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McKay wins $100k Victorian Prize for Literature

Tuesday, 2 February 2021
Laura Jean McKay has won Australia’s richest literary prize, the $100,000 Victorian Prize for Literature, for her debut novel The Animals in That Country (Scribe), at this year’s Victorian Premier’s...

Newbery, Caldecott 2021 winners announced

Monday, 1 February 2021
In the US, the American Library Association (ALA) has announced the winners of its Youth Media Awards, including the Newbery and Caldecott medals, reports Publishers Weekly. Tae Keller’s When You...

Lindsay opens The Book Nest Mudgee 

Monday, 1 February 2021
Portia Lindsay, a former bookseller at Better Read Than Dead and Potts Point Bookshop who now runs the Mudgee Readers’ Festival in Mudgee, NSW, has opened a new bookstore in...

Booktopia reports EBITDA up 506% 

Booktopia logo Friday, 29 January 2021
Online bookseller Booktopia has reported a 506% increase in its earnings (before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation: EBITDA) for the six months to the end of December 2020 in its...

S&S acquires Lyons cookbook 

Friday, 29 January 2021
Simon & Schuster Australia (S&S) has acquired world rights to a book by Nathan Lyons, ‘the Australian TikTok sensation behind Kooking With A Koori’. Lyons, a Wiradjuri man, is a...

New Zealand market down 0.3% in 2020 

Thursday, 28 January 2021
New Zealand’s book sales fell by less than 1% in 2020, despite a sustained hard lockdown for almost five weeks from late March, in which the nation’s booksellers were unable...

Full Adelaide Writers’ Week program announced

Thursday, 28 January 2021
The full program has been announced for Adelaide Writers’ Week (AWW), which features a total of 147 guests and runs from Saturday, 27 February to Thursday, 4 March 2021. In...

Saleh wins 2021 Peter Porter Poetry Prize

Thursday, 28 January 2021
The Australian Book Review (ABR) has announced Sara M Saleh as the winner of the 2021 Peter Porter Poetry Prize, for her poem ‘A Poetics of Fo(u)rgetting’. The judges said of...

Starting small: Emily Riches on Aniko Press 

Thursday, 28 January 2021
Sydney-based writer and editor Emily Riches started Aniko Press—a new literary small press that includes a biannual print magazine and online book reviews—in early 2020, and has plans to begin...

S&S acquires Allira Potter nonfiction title 

Thursday, 28 January 2021
Simon & Schuster Australia (S&S) has acquired world rights to a book by psychic Allira Potter. Potter, a Yorta Yorta woman, incorporates Indigenous practices and First Nations knowledge into her...

Roffey wins Costa Book of the Year 2020

Wednesday, 27 January 2021
In the UK, Monique Roffey has won the £30,000 (A$53,000) Costa Book of the Year for her novel The Mermaid of Black Conch: A Love Story (Peepal Tree Press). The Mermaid...

Kapil wins T S Eliot Prize 2020

Wednesday, 27 January 2021
In the UK, Bhanu Kapil has won the £25,000 (A$44,330) T S Eliot Prize for Poetry for her collection How to Wash a Heart (Pavilion Poetry). Drawn from a performance...

McDougall wins NZ Sunday Star-Times short story prize

Wednesday, 27 January 2021
Wellington author Kirsten McDougall has won the NZ$5000 (A$4672) New Zealand Sunday Star-Times short story competition open category for her story ‘Walking Day’. McDougall, a publicist and literary manager whose...

The Book Cow opens in Canberra 

Wednesday, 27 January 2021
New independent bookstore The Book Cow has opened in Kingston in Canberra's inner south. The shop opened in early December as a pop up, but has permanent shelving and a...

Dymocks Tuggeranong to close 

Wednesday, 27 January 2021
After more than 20 years operating in the Canberra suburb, Dymocks Tuggeranong is set to close at the completion of its current lease. ‘This has not been an easy decision...

No ‘Daily’ on Tuesday

Monday, 25 January 2021
Please note that, due to the public holiday on Tuesday, the next Daily newsletter will be published on Wednesday, 27 January. This week's Weekly Book Newsletter will be published on...

UK print market up 5% in volume, value

Monday, 25 January 2021
In the UK, Nielsen BookScan has estimated the 2020 print book market rose 5.2% in volume and 5.5% in value compared to 2019, reports the Bookseller. BookScan used its Books...

UK indies struggle with Brexit costs, delays

Friday, 22 January 2021
In the UK, indie publishers are struggling with increased costs and delays caused by Brexit, reports the Bookseller. Among the most pressing is the extra costs from increased bureaucracy, while...

The Book Dispensary opens in Forbes, NSW

Friday, 22 January 2021
A new independent bookshop has opened in the town of Forbes, Central West NSW. Owner Debbie Prior opened The Book Dispensary in early December and told Books+Publishing she 'welcomed the...

Naver to acquire Wattpad

Thursday, 21 January 2021
South Korean internet platform Naver will purchase online social writing and reading platform Wattpad for more than US$600 million (A$775 million) in cash and stock, reports Publishers Weekly (PW). Naver,...

Morrison appointed Echo publisher 

Thursday, 21 January 2021
Echo Publishing has appointed publicist Emily Banyard and publishing assistant Rosie Outred in addition to promoting associate publisher Tegan Morrison to the role of publisher. The appointments bring the Bonnier...

Next ‘WBN’ to be published on Thursday

Wednesday, 20 January 2021
Please note that, due to the public holiday on Tuesday, 26 January, the next Weekly Book Newsletter will be published on Thursday, 28 January. The deadline for classifieds and job...

Indie Book Awards 2021 shortlists announced

Wednesday, 20 January 2021
Leading Edge Books has announced the shortlists for the 2021 Indie Book Awards. The shortlisted titles in each category are: Fiction All Our Shimmering Skies (Trent Dalton, HarperCollins) The Living Sea...