Tuesday, 3 March 2009
As reported in last week's WBN Sandy Campbell passed away on the 19 February.Margaret Hamilton writes: 'Sandy was a passionate advocate for the CBCA, both at NSW branch level and nationally....

Tuesday, 3 March 2009
Science-fiction author Philip José Farmer has died, aged 91. Farmer is best known for his ‘Riverworld' series including To Your Scattered Bodies Go, The Fabulous Riverboat, The Dark Design, The...

Tuesday, 3 March 2009
Bill Holm, poet and essayist, has died, aged 65. His books included Coming Home Crazy, Boxelder Bug Variations, Playing the Black Piano, The Windows of Brimnes and The Heart Can...

Tuesday, 24 February 2009
Among the many stories added to our Around the World blog in the past week: Atwood admits leaping ‘into a dog's breakfast' in festival boycottIPA ‘deeply concerned' at Vietnamese publishing...

Tuesday, 24 February 2009
In rights news this week:  FictionA&U sold UK rights to Tender Morsels (Margo Lanagan) to Random House UK where the book will be published as a young adult novel under...

Tuesday, 24 February 2009
Australia's publishers are off to a flying start to 2009, according to Bookseller+Publisher's reviews pages. Among the most highly rated titles for the issue was Things We Didn't See Coming...

Tuesday, 24 February 2009
‘The impact of the open market in New Zealand has been somewhat muted by the Australian conditions, but the introduction of an open market there could cause multi-national publishers to...

Tuesday, 24 February 2009
Allen & Unwin has announced the appointment of Melanie Laville-Moore to the role of New Zealand director. Laville-Moore has been in the role of New Zealand manager for the past...

Tuesday, 24 February 2009
Dexter by Design by Jeff Lindsay graces the top of the Highest New Entries chart this week. For those not in the know, the ‘Dexter’ in the title refers to...

Tuesday, 24 February 2009
Trade events coming up over the next week, as shown on our events calendar, include: Reed Gift Fairs - Sydney, 21-25 FebruaryThe Death Mook launch, Melbourne, 26 FebruaryEmirates Airline International...

Tuesday, 24 February 2009
Rowenna Brown CBCA (NSW) committee member writes: 'Children's literature has lost one of its most passionate and dedicated advocates this week. Sandy Campbell spent her life working to promote good...

Tuesday, 24 February 2009
American Alfred A Knopf Jr. who helped found Atheneum Publishers in 1959, has died, aged 90.

Tuesday, 24 February 2009
Irish author Christopher Nolan has died, aged 43. His works included, Damburst of Dreams, Under the Eye of the Clock and The Banyan Tree.

Tuesday, 24 February 2009
ABC Commercial has announced the appointment of Alun Noll to the position of general manager--multi-channel retailing. Noll, whose role will include responsibility for ABC Commercial's 42 ABC Shops, 118 ABC...

Tuesday, 24 February 2009
University librarian Cathrine Harboe-Ree has announced the appointment of Jo Bramble as the new Manager of the Monash University ePress. The ePress, established in 2003, provides electronic publishing services to...

Tuesday, 24 February 2009
The Australian Publishers Association (APA), Australian Society of Authors (ASA), Australian Literary Agents' Association (ALAA) and the Printing Industries Association of Australia have launched a new website as part of...

Monday, 23 February 2009
The authors whose works have been shortlisted for the South East Asia and the Pacific region for this year's Commonwealth Writers' Prize hail from Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia. The...

Monday, 23 February 2009
Eight 2009 literature residencies have been awarded by Asialink, from a total of 40 residencies awarded in the areas of visual arts, arts management, performing arts, and literature. The grants...

Monday, 23 February 2009
The Australia-Asia Literary Award, worth $110,000 is under review and will not be held this year. State Arts Minister John Day told the West Australian that the prize money, timing and...

Monday, 23 February 2009
The second annual Writers at the Convent festival ran from 13 to 15 February at the Abbotsford Convent in Melbourne. The event, organised and hosted by Reader's Feast Bookstore and...

Monday, 23 February 2009
The federal government has launched the Creative Industries Innovation Centre (CIIC), designed to assist small and medium-sized businesses in the creative industries sector to make a larger contribution to the...

Tuesday, 17 February 2009
Among the many stories added to our Around the World blog in the past week:redefine 'the book,' says TOC keynoteUS books sales down 0.5% in 2008BBC to offer free audio...

Tuesday, 17 February 2009
Australian Ken Rowe, known as a ‘literacy warrior' and chair of the National Inquiry into the Teaching of Literacy, has died in Victoria's Black Saturday bushfires, aged 63.

Tuesday, 17 February 2009
Castlemaine Festival literature program announcedThe program for the Castlemaine Festival has been announced. The literature component includes Cate Kennedy, Alex Miller, Judith Rodriguez, Julie Gittus, Ian McBride, Nathan Curnow, Alex...

Tuesday, 17 February 2009
'I was reading a lot of Australian literary criticism and there was the complaint that Australians preferred film adaptations of Australian novels to the books themselves. So I thought about...

Tuesday, 17 February 2009
In rights news this week: FictionJenny Darling & Associates has sold Spanish rights to The Zookeeper's War (Steven Conte, Fourth Estate) to DeBolsillo (Mondadori) and rights to Dog Boy (Eva...

Tuesday, 17 February 2009
As previously reported in WBN, the new Australian Children's Literature Alliance (ACLA) has been formed to promote children's literature. The Alliance will seek a national children's laureate, which it hopes to...

Tuesday, 17 February 2009
On the back of the film The Reader, the book of the same name by Bernhard Schlink hits number one in the Highest New Entries chart this week (see film...