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Literature podcasts among award finalists

Friday, 29 March 2019
The finalists of the 2019 Australian Podcast Awards have been announced. Podcasts in the literature, arts and music category are: Chat 10 Looks 3 Mamamia Book Club The Garret: Writers...

WAYRBA 2019 shortlists announced

Friday, 29 March 2019
The shortlists for the 2019 West Australian Young Readers’ Book Awards (WAYRBA) have been announced. The shortlisted titles in each category are: Picture books A Bag and a Bird (Pamela...

IPEd announces inaugural ambassadors

Friday, 29 March 2019
The Institute of Professional Editors (IPEd) has announced its inaugural ambassadors. The IPEd ambassadors are: Karin Hosking (ACT) Rebecca Harris (Qld) Matthew Sidebotham (ACT) Sophie Dougall (Qld) Hazel Baker (NSW)...

Over 200 attend 2019 Leading Edge Books conference

Wednesday, 27 March 2019
Just over 100 booksellers, more than 100 publishers and suppliers and 35 authors attended this year’s Leading Edge Books (LEB) conference, which was held in Adelaide from 17-19 March. LEB...

PRH to publish new McInerney novel, debut children’s book

Wednesday, 27 March 2019
Penguin Random House has acquired ANZ rights (including audio) to a new novel and debut children’s book by Monica McInerney. The two-book deal was struck by Fiona Inglis at Curtis...

ABA announces 2019 conference program; Halls to give keynote

Wednesday, 27 March 2019
The Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) has announced the program for its 2019 conference, to be held at Pullman Melbourne on the Park from 23-24 June. The conference will be organised around the...

First AWW from Jo Dyer attracts new audiences; Dalton tops bestsellers

Wednesday, 27 March 2019
Adelaide Writers’ Week (AWW) has reported it brought new demographics to the 2019 festival, which ran from 2-7 March 2019. In her first year as AWW director, Jo Dyer said...

Ledden-Lewis wins 2019 Kestin Indigenous Illustrator Award

Wednesday, 27 March 2019
Bundjalung artist Charmaine Ledden-Lewis has won Magabala Books’ 2019 Kestin Indigenous Illustrator Award. A freelance artist based in Blackheath, NSW, Ledden-Lewis receives $10,000, a mentorship and the opportunity to illustrate...

MidnightSun acquires debut picture book about pioneer aviator

Wednesday, 27 March 2019
MidnightSun Publishing has acquired world rights to Beverly McWilliams’ first picture book Born to Fly, illustrated by Timothy Ide. Born to Fly follows the life of Australian farmer Harry Butler,...

CBCA Awards 2019 shortlists announced

Tuesday, 26 March 2019
The shortlists for this year’s Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Book of the Year Awards have been announced. The shortlisted titles are: Older readers Between Us (Clare Atkins, Black...

Mascara announces winners of Avant-garde Literary Awards

Tuesday, 26 March 2019
Mascara Literary Review has announced the winners of the Avant-garde Literary Awards for literature, criticism and theory. The awards recognise ‘books which are stretching the boundaries of genres radically, philosophically,...

Scribble to begin publishing directly into North America

Tuesday, 26 March 2019
Scribe’s picture-book list Scribble will begin publishing titles directly into North America in September this year. Scribble will launch its North American publishing list with titles All the Ways to be...

Kozlowski wins Leila St John Award

Tuesday, 26 March 2019
Children’s book specialist Kathy Kozlowski has received the annual Leila St John Award, presented by Victorian branch of the Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA). Kozlowski has spent over 50...

ANZ authors nominated for 2019 RITA Awards

Monday, 25 March 2019
Several Australian and New Zealand authors have been nominated for the 2019 RITA Awards for excellence in published romance novels and novellas, presented by the Romance Writers of America (RWA)....

Whitcoulls pulls Peterson’s ‘12 Rules for Life’

Monday, 25 March 2019
New Zealand bookselling chain Whitcoulls has pulled Jordan Peterson’s 12 Rules for Life (Penguin Press), reports the NZ Herald. In an email to customers, the chain said it was ‘a...

Scribe acquires debut novel by Horton

Friday, 22 March 2019
Scribe has acquired world rights to Luke Horton's debut novel, The Fogging, which was highly commended in the 2019 Victorian Premier's Literary Awards unpublished manuscript prize. Rights were acquired at...

Arena Magazine launches $1000 Alan Roberts Prize

Friday, 22 March 2019
The Arena Foundation, in association with Arena Magazine, has launched an annual prize for the best essay related to ‘ecology, social life or a politics for the future’. Entries to...

Red Room Poetry fellowship shortlist announced

Friday, 22 March 2019
Red Room Poetry has announced the shortlist for its 2019 fellowship, which recognises the achievements and artistic goals of contemporary Australian poets. The 11 shortlisted poets are: Richard James Allen...

Report says up to 60 Big W stores could close

Thursday, 21 March 2019
Up to 60 Big W stores may be forced to close according to a recent Macquarie Wealth Management report, first reported in the Australian. Woolworths Group, which owns the discount...

Red Room Poetry expands Poetry in First Languages schools program to QLD, NT, ACT

Thursday, 21 March 2019
Red Room Poetry is expanding its Poetry in First Languages (PIFL) program in 2019 to include Queensland, the Northern Territory and the ACT. The PIFL program teaches poetry, music, dance...

Forthcoming Wood novel sold to US, UK

Wednesday, 20 March 2019
Charlotte Wood's forthcoming novel The Weekend (A&U, October) has been sold to Riverhead in the US and Weidenfeld & Nicolson (W&N) in the UK, reports the Bookseller. The novel, Wood's first...

‘The Trauma Cleaner’ shortlisted for Wellcome Book Prize

Wednesday, 20 March 2019
Sarah Krasnostein’s The Trauma Cleaner: One Woman’s Extraordinary Life in Death, Decay and Disaster (Text) is one of six books shortlisted for the UK’s Wellcome Book Prize. The annual prize,...

ABDA launches half-price student membership; announces 2019 awards date

Wednesday, 20 March 2019
The Australian Book Designers Association (ABDA) has introduced its first student membership. Available to full-time and part-time students studying graphic or communication design in Australia, the student membership is priced...