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Louise Southerden on ‘Tiny: A memoir about love, letting go and a very small house’

Tuesday, 25 June 2024
Author and travel writer Louise Southerden has written four nonfiction books, including the world’s first surfing guide for women. Her latest book, Tiny (Hardie Grant Explore, August 2024), is also...

Louise Southerden recommends

Tuesday, 25 June 2024
I loved Music and Freedom, a novel by Zoë Morrison, which I found in the street library out the front of where I live. (I stumble upon a lot of...

Inaugural recipients announced for NZSA mentorships

Tuesday, 25 June 2024
The New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa Te Kaituhi Māori (NZSA) has announced the inaugural recipients of its NZSA Kaituhi Māori Mentorship and Kupu Kaitiaki programs....

Upswell acquires White’s essay collection

Tuesday, 25 June 2024
Upswell has acquired world rights to Jessica White’s collection Silence Is My Habitat: Ecobiological essays. Upswell publisher Terri-ann White said White’s new book of essays ‘contains multiple dimensions’, with ‘a...

Katharine Susannah Prichard Writers’ Centre receives $100K for inclusion program

Tuesday, 25 June 2024
The Katharine Susannah Prichard (KSP) Writers’ Centre in Perth, Western Australia, has been awarded approximately $100,000 from Creative Australia to run its Inclusive Residency Pilot Program for emerging Australian writers...

Farr wins NZSA Laura Solomon Cuba Press Prize

Tuesday, 25 June 2024
Tracy Farr has won the New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi O Aotearoa (PEN NZ Inc) (NZSA) Laura Solomon Cuba Press Prize for Wonderland, an alt-history set on...

APA announces Children’s Editorial Program

Tuesday, 25 June 2024
The Australian Publishers Association (APA) has announced a new Children’s Editorial Program, following the model of the existing Residential Editorial Program, with a picture book editing intensive to run for...

New ‘Basic’ US Spotify plan drops audiobooks

Tuesday, 25 June 2024
In the US, Spotify has increased the price of its Premium subscription offer to US$11.99 (A$18) a month and introduced a new ‘Basic’ plan that costs US $10.99 (A$16.50) and...

Coelho, Becker win Yoto Carnegie medals

Monday, 24 June 2024
In the UK, the winners of the Yoto Carnegie medals for writing and illustration for children and young people have been announced. Joseph Coelho, the UK’s current Children’s Laureate, won...

UQP acquires Morton’s VPLA-winning debut

Monday, 24 June 2024
University of Queensland Press (UQP) has acquired world rights to Rachel Morton’s debut novel, The Sun Was Electric Light, which won the 2024 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an unpublished...

Rossell’s ‘The Midwatch’ sells to North America, European territories

Monday, 24 June 2024
Penguin Random House (PRH) imprint Dial Books for Younger Readers has acquired North American rights to Judith Rossell’s forthcoming illustrated middle-grade novel The Midwatch, via Daniel Lazar at Writers House...

More than 90k attend SWF; MWF attendance up 12%

Monday, 24 June 2024
The 2024 Sydney Writers’ Festival (SWF), which ran from 20 to 26 May, had a total attendance of 91,680 across its 225 events. The attendance figure is an increase on...

Scribner acquires Latimore nonfiction title

Monday, 24 June 2024
Simon & Schuster imprint Scribner Australia has acquired ANZ and UK rights to Kumanjayi: Death and indifference by First Nations journalist Jack Latimore, in a deal via Melanie Ostell at...

Booktopia requests extension to voluntary trading suspension as it seeks funding

Friday, 21 June 2024
Online bookseller Booktopia has requested that the voluntary suspension placed on its securities be extended, as it continues to seek funding to meet its redundancy costs and provide working capital....

Mildura program; inaugural Liminal Festival; new Queensland poetry festival; Words on the Waves bestsellers

Thursday, 20 June 2024
Mildura Writers Festival has announced the program for its 2024 festival, running from 18 to 21 July. Guests include Christos Tsiolkas, Charlotte Wood, Nam Le, Melissa Lucashenko, Stan Grant, Julie...

BookPeople conference ‘biggest for many years’

Thursday, 20 June 2024
The 2024 BookPeople conference, held in Melbourne from 15 to 17 June, was its ‘biggest conference for many years’, according to the organisation. The event attracted 175 bookseller delegates, including...

Hammad wins 2024 RSL Encore Award

Thursday, 20 June 2024
In the UK, Isabella Hammad has won the 2024 RSL Encore Award for her second novel, Enter Ghost (Vintage), reports the Bookseller. The value of the prize (which celebrates second...

S&S acquires Kitching romance novel

Thursday, 20 June 2024
Simon & Schuster (S&S) Australia has acquired world rights to The Life Experiment, a romance novel from Melbourne-based author Jess Kitching, in a deal negotiated by Daniel Pilkington. Described by...

APA Rising Star 2024 shortlist announced

Thursday, 20 June 2024
The Australian Publishers Association (APA) has announced the shortlist for its 2024 Rising Star award. The shortlisted professionals, who each began their publishing careers in the past 10 years, are:...

Playfair to depart A&U

Wednesday, 19 June 2024
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has announced that production director Lou Playfair is departing the company early next month. Playfair has worked for A&U for 30 years, having originally joined in...

Byron Writers Festival full program announced

Wednesday, 19 June 2024
Byron Writers Festival has announced its full program for the 2024 festival, which will take place from 9 to 11 August on Bundjalung Country in Bangalow, in northern New South...

Upswell acquires Pigram nonfiction title

Wednesday, 19 June 2024
Upswell Publishing has acquired world rights to a debut nonfiction title by singer-songwriter Stephen Pigram, with the working title Feel Like Going Back Home. Upswell said that, in the book,...

Craig joins A&U as publisher

Wednesday, 19 June 2024
Alex Craig has been appointed to the role of publisher at Allen & Unwin, after leaving Ultimo in February. A&U said that Craig ‘started her career in magazines, writing mainly...

Anita Heiss on ‘Dirrayawadha’

Tuesday, 18 June 2024
Anita Heiss is one of Australia’s most prolific and celebrated authors, known for her works across genres including nonfiction, historical fiction, commercial fiction and children's books. Books+Publishing reviewer Melissa Mantle...