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National Library unveils White papers 

Tuesday, 7 November 2006
A selection of Patrick White's personal papers was put on display by the National Library of Australia on Saturday, following the library's acquisition of 33 boxes of material through the...

$40,000 funding for regional writing projects 

Tuesday, 7 November 2006
Several writing workshops and festivals are among the 92 projects to have been granted funding approval by the federal government program Regional Arts Australia in the latest round of funding....

Rachel Trezise wins Dylan Thomas Prize 

Tuesday, 7 November 2006
The inaugural EDS Dylan Thomas Prize has been awarded to Welsh author Rachel Trezise for her collection of short stories Fresh Apples (Parthian Books). The prize, worth £60,000 (A$140,000) is...

‘Cat’ chosen for Book to Performance project 

Tuesday, 7 November 2006
Cat, an unpublished manuscript written by Mike Dumbleton and illustrated by Craig Smith, has been selected from over 60 entries to be developed as a picture book, theatrical production and...

Forthcoming events 

Tuesday, 7 November 2006
Trade events coming up over the next week, as shown on our events calendar, include a Jeffrey Archer author signing at the Angus & Robertson bookstore in Burke Street, Melbourne on...

Bestsellers this week 

Tuesday, 7 November 2006
Not since The Latham Diaries has one book attracted so much attention among the nation's political commentators. Now the sales figures are in and it turns out Jonestown: The Power...

Books Alive 2006 a success 

Tuesday, 7 November 2006
The 2006 Books Alive campaign has been hailed a success by its organisers, with the 50 featured books selling over 15% more copies than the 2005 selection, and market research...

RiP William Styron 

Tuesday, 7 November 2006
American author William Styron has died at the age of 81. Styron was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1968 for The Confessions of Nat Turner (Vintage), but was best known...

Web stats show Amazon’s dominance 

Tuesday, 7 November 2006
Statistics provided to WBN by internet ranking company Hitwise have demonstrated the absolute dominance of Amazon as the Australian public's preferred source of book information online.In a typical week in...

Media Extra: What’s hot 

Sunday, 5 November 2006
Richard Flanagan's latest novel The Unknown Terrorist has certainly made itself very well known in the Australian book media over the weekend. It's nabbed the number one spot on MX's Most...

Minimum wage increase could hit booksellers 

Tuesday, 31 October 2006
The Australian Fair Pay Commission (AFPC) has announced an increase of $27.36 per week for minimum wage rates up to $700 and $22.04 per week for minimum wage rates $700...

Thomson Learning for sale 

Tuesday, 31 October 2006
The Thomson Corporation, the US-based parent company of Thomson Learning, which has operations in 39 countries, including Australia, has announced it will sell the Thomson Learning group in ‘three independent...

Around the World: round-up 

Tuesday, 31 October 2006
In news from our Around the World blog this week, Adobe unveils a new ebook Internet application; Penguin enters the virtual reality world market; Amazon and AAP object to Google...

Bestsellers this week 

Tuesday, 31 October 2006
Springcleaning is in the air ... and it seems the nation's readers are inspired to pull out the dusters and the squeegee mops with Shannon Lush and Jennifer Fleming. Their cleaning bible Spotless,...

Forthcoming events 

Tuesday, 31 October 2006
Trade events coming up over the next week, as shown on our events calendar, include: the APA Basic Editing and Proofreading Workshop in Sydney on 2 November, and the Copyright...

RiP Wendy Lowenstein 

Tuesday, 31 October 2006
Wendy Lowenstein, oral historian, author and passionate defender of workers' rights, has died in Melbourne from complications of Alzheimer's disease, aged 79. Lowenstein's books include Weevils in the Flour (Scribe),...

Victorian Premier’s Reading Challenge wraps up 

Tuesday, 31 October 2006
Another successful Victorian Premier's Reading Challenge has come to an end. The 2006 challenge, which ran from February until the end of August, recorded almost twice as many successful participators...

CBCA national executive on the move 

Tuesday, 31 October 2006
The Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA) national executive, which is currently based in New South Wales, is coming to the end of its two-year term and will hand over...

Jose to judge new Man Asian prize 

Tuesday, 31 October 2006
Australian author Nicholas Jose has been chosen as a judge of the new Man Asian Literary Prize, along with US-based writer Andre Aciman and former Canadian governor-general Adrienne Clarkson. The...

Scott to take on ‘caretaker role’ at Funtastic 

Tuesday, 31 October 2006
Following the departure of Ian Ashmore from his position as general manager of the publishing and entertainment arm of Funtastic, the company has announced that Mark Scott, currently general manager,...

Readings wins ‘Age’/D&B business award 

Tuesday, 31 October 2006
The Readings book chain has won this year's Age/D&B Victorian Business Award in the retail category, and is eligible for the overall award to be announced later this month. Owner...

Applications open for Unwin Trust Fellowship 

Tuesday, 31 October 2006
Applications are now open for the 2007 Unwin Trust Fellowship, the program that allows a member of the Australian book trade to visit the UK for three months to enhance...

Informit adds 100th journal 

Tuesday, 31 October 2006
RMIT Publishing's Informit E-library has annouced that it has added its 100th journal.Eureka Street joins 99 other Australian journals on the online service, including BOOKSELLER+PUBLISHER.'The 100th journal online in Informit e-Library heralds...

TitlePage set to launch in NZ 

Tuesday, 31 October 2006
The board of the Australian Publishers Association (APA) has given the go-ahead for the development of a price and availability service for New Zealand booksellers.The service, which will be built on...

Media Extra: What’s hot 

Sunday, 29 October 2006
Australia's favourite expat and author Clive James made a popular interview subject in the weekend media, regaling journalists with stories of Hollywood encounters from his fourth memoir North Face of...

Around the World: round-up 

Tuesday, 24 October 2006
In news from our Around the World blog this week, Thomas Nelson announces it will be dropping all its imprints; Bertelsmann launches a new digital investment fund; Lonely Planet appoints...

ARC celebrates success 

Tuesday, 24 October 2006
The Australian Readers' Challenge (ARC) Certificate Day ceremony was held at Customs House in Sydney on Monday, with NSW governor Marie Bahsir presiding and representatives from many publishing houses in...

RiP John Nieuwenhuizen 

Tuesday, 24 October 2006
WBN is saddened to report that John Nieuwenhuizen, a former editor of WBN and Australian Bookseller & Publisher magazine, died suddenly last Friday.After working for the ABA, John came to...

‘Jonestown’ is finally in town 

Tuesday, 24 October 2006
As expected, Jonestown (A&U), Chris Masters' unauthorised biography of Sydney radio personality Alan Jones, received much media in the lead-up to its release on Monday, with extracts in newspapers over...