Rebecca Perry wins 2026 Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize
Monday, 20 July 2026
In the UK, Rebecca Perry has won the 2026 Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize worth £5000 for May We Feed the King (Granta Books). Chosen from a shortlist of 6, Perry’s...
Second year of decline in German book market
Thursday, 16 July 2026
The German book market has recorded a decline for a second year running, reports the Bookseller. Trade association Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels reported a 2.7% decline year-on-year for the German book...
Industry bodies welcome prime minister’s comments on AI and copyright
Thursday, 16 July 2026
The Australian Publishers Association (APA) and Australian Society of Authors (ASA) have welcomed comments made by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese regarding AI and copyright. Speaking on Wednesday 14 July, the...
WORD Christchurch Festival 2026 program announced
Thursday, 16 July 2026
WORD Christchurch Festival has announced its program for this year’s event, running from 1 to 6 September 2026. The festival will feature more than 100 writers, thinkers and performers in...
Mudgee Readers’ Festival 2026 program announced
Thursday, 16 July 2026
Mudgee Readers’ Festival (MRF) has announced the full program for its 2026 festival, running 21 to 23 August, featuring conversations, workshops and special events at venues across Wiradjuri Country, Mudgee,...
George Robertson Awards 2026 winners
Thursday, 16 July 2026
The Australian Publishers Association (APA) has announced the 2026 winners of the George Robertson Award. The recipients, chosen by the APA board of directors, are: Linda Bruce, account manager, Hachette...
Newcastle Writers Festival appoints managing and artistic directors
Thursday, 16 July 2026
Newcastle Writers Festival (NWF) has promoted program manager Amy Lovat to the role of artistic director and appointed Tristan Sharp as managing director, following a national recruitment process. The appointments...
Meet the Rising Stars: Annie Zhang
Thursday, 16 July 2026
The Australian Publishers Association (APA) Rising Star award recognises an emerging talent in Australian publishing with less than 10 years’ experience in the industry. In the lead-up to the winner...
Alert but not alarmed on AI?
Wednesday, 15 July 2026
The Australian Publishers Association (APA) is encouraged by the government’s direction on copyright and AI but, like creators, remains wary of future pressure from AI companies; the Copyright Agency has...
Doubleday to launch new paperback reissue imprint
Wednesday, 15 July 2026
In the US, Penguin Random House division Doubleday is launching a new paperback reissue imprint, reports Publishers Weekly (PW). Outsider Editions, to be led by Doubleday vice president and executive editor...
Australian Publishers Association “encouraged” by government signals as Albanese to announce Office of AI
Wednesday, 15 July 2026
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is today expected to deliver a major speech about AI and announce the establishment of the Office of AI in the Department of the Prime Minister...
Cultural Fund latest funding round announced
Wednesday, 15 July 2026
Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund has awarded more than $680,000 in funding to Australian authors, visual artists, teachers and creative organisations through its 2026 grants program, supporting the creation of new...
Shalom Collective Australian Jewish Writer Awards 2026 shortlists
Wednesday, 15 July 2026
The shortlists for the 2026 Shalom Collective Australian Jewish Writer Awards have been announced. In 2026, a poetry award is being presented for the first time. The works are: The...
Kill Your Darlings launches poetry prize
Wednesday, 15 July 2026
Literary journal Kill Your Darlings (KYD) has launched a new poetry prize. The KYD Poetry Prize is “dedicated to creating new space for the beauty, experimentation and radical linguistic potential...
“Only an oligarch could afford it”: Booksellers Aotearoa’s Renee Rowland on selling at RRP
Wednesday, 15 July 2026
As the Australian Booksellers Association proposes a tax offset to recognise the gap between booksellers’ cultural value and ability to remain in business, Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand association manager Renée...
Allen & Unwin acquires Sue Williams historical novel “Macarthur’s Daughters”
Wednesday, 15 July 2026
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired English language rights to the historical novel Macarthur’s Daughters by Sue Williams from Fiona Inglis at Curtis Brown. The novel takes as its subjects...
Local author wins “BookBrunch” Selfie award for hybrid novel
Wednesday, 15 July 2026
Australian author Luke Icarus Simon has won the memoir category of the 2026 Selfies Book Awards in the UK for his hybrid novel The Art in My Palm (Stirling Publishers)....
Meet the Rising Stars: Skye Cusack
Wednesday, 15 July 2026
The Australian Publishers Association (APA) Rising Star award recognises an emerging talent in Australian publishing with less than 10 years’ experience in the industry. In the lead-up to the winner...
Stella Prize increases longlist to 16
Wednesday, 15 July 2026
The Stella Prize will increase its longlist from 12 to 16 books in 2027. Each longlisted author will receive $2,000, with shortlisted authors receiving $5,000 and the overall winner awarded...
Sweatshop Hachette scholarship recipients announced
Tuesday, 14 July 2026
Katie Shammas and Mark Mariano have been named the inaugural recipients of the Sweatshop Hachette Australia Scholarship. Announced earlier this year, the annual scholarship program is for two First Nations...
ABA announces Summer Circuit events
Tuesday, 14 July 2026
The Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) has announced Summer Circuit, a new series of networking and presentation events, “designed to bring booksellers together ahead of the summer selling season”. “Whether you...
Hachette launches Reflect RAP
Tuesday, 14 July 2026
Hachette Australia has launched its Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), which has been endorsed by Reconciliation Australia. The publisher’s RAP was launched during NAIDOC Week, which ran 5 to 12...
Meet the Rising Stars: Jaimi Kuster
Tuesday, 14 July 2026
The Australian Publishers Association (APA) Rising Star award recognises an emerging talent in Australian publishing with less than 10 years’ experience in the industry. In the lead-up to the winner...
Creative Australia announces latest funding round
Tuesday, 14 July 2026
Literature organisations and individuals share part of the latest Creative Australia investment of $13.72 million, which will “support ambitious work that connects communities and shares Australian stories”. The literature recipients...
Allen & Unwin acquires debut romantasy trilogy by Claire Benson
Tuesday, 14 July 2026
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired ANZ rights to the debut romantasy trilogy Sigils of Starlight by Claire Benson, via Daniel Pilkington at The Pilkington Agency. In Pillar of Ink,...
Hachette, Cengage, Elsevier join authors to sue Google
Tuesday, 14 July 2026
In the US, publishers Hachette Book Group (HBG), Cengage Learning and Elsevier, as well as author Scott Turow, have filed a lawsuit against Google for copyright infringement, reported Publishers Weekly...
ABA estimates 300 bookshops would qualify for proposed tax offset
Monday, 13 July 2026
The Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) has estimated 300 bookshops would be eligible for its proposed Bookshop Vitality Tax Offset (BVTO), which it has outlined in a new policy brief. Previously...
Pip Adam on Ursula K Le Guin Prize for Fiction shortlist
Monday, 13 July 2026
In the US, Aotearoa New Zealand author Pip Adam has been shortlisted for the Ursula K Le Guin Prize for Fiction for the novel Audition. First published in 2023 by...
Margaret and Colin Roderick Literary Award 2026 shortlist announced
Monday, 13 July 2026
The Foundation for Australian Literary Studies (FALS) has announced the shortlist for the 2026 Margaret and Colin Roderick Literary Award, worth $50,000. The shortlisted titles, chosen from 14 longlisted titles and almost...
Frankfurt Book Fair to close Hall 6
Monday, 13 July 2026
Organisers of the Frankfurt Book Fair (FBF), which will run 7 to 11 October 2026, have announced Hall 6 will be closed after structural building inspections raised safety concerns, reported...
