednesday, 8 April 2026
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired world rights to Seize the Moment, a nonfiction title by Bernard Keane. According to the publisher, the book examines “how Australia can prosper in...
Pink Shorts acquires Adameitis’s “Australianarama”, De Zilva’s “Sick Note”
Wednesday, 8 April 2026
Pink Shorts Press has acquired world rights to Australianarama: A Campendium of Kitsch by artist and designer Stavroula Adameitis, also known as Frida Las Vegas, and poetry collection Sick Note...
O’Loughlin wins inaugural MidnightSun Picture Book Prize
Wednesday, 1 April 2026
Penny O’Loughlin has won the inaugural MidnightSun Picture Book Prize for her manuscript The Battle of the Beast. MidnightSun said The Battle of the Beast “impressed the judges with its...
Words on the Waves 2026 program announced
Wednesday, 1 April 2026
The program for the Words on the Waves Writers Festival, to run from 27 May to 1 June on the NSW Central Coast, has been announced. The festival’s opening address,...
Australian Government opens consultation on next National Cultural Policy
Wednesday, 25 March 2026
The Australian Government has opened consultation to hear views on developing the next National Cultural Policy, 3 years after the launch of the 5-year policy Revive. The consultation process invites submissions...
Copyright: APA, ASA oppose expansion of exceptions; Aus material “being ripped off by foreign players,” says minister
Wednesday, 25 March 2026
Industry bodies the Australian Publishers Association (APA), Australian Society of Authors (ASA) and Copyright Agency are among a coalition of creator representatives to have released a joint statement warning against...
Text acquires Szubanski memoir
Wednesday, 25 March 2026
Text Publishing has announced the acquisition of the memoir I Can’t Tell You But I Will by Magda Szubanski. Szubanski is a comedian, actor and LGBT rights advocate. Her previous memoir,...
HGCP acquires “The Everywhere Train”
Wednesday, 25 March 2026
Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing (HGCP) has acquired world rights to The Everywhere Train by author Deborah Frenkel and illustrator Danny Snell. From the creators of 2025 National Simultaneous Storytime book The...
BookUp conference and research day dates announced
Wednesday, 25 March 2026
The 2026 BookUp publishing conference will run in Melbourne on 22 July, the Australian Publishers Association (APA) has announced. Now in its sixth year, BookUp in 2026 “will focus on...
Local bookshop numbers double for 2026 “crawl”
Wednesday, 25 March 2026
Following the inaugural Global Book Crawl (GBC) in 2025, 140 Australian bookshops have signed up for this year’s event. In 2026, 12 separate book crawls will take place in Australia,...
Online queer bookshop Obsidian opens in Sydney
Wednesday, 18 March 2026
Obsidian Bookshop, a new online-only queer bookshop, has opened in Sydney, reports Star Observer. The bookshop is run by librarian Billy Hambides, artist Archer Nox and photographer Bowen Halkett. “All...
Martin wins 2026 Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship
Wednesday, 18 March 2026
The 2026 Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship has been awarded to Jennifer Martin, who receives $20,000 for her proposed biography of Australian journalist Eva Sommer. In 1956 then 22-year-old Sommer beat...
S&S acquires Fanning memoir
Wednesday, 18 March 2026
Simon & Schuster Australia (S&S) has acquired world rights to the memoir All Heart, by three-time world champion surfer Mick Fanning. All Heart follows Fanning from the western suburbs of...
SLQ to end management of QLAs and black&write! fellowship
Wednesday, 11 March 2026
The State Library of Queensland (SLQ) will no longer manage the Queensland Literary Awards (QLAs) or the black&write! fellowship program following the release of the Daubney Review. The review was...
HarperCollins acquires new Rogers novel
Wednesday, 11 March 2026
HarperCollins has acquired ANZ rights to The Clue Keeper, a new novel by Megan Rogers, in a deal brokered by Benython Oldfield at Zeitgeist Agency. The Clue Keeper follows Ginnie...
S&S acquires world rights to Barry quartet
Wednesday, 11 March 2026
Simon & Schuster Australia has acquired world rights to The Northshine Quartet, a new contemporary series by Amy Barry, in a deal brokered by Sarah Younger at Nancy Yost Literary...
Sydney Writers’ Festival program announced
Wednesday, 11 March 2026
The program for this year’s Sydney Writers’ Festival, running from 17–24 May, has been announced. The festival is hosting 200+ in-person and live-streamed events featuring 39 international guests and over...
UNESCO Cities of Literature Fellowship announced
Wednesday, 4 March 2026
The Melbourne UNESCO City of Literature Office has announced a new $15,000 fellowship for researchers, writers, artists and creative practitioners from other UNESCO Cities of Literature. The fellowship is part...
