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Marani wins 2025 Richell Prize

Black and white photo of Monique Ivankovič Marani. Wednesday, 5 November 2025
Croatian Australian writer and theatre-maker Monique Ivankovič Marani has won the 2025 Richell Prize for Emerging Writers. Marani’s winning entry, “The Sweeter”, was selected from a shortlist of 5 manuscripts....

Webster wins 2025 Nature Writing Prize

Wednesday, 5 November 2025
Bridget Webster has won the 2025 Nature Writing Prize for her piece “Like All Good Fruit”. Island editorial manager and lead judge Jane Rawson said, “Bridget’s work stood out to...

UNESCO announces new Cities of Literature

Photo of ols building fronting the river in Gdansk, Poland Wednesday, 5 November 2025
The United Nations’ cultural arm UNESCO has announced 10 new Cities of Literature among its latest 58 Creative Cities. Newly designated as Cities of Literature are Aberystwyth (Wales), Abuja (Nigeria),...

Disability Arts History Australia website launched

Head and shoulders photo of Professor Bree Hadley of Queensland University of Technology Monday, 3 November 2025
A new Disability Arts History Australia website bringing together the stories, achievements and influence of Australian artists with disabilities over the past five decades has been launched at Queensland University...

Aston, Morton, Wright shortlisted for Walkley Book Award 

Cover of The Chairman’s Lounge by Joe Aston, with view through aircraft window. Monday, 3 November 2025
The Walkley Foundation has announced the shortlist for this year’s Walkley Book Award. The three books, drawn from a longlist of eight, are: The Chairman’s Lounge by Joe Aston (Scribner) Mean Streak by...

Australian historian wins Cundill History Prize 

Historian Lyndal Roper sitting on a windowsill. Monday, 3 November 2025
Oxford University-based historian Lyndal Roper has won this year’s Cundill History Prize for Summer of Fire and Blood (John Murray), her history of the German Peasants’ War of the 1520s....

No newsletter tomorrow

Monday, 3 November 2025
Due to the Melbourne Cup public holiday in Victoria, Books+Publishing will not publish a newsletter tomorrow. However, the deadline for classifieds and job advertisements for this Wednesday’s Weekly Book Newsletter...

Authors’ class action against OpenAI to proceed 

Exterior of the Thurgood Marshall US Courthouse in New York. 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

Photo of writer Romy Ash in blue shirt. 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...

Priest wins Blake-Beckett Trust Scholarship

Photo of Ann-Marie Priest smiling. 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 

Brisbane Writers Festival 2025 logo 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 

Front view of federal and state law building in Sydney, NSW 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

Cover of a book called "Kit and Arlo Find a Way" 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...

Bakers Lane Books acquires McGuinness YA novel

A photograph of Bryony McGuinness standing front of a curtain. She has black hair and is smiling. 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

An image of the Blak & Bright logo. 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

Photo of attorney-general Michelle Rowland speaking at a conference. 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

A photo of Luke Carman. A man is smiling at the camera and wears a navy blazer over a blue shirt. 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

A photo of Ben Crowe. He stands in front of a black brick wall. He wears glasses and a white jumper. 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

The cover of Southerly 80.1. It features artwork of a kookaburra by Kerry Klimm. 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

logo for the state library of new south wales 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

Warra Warra Wai book cover 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

Photo of attorney-general Michelle Rowland speaking in parliament. 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...

 

 

 

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