Tuesday, 31 March 2009
The Australian Society of Authors' (ASA) Annual General Meeting (AGM) was held on Saturday 28 March at Redfern Town Hall, Sydney. The new committee of management was announced, and the...

Tuesday, 31 March 2009
Helen Garner has been awarded the 2009 Australian Society of Authors (ASA) Barbara Jefferis Award ($35,000) for The Spare Room (Text). The award, which was announced on Friday 27 March,...

Tuesday, 31 March 2009
Russell Brand, British actor, comedian and former radio talk show host--until an unfortunate incident occurred on live radio--has reached number one in the Fastest Movers chart this week with My...

Tuesday, 31 March 2009
Trade events coming up over the next week, as shown on our events calendar, include: Bangkok International Book Fair, 26 March -6 AprilTen Days on the Island, Tasmania, 27 March...

Tuesday, 31 March 2009
US historian and author John Hope Franklin has died, aged 94. He wrote From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African-Americans and Mirror to America.

Tuesday, 31 March 2009
Irena Sibley, artist and children's book writer and illustrator, has died. Her first book Rainbow was published as both a children's book and hand-made artist's book. Other books have included...

Tuesday, 24 March 2009
‘How can the Government take seriously a ‘Discussion Draft' that is so ideologically pre-determined that it says, words to the effect that: We really don't know what the industry looks...

Tuesday, 24 March 2009
Self-publishing service company Book Pal Australia has announced a new partnership with Angus & Robertson. The distribution deal will mean readers can order the self-published titles by Book Pal authors...

Tuesday, 24 March 2009
The Australia Council has opened two new opportunities for young and emerging publishers. During a paid 18-month mentorship, successful candidates will work alongside publishing teams at Text Publishing and Fremantle...

Tuesday, 24 March 2009
The shortlists for the NSW Premier's Awards have been announced, worth a total of $320,000. In 2009, there were 640 entries received. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the awards,...

Tuesday, 24 March 2009
Brisbane bookseller Rosemary Potter, who runs Rosemary's Romances, has received the 2009 Romance Writers of America Steffie Walker Bookseller of the Year Award. Beating the international competition, Potter receives the award...

Tuesday, 24 March 2009
Novel Vending Australasia has announced it will launch mini book vending machines in Sydney in April. General manager Robyn Gipters told WBN that the company would be working in conjunction...

Tuesday, 24 March 2009
Harlequin has announced it is releasing a new YA fiction line. Michelle Laforest managing director of Harlequin Enterprises Australia told WBN ‘Maria V Snyder's Poison Study will be released in...

Tuesday, 24 March 2009
As reported in a WBN special bulletin on Friday, the Brisbane Writers Festival (BWF) committee has announced the appointment of Jane O'Hara as artistic director.O'Hara, who replaces Michael Campbell, will take...

Tuesday, 24 March 2009
Among the many items added to our Around the World blog in the past week:Sony and Google offer 500,000 free e-booksBologna: numbers downOver 600 publishers at Abu DhabiUK book sales...

Tuesday, 24 March 2009
Wilson nominated for Pride of Australia medalSuzy Wilson, owner of Brisbane's Riverbend Books and Teahouse, has been nominated for a Pride of Australia medal for her work establishing Indigenous Literacy...

Tuesday, 24 March 2009
The Australia Council-sponsored Visiting International Publisher (VIP) program will be held this year in conjunction with Sydney Writers' Festival (18 to 24 May). The list of confirmed participants to date...

Tuesday, 24 March 2009
Peter Carey is on the shortlist for the Man Booker International Prize, worth £60,000 (A$124,357). The prize is awarded biennially to an author of fiction who writes in English, or...

Tuesday, 24 March 2009
Soul stealers and vampires dominate the charts this week. Predictably, Stephenie Meyer gets six books in the top ten Bestsellers chart, broken only by Cathy Kelly's Once in a Lifetime...

Tuesday, 24 March 2009
Australian authors Debra Adelaide (The Household Guide to Dying, Picador) and Michelle de Kretser (The Lost Dog, A&U) are among the 20 authors longlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction...

Tuesday, 24 March 2009
HarperCollins is launching a new imprint in September, It Books, which will publish titles on the internet, style, sports and pop culture, with some titles to be distributed in Australia....

Tuesday, 24 March 2009
Baci Lounge, a bookshop that offers coffee, food and wine, has launched in Brisbane. Established initially in Auckland [www.baci.co.nz] by Sharad Paul, the store runs its own café, offers a...

Tuesday, 24 March 2009
Trade events coming up over the next week, as shown on our events calendar, include: Brisbane Ideas Festival, 25-29 MarchBologna Children's Book Fair, 23-26 MarchSydney Writers' Festival 2009 program launch,...

Tuesday, 24 March 2009
American author Millard Kaufman has died, aged 91. Kaufman wrote Bowl of Cherries and his second novel Misadventure will be published by McSweeney's this year.

Tuesday, 24 March 2009
Dr Jean Battersby died on 26 February this year. Battersby was the first chief executive for the Australia Council for the Arts and a pioneering influence on the arts in...

Tuesday, 24 March 2009
The US discount chain Costco has confirmed its first Australian store will open in Melbourne's Docklands in July. The store will employ 225 staff and will offer products under a...

Tuesday, 24 March 2009
Psychologist and author John S Cheetham has died, aged 60. Cheetham was author of Grow Up! How to raise an adult by being one yourself and Teach Your Child to...

Tuesday, 24 March 2009
New Zealand author and photographer Geoff Moon has died. He produced over 30 different titles including New Zealand Forest Birds and Their World, Bird Migration in New Zealand and A...

Tuesday, 24 March 2009
The Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA) has announced that its planned 2010 conference has been cancelled. CBCA national executive president Marj Kirkland said the decision was made with ‘the...