Inside the Australian and New Zealand book industry

Image. Advertisement:

News >

New bill combines public and educational lending rights

Monday, 18 May 2026
The Australian Government has combined the Public Lending Rights (PLR) and Educational Lending Rights (ELR) schemes under a single act of legislation, replacing the Public Lending Right Act 1985. The...

Heiss resigns from University of Queensland 

Monday, 18 May 2026
Wiradyuri author and publisher Anita Heiss has announced her resignation from the University of Queensland (UQ), where she was a professor of communications. Heiss said on LinkedIn that her decision...

Book Club – this month’s reads

Friday, 15 May 2026
Looking for your next great group read? Our monthly Book Club rounds up new release titles perfect for sparking conversation and perhaps even some debate. From compelling fiction to thought-provoking...

UK student reading program improves attitudes to reading 

Thursday, 14 May 2026
In the UK, the LitUp reading-for-pleasure program has shown significant results in improving children’s attitudes to reading in 6 primary schools in Hastings, reported the Bookseller. Developed by Bloomsbury Publishing...

Shelf Lovers reopens “pocket-sized” store in Brisbane 

Shelf Lovers bookshop Thursday, 14 May 2026
Queensland LGBTQ+ bookseller Shelf Lovers has opened a new “pocket-sized” store, adding a bricks-and-mortar outlet to its existing online presence. Located in the Gender Health Australia clinic in the Brisbane...

Ockham 2026 winners announced

Thursday, 14 May 2026
In Aotearoa New Zealand, the winners of the 2026 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards have been announced. Poet, memoirist and scholar Ingrid Horrocks won the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for...

Fisher wins inaugural Libraro Prize

Donna Fisher Thursday, 14 May 2026
Donna Fisher, a UK author currently based in Queensland, is the inaugural winner of the £50,000 (A$93,000) Libraro Prize for her novel Sheep’s Clothing. Administered by the community digital platform...

Macdonald wins 2026 Ernest Scott Prize for History

Cover of "Garrison World" Thursday, 14 May 2026
Garrison World: Redcoat Soldiers in New Zealand and across the British Empire (Charlotte Macdonald, Bridget Williams Books) has won the 2026 Ernest Scott Prize for History. Awarded annually, the Ernest...

Howie Casey wins ASA/HQ Fiction Prize

Karen Howie Casey Wednesday, 13 May 2026
Karen Howie Casey has won the 2026 ASA/HQ Fiction Prize for unpublished manuscripts for her novel All the Little Wide Worlds, as announced by the Australian Society of Authors (ASA)...

In today’s news … 

Wednesday, 13 May 2026
Natika Palka has joined Better Reading from Thames & Hudson; the regional winners of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize have been announced; as has the Blake Poetry Prize winner; A&U...

Blake Poetry Prize 2026 winner announced

Chen Wang Wednesday, 13 May 2026
Chen Wang has won the 69th Blake Poetry Prize, worth $5000, for his poem “The Woman Who Refused the Kingdom of Forgetting”. Chen Wang is a Melbourne-based medical student whose...

Palka joins Better Reading 

Photograph of Natika Palka standing in front of a white brick wall Wednesday, 13 May 2026
Better Reading has appointed Natika Palka as head of marketing and growth. Palka was previously head of marketing and publicity at Thames & Hudson Australia. In the newly created role...

Allen & Unwin acquires Ryan’s “Eleven”

Photograph of Christian Ryan Wednesday, 13 May 2026
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired world rights to Eleven: We Burn Them in the Sun by Christian Ryan. The narrative nonfiction title about cricket is “a hugely creative work...

Maria Takolander recommends 

Tuesday, 12 May 2026
Jennifer Mills’ Salvage (Picador, 2025) is a clear-eyed imagining of a climate-ravaged future and of the self-destructive dream of autonomy – the idea that we can be independent of an...

Maria Takolander on “The End of Romance” 

Tuesday, 12 May 2026
In The End of Romance, Finnish Australian author Maria Takolander imagines a dystopian world in which boys are conscripted to the army at 16, never to return. Takolander spoke with...

PRH acquires Leighton-Dore YA graphic novel

Illustration of a person in bed Tuesday, 12 May 2026
Penguin Random House Australia (PRH) has acquired “delightful new coming-of-age graphic novel” Willy by Samuel Leighton-Dore, illustrated by Jack Grayson. The title will also be developed as an animated series...

Nix awarded 2026 Janet Mackenzie Medal

Photograph of Linda Nix Tuesday, 12 May 2026
Linda Nix has been awarded the 2026 Institute of Professional Editors (IPEd) Janet Mackenzie Medal. The Janet Mackenzie Medal is IPEd’s highest honour and recognises “outstanding service to the editing...

Bakers Lane acquires Craig’s “Flying Hearts”

Tuesday, 12 May 2026
Bakers Lane Books has acquired world rights to YA verse novel Flying Hearts by Rico Craig. Flying Hearts “celebrates teen friendship and love, as four teenagers – Telly, Karr, Ahmad...

“Nobody’s Girl” among Fingerprint Awards shortlistees

Tuesday, 12 May 2026
In the UK, the posthumous memoir Nobody’s Girl (Doubleday) by the late Australia-based author Virginia Roberts Giuffre, co-written with Amy Wallace, has been shortlisted in the Fingerprint Awards. Nobody’s Girl...

Open Book 2026 interns announced

Paula Campos (upper left), Mabel Gibson (upper right), Charo Palenzuela (lower left) and Savi Ross (lower right, credit: Nisha Hunter). Tuesday, 12 May 2026
The successful interns for the 2026 Open Book: Australian Publishing Internship have been announced. Chosen from over 500 applicants, the 2026 interns and their placements are: Paula Campos – Giramondo Publishing and...

Local authors shortlisted for UK Indie Book Awards 

Monday, 11 May 2026
Local authors Charlotte McConaghy from Australia and Sarah Wynn-Williams from Aotearoa New Zealand are among those whose books have been shortlisted for the UK Indie Book Awards. Administered by the...

Australian Book Design Awards 2026 winners announced

Yoko Nakazawa and Michelle Mackintosh Monday, 11 May 2026
The winners of the 2026 Australian Book Design Awards, presented by the Australian Book Designers Association (ABDA), have been announced. Winning and highly commended works in each category are: OPUS...

 

 

 

« Previous page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Next page »