“Taiwan Travelogue” wins 2026 International Booker Prize
Wednesday, 20 May 2026
Taiwanese author Yáng Shuāng-zǐ has won the 2026 International Booker Prize, worth £50,000 (A$94,300) for Taiwan Travelogue (translated by Lin King, Scribe), reported the Bookseller. The International Booker Prize is awarded...
Miles Franklin 2026 longlist announced
Wednesday, 20 May 2026
The longlist for the 2026 Miles Franklin Literary Award has been announced. Longlisted titles for the $60,000 prize are: Discipline (Randa Abdel-Fattah, University of Queensland Press) I Want Everything (Dominic...
Macdonald wins 2026 Pixie O’Harris Award
Wednesday, 20 May 2026
Paul Macdonald has been named as the recipient of the 2026 Pixie O’Harris Award in the Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA). The outgoing president of the Children’s Book Council of...
Fox wins 2026 Lloyd O’Neil Award
Wednesday, 20 May 2026
Mem Fox has been named as the recipient of the 2026 Lloyd O’Neil Award in the Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA). Fox has written more than 40 books for children,...
Susannah Bowen: “It’s frustrating to not have a central place for customers to go to buy a book if they prefer to support local”
Wednesday, 20 May 2026
Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) CEO Susannah Bowen has been visiting a lot of bookseller members since she was appointed to the role in October last year. Books+Publishing caught up with...
Chris Ames on “I Made This Just for You”
Tuesday, 19 May 2026
Chris Ames is a Melbourne-based writer originally from California whose debut short story collection, I Made This Just for You (Ultimo), was already generating attention before publication, having won the...
Chris Ames recommends
Tuesday, 19 May 2026
Why We Are Here by Briohny Doyle. It’s technically about the heaviest material possible – an honest look at grief during the pandemic – yet due to the skill and...
Q-Lit 2026 program announced
Tuesday, 19 May 2026
Q-Lit has announced the program for this year’s festival, to be held in Naarm/Melbourne from 16 to 19 July, with the theme “queer nostalgia”. The opening gala at Kensington Town...
PRH staff departures
Tuesday, 19 May 2026
Penguin Random House (PRH) marketing and publicity director Dot Tonkin has left the publishing house. Tonkin worked at the business for more than a decade, having been promoted at Random...
Rossell selected for Greenway Residency
Tuesday, 19 May 2026
Melbourne writer and illustrator Judith Rossell has been selected for the inaugural writer residency at the UK National Trust’s Greenway property. The Greenway Residency is a project of UNESCO City...
Annual workforce survey finds harassment of UK booksellers rising
Tuesday, 19 May 2026
In the UK, the annual workforce survey by the Bookseller Association (BA) has found rising levels of harassment of booksellers, reports the Bookseller. Almost one third (31%) of booksellers experienced...
Allen & Unwin acquires Knight nonfiction
Tuesday, 19 May 2026
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired ANZ rights to The Most Interesting People You’ve Never Heard Of by Riley Knight, via Florence Dodd at WME Agency. According to A&U, the book “brings...
Island Readers & Writers Festival 2026 program
Tuesday, 19 May 2026
The inaugural Island Readers & Writers Festival, which will run from 28 May to 1 June, has announced its event program. Presented across 7 series – in conversations, panel discussions,...
NSW Literary Awards 2026 winners announced
Monday, 18 May 2026
The winners of the 2026 NSW Literary Awards have been announced. Clare Wright’s Näku Dhäruk The Bark Petitions: How the People of Yirrkala Changed the Course of Australian Democracy (Text Publishing) is...
Debevec-McKenney wins 2026 Dylan Thomas Prize
Monday, 18 May 2026
US poet Sasha Debevec-McKenney has been awarded the Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize for her debut collection, Joy Is My Middle Name (Fitzcarraldo), reports the Bookseller. The book was chosen...
HarperCollins acquires third Ringland novel
Monday, 18 May 2026
HarperCollins Australia has acquired The World Beneath Her Feet, the third novel by Holly Ringland. The World Beneath Her Feet tells the story of Maggie Byrd, a woman in her...
Grandma Gogo series being developed for screen
Monday, 18 May 2026
The Grandma Gogo series, written by Margot Bain and illustrated by Hiruni Kariyawasam, is being developed for television. Published by hybrid publisher Little Steps and distributed by Woodslane, the picture...
Boffins to close after 37 years
Monday, 18 May 2026
Boffins Books in Perth will close on 6 June, after 37 years of operation. The bookstore announced the closure on social media, stating that “despite our best efforts, the combined pressure...
SMH 2026 Best Young Australian Novelists announced
Monday, 18 May 2026
The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) has announced the Best Young Australian Novelists for 2026. The writers and their books are: Joseph Earp for Painting Portraits of Everyone I've Ever Dated (Pantera) Zeynab...
Berkelouw Leichhardt in talks to move
Monday, 18 May 2026
Berkelouw Books Leichhardt has announced the business is in talks with the store’s landlord to move, rather than closing down as previously announced. In an Instagram post, the store said...
Magarey Medal for Biography 2026 longlist announced
Monday, 18 May 2026
The longlist for the 2026 Magarey Medal for Biography has been announced. Longlisted titles are: The Fearless Beatrice Faust (Judith Brett, Text) Max Dupain: A Portrait (Helen Ennis, 4th Estate)...
ABA Bookseller of the Year shortlists announced
Monday, 18 May 2026
The Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) has announced the shortlists for its Bookseller of Year awards. The nominated booksellers in each category are: Text Publishing Bookseller of the Year Charlotte Austin-Lindsay,...
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
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
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
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...
