Authors’ class action against OpenAI to proceed
Thursday, 30 October 2025
A New York federal judge has this week denied an OpenAI request to dismiss authors’ claims that the company’s ChatGPT infringes their copyrights. The suit consolidates lawsuits from a number...
Ultimo acquires Ash’s Mantle
Thursday, 30 October 2025
Ultimo Press has acquired ANZ rights to novelist Romy Ash’s new work, Mantle, in a deal brokered by Michaela McGuire of a4 Literary. Mantle is a literary eco-thriller set in...
Dublin Central Library: Being curious is essential to the librarian’s role
Thursday, 30 October 2025
With libraries, their work, and free access to information under increasing threat around the world, B+P and the Melbourne UNESCO City of Literature Office reached out to libraries in other designated cities of...
Priest wins Blake-Beckett Trust Scholarship
Wednesday, 29 October 2025
The Australian Society of Authors (ASA) has announced Ann-Marie Priest as the 2025 recipient of the $35,000 Blake-Beckett Trust Scholarship for her biography “Tell It Slant: The Life and Loves...
BWF wrap up: Generous storytelling
Wednesday, 29 October 2025
This year, the Brisbane Writers Festival (BWF) ran from 9 to 12 October in its new venue, the Brisbane Powerhouse. Over 100 live events were organised with more than 200...
Public interest defence used successfully for first time
Wednesday, 29 October 2025
Australian defamation laws have weighed on the minds of Australian editors and publishers for decades. So does the new public interest/responsible reporting defence, introduced in 2021, make their work easier?...
Amba Press acquires ACER Press titles
Wednesday, 29 October 2025
Amba Press will acquire 38 educational titles under an agreement with ACER Press, the publishing arm of the Australian Council for Educational Research. Amba Press said, “The acquisition represents a...
The industry is vast and multifaceted: 2025 Open Book intern Rebecca Zhong
Wednesday, 29 October 2025
First run as a pilot program offering 2 internships in 2022, the Open Book paid internship program is a joint sector initiative that aims to foster cultural and linguistic diversity...
Bakers Lane Books acquires McGuinness YA novel
Wednesday, 29 October 2025
Bakers Lane Books has acquired world rights to Violet Town, a young adult novel by Bryony McGuinness. Violet Town follows Cate Hawkins, a longstanding resident of Hickory’s Orphanage, as she...
A&U acquires Stroud’s “The Angry Wives Club”
Wednesday, 29 October 2025
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired world rights to The Angry Wives Club, a novel by Gabbie Stroud. The Angry Wives Club follows three women “quietly planning a revolution”, said the...
Upswell acquires Curtin novel
Wednesday, 29 October 2025
Upswell Publishing has acquired world rights to Six Days by Amanda Curtin. “Six Days creates a character in Daniel, an expat Australian who has lived in Paris for longer than anywhere...
Blak & Bright moves to September
Tuesday, 28 October 2025
The 2026 Blak & Bright First Nations Literary Festival will run from 3 to 6 September 2026, organisers have announced. This marks a shift in the timing of the biennial...
Industry welcomes government’s AI copyright announcement
Tuesday, 28 October 2025
Publishing industry organisations have reacted enthusiastically to news that the Australian Government has ruled out relaxing copyright rules for generative AI training. Attorney-General Michelle Rowland announced on Sunday that the...
Carman named 2025 Judy Harris Writer-in-Residence Fellow
Tuesday, 28 October 2025
Luke Carman is the recipient of the 2025 Judy Harris Writer-in-Residence Fellowship, receiving $100,000 to support a year-long residency at the Charles Perkins Centre. Based in Western Sydney, Carman is...
HarperCollins acquires Crowe’s nonfiction work
Tuesday, 28 October 2025
HarperCollins has acquired Australian rights to Where the Light Gets In, a nonfiction book by Ben Crowe. Where the Light Gets In, a book about personal growth, “explains how 9...
Southerly journal returns
Tuesday, 28 October 2025
Literary journal Southerly has returned after 3-year hiatus with issue 80.1, “First, the Future”, guest-edited by KA Ren Wyld and new Southerly editor Roanna Gonsalves. According to the editors, this...
NSW State Library announces 2026 fellowships
Monday, 27 October 2025
The State Library of NSW has announced its 2026 fellowships, with a total of $314,000 awarded across 9 categories. The fellowships cover a range of original research topics to be...
Rix, Cormick win ACT Book of the Year
Monday, 27 October 2025
Darren Rix and Craig Cormick have won the ACT Book of the Year award for their title Warra Warra Wai (Scribner). Rix and Cormick will share the $10,000 prize. Judges praised Warra...
Booker Prize launches £50K children’s prize
Monday, 27 October 2025
The Booker Prize Foundation has launched the inaugural Children’s Booker Prize, an award “celebrating the best contemporary fiction for children aged 8 to 12 years old”. The prize will open...
Labor blocks AI industry moves to waive copyright
Monday, 27 October 2025
The federal government won’t change the law to allow tech companies to train artificial intelligence (AI) models using copyright material, Australian media outlets reported today. The decision is a rejection of...
Hachette acquires Wilkinson’s debut historical nonfiction
Monday, 27 October 2025
Hachette Australia has acquired The Titanic Story of Evelyn by journalist, broadcaster and author Lisa Wilkinson, via the Fordham Agency. The Titanic Story of Evelyn follows the life of South...
Hardie Grant acquires Joyce memoir
Monday, 27 October 2025
Hardie Grant Books has acquired world rights to former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce’s memoir, in a deal brokered by Robert Joske at Robert Joske Management. Joyce “will take a reflective...
Elton named HarperCollins UK CEO
Monday, 27 October 2025
Kate Elton has been formally appointed as CEO of HarperCollins UK, after the recent departure of previous CEO Charlie Redmayne. Elton has been acting as interim CEO since Redmayne’s resignation....
Inaugural Spiers Prize shortlist
Monday, 27 October 2025
UWA Publishing (UWAP) has announced the shortlist for the inaugural Spiers Prize, as well as some changes to the award. The publisher announced that “due to the enthusiastic number of...
2026 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award candidates
Monday, 27 October 2025
The nominees for the 2026 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award have been announced. The Aotearoa New Zealand and Australian nominees are: Alison Lester Gavin Bishop (NZ) Oliver Jeffers Susanne Gervay Ursula...
Janson, van Loon, Vucic awarded Copyright Agency fellowships
Thursday, 23 October 2025
The Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund has announced the recipients of its 2025 Fellowships for established and emerging Australian writers. Julie Janson, a Burruberongal woman of the Darug Aboriginal Nation and...
The Little Bookroom opens in Brunswick East, Victoria
Thursday, 23 October 2025
The Little Bookroom recently reopened its doors at a new location in Brunswick East, Victoria. After crowdfunding to cover costs to move the store, new owner Michael Earp spoke to...
HBG records strong third quarter
Thursday, 23 October 2025
Hachette Book Group (HBG) has recorded a strong third-quarter sales and revenue performance, reports Publishers Weekly (PW). “The encouraging third quarter follows a six-month period when HBG sales were up...
BWF breaks attendance records in new venue
Thursday, 23 October 2025
Brisbane Writers Festival (BWF) recorded more than 16,000 attendees at its 2025 program, held in its new venue partner, the Brisbane Powerhouse. The program comprised more than 100 live events...
Inaugural AusArt Day seeks to support creative work
Thursday, 23 October 2025
Creative Australia’s (CA) inaugural national giving to the arts day, AusArt Day, takes place today, 23 October. The new initiative is “designed to support artists and arts organisations to fundraise...
