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Spotify adds Bonnier and Blackstone audiobooks

Thursday, 23 May 2024
Spotify has announced that audiobooks from Bonnier Books UK and Blackstone Publishing have been added to the platform’s Premium audiobook offering. In announcing the ‘two new publishing partners’, Spotify audiobook...

Text acquires Stanley’s ‘Consider Yourself Kissed’ 

Photograph of Jessica Stanely Thursday, 23 May 2024
Text Publishing has acquired ANZ rights to London-based Australian novelist Jessica Stanley’s Consider Yourself Kissed, via Lizzy Kremer at David Higham Associates. Kremer also sold US rights to Sarah McGrath...

Affirm acquires Art Simone anthology 

Thursday, 23 May 2024
Affirm Press has acquired world rights to Drag Queens Down Under, an anthology curated by Art Simone. The anthology is described by the publisher as ‘a glorious celebration of life...

S&S acquires Behrendt novel 

Wednesday, 22 May 2024
Simon & Schuster Australia (S&S) imprint Bundyi has acquired world rights to a new commercial novel by Larissa Behrendt. Friends for nearly four decades, Behrendt and Bundyi publisher-at-large Anita Heiss...

BookUp 2024 first guests announced

BookUp logo Wednesday, 22 May 2024
The Australian Publishers Association (APA) has announced this year’s BookUp conference will take place on 7 August at State Library Victoria in Melbourne, with tickets now on sale. Thames &...

Phommavanh charged for alleged grooming 

Tuesday, 21 May 2024
Sydney children’s author Oliver Phommavanh has been charged for allegedly grooming a minor online, reports the ABC. According to ABC News, it is alleged that Phommavanh ‘sent inappropriate photos and...

PRH merges Penguin Business and Penguin Life imprints

Tuesday, 21 May 2024
In the UK, Penguin Random House has announced it is merging its Penguin Business and Penguin Life imprints with immediate effect, under the name Penguin Life, reports the Bookseller. Publishing...

Aurealis Awards 2023 winners announced

Tuesday, 21 May 2024
The winners of the 2023 Aurealis Awards, presented for science fiction, fantasy and horror writing published last year in Australia, have been announced. Among longer-form winners, chosen from shortlists announced...

S&S acquires Murphy memoir ‘Madam’

Tuesday, 21 May 2024
Simon & Schuster Australia (S&S) has acquired UK and Commonwealth rights to Antonia Murphy’s forthcoming memoir, Madam, at auction, via Alice Tasman and Cole Hildebrand at Jean V Naggar Literary...

Levens resigns as Booktopia CFO

Booktopia logo Monday, 20 May 2024
Booktopia chief financial officer (CFO) Fiona Levens has resigned from the company, effective 15 May. In a statement, Booktopia CEO David Nenke acknowledged Levens’ ‘strong leadership during her time with...

Big W opens in Stanhope Gardens 

Photograph of the bookshelves in Big W Stanhope Gardens store Monday, 20 May 2024
Big W has opened its first new large-format store since 2019 at Stanhope Gardens in north-western Sydney. In a statement, Big W said that the new store will have ‘an...

Azumah Nelson wins Dylan Thomas Prize

Monday, 20 May 2024
In the UK, British-Ghanaian author Caleb Azumah Nelson has won this year’s Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize for his second novel, Small Worlds (Viking), reports the Guardian. Established in 2006,...

Michael Gifkins Prize 2024 shortlist announced

Monday, 20 May 2024
Text Publishing and the New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi O Aotearoa (PEN NZ Inc) have announced the shortlist for the 2024 Michael Gifkins Prize for an unpublished...

New $5000 award for Aotearoa NZ writers

Monday, 20 May 2024
The New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa (PEN NZ Inc) has announced a new NZ$5000 award for Aotearoa NZ writers. The NZSA Shaw Writer’s Award, established by...

Walker acquires Marr, Speechley picture book

Monday, 20 May 2024
Walker Books Australia has acquired world rights to the picture book One Day, written by Shirley Marr and illustrated by Michael Speechley, in a two-book deal. One Day introduces a...

Huang wins Blake Poetry Prize

Monday, 20 May 2024
Coco X Huang has won the 68th Blake Poetry Prize, worth $5000, for her poem 'Three Lessons'. Huang is a Chinese-Australian writer, musician and scientist, who creates interdisciplinary works that...

Dorothy Hewett Award 2024 shortlist announced

Friday, 17 May 2024
UWA Publishing has announced the shortlist for the 2024 Dorothy Hewett Award for an unpublished manuscript. The shortlisted manuscripts, chosen from over 200 entries, are: ‘The Protector of Fledglings’ by...

Miles Franklin 2024 longlist announced

Thursday, 16 May 2024
The longlist for the 2024 Miles Franklin Literary Award has been announced. The longlisted titles, selected from 104 books, are: Only Sound Remains (Hossein Asgari, Puncher & Wattmann) Wall (Jen...

Ockham NZ Book Awards 2024 winners announced

Thursday, 16 May 2024
The winners of the 2024 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards have been announced. The fiction prize went to Emily Perkins for Lioness (Bloomsbury). Convenor of fiction judges Juliet Blyth said: ‘At...

Hastings wins 2024 ASA/HQ Fiction Prize

Thursday, 16 May 2024
The Australian Society of Authors (ASA) and HarperCollins imprint HQ have announced that Kathleen Hastings is the winner of the 2024 ASA/HQ Fiction Prize for an unpublished manuscript. Selected from...

Wright wins 2024 James Tait Black fiction prize

Cover of Praiseworthy Thursday, 16 May 2024
Praiseworthy by Alexis Wright (Giramondo) has won the fiction award in the 2024 James Tait Black Prizes. Wright’s novel was chosen from a shortlist of four fiction works for the...

Hinkler acquires US publisher Piccadilly 

Wednesday, 15 May 2024
Melbourne publisher and distributor Hinkler has acquired US-based journal and sketchbook publisher Piccadilly. ‘This is a significant acquisition for Hinkler, aligning with strategic plans for growth in North America and...