News sections | Books+Publishing

Inside the Australian and New Zealand book industry

Tuesday, 19 May 2026
Q-Lit has announced the program for this year’s festival, to be held in Naarm/Melbourne from 16 to 19 July, with the theme “queer nostalgia”. The opening gala at Kensington Town...

Allen & Unwin acquires Knight nonfiction

Tuesday, 19 May 2026
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired ANZ rights to The Most Interesting People You’ve Never Heard Of by Riley Knight, via Florence Dodd at WME Agency. According to A&U, the book “brings...

Island Readers & Writers Festival 2026 program

Tuesday, 19 May 2026
The inaugural Island Readers & Writers Festival, which will run from 28 May to 1 June, has announced its event program. Presented across 7 series – in conversations, panel discussions,...

NSW Literary Awards 2026 winners announced

Monday, 18 May 2026
The winners of the 2026 NSW Literary Awards have been announced. Clare Wright’s Näku Dhäruk The Bark Petitions: How the People of Yirrkala Changed the Course of Australian Democracy (Text Publishing) is...

Debevec-McKenney wins 2026 Dylan Thomas Prize

Monday, 18 May 2026
US poet Sasha Debevec-McKenney has been awarded the Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize for her debut collection, Joy Is My Middle Name (Fitzcarraldo), reports the Bookseller. The book was chosen...

HarperCollins acquires third Ringland novel

Monday, 18 May 2026
HarperCollins Australia has acquired The World Beneath Her Feet, the third novel by Holly Ringland. The World Beneath Her Feet tells the story of Maggie Byrd, a woman in her...

SMH 2026 Best Young Australian Novelists announced

Monday, 18 May 2026
The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) has announced the Best Young Australian Novelists for 2026. The writers and their books are: Joseph Earp for Painting Portraits of Everyone I've Ever Dated (Pantera) Zeynab...

Magarey Medal for Biography 2026 longlist announced

Monday, 18 May 2026
The longlist for the 2026 Magarey Medal for Biography has been announced. Longlisted titles are: The Fearless Beatrice Faust (Judith Brett, Text) Max Dupain: A Portrait (Helen Ennis, 4th Estate)...

ABA Bookseller of the Year shortlists announced

Monday, 18 May 2026
The Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) has announced the shortlists for its Bookseller of Year awards. The nominated booksellers in each category are: Text Publishing Bookseller of the Year Charlotte Austin-Lindsay,...

Ockham 2026 winners announced

Thursday, 14 May 2026
In Aotearoa New Zealand, the winners of the 2026 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards have been announced. Poet, memoirist and scholar Ingrid Horrocks won the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for...

Fisher wins inaugural Libraro Prize

Thursday, 14 May 2026
Donna Fisher, a UK author currently based in Queensland, is the inaugural winner of the £50,000 (A$93,000) Libraro Prize for her novel Sheep’s Clothing. Administered by the community digital platform...

Macdonald wins 2026 Ernest Scott Prize for History

Thursday, 14 May 2026
Garrison World: Redcoat Soldiers in New Zealand and across the British Empire (Charlotte Macdonald, Bridget Williams Books) has won the 2026 Ernest Scott Prize for History. Awarded annually, the Ernest...

“Cannon” becomes first graphic novel to win Stella Prize

Wednesday, 13 May 2026
Lee Lai has won the 2026 Stella Prize, $60,000, for her second book, Cannon (Giramondo). It is the first time a graphic novel has won the award. Chair of judges...

Howie Casey wins ASA/HQ Fiction Prize

Wednesday, 13 May 2026
Karen Howie Casey has won the 2026 ASA/HQ Fiction Prize for unpublished manuscripts for her novel All the Little Wide Worlds, as announced by the Australian Society of Authors (ASA)...

Booksellers Conference and Trade Day

Wednesday, 13 May 2026
In Aotearoa New Zealand, the annual Booksellers Conference will be held on 24 July and the Auckland Trade Day on the following day. Organisers describe the event as “a unique...

Author of “Unbranded” remembered

Wednesday, 13 May 2026
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this announcement contains the image and name of a deceased person and that these have been reproduced with permission of...

Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2026 regional winners announced

Wednesday, 13 May 2026
The winners for the 2026 Commonwealth Short Story Prize regional categories have been announced. Chosen from a shortlist of 6, the winner for the Pacific region is Holly Ann Miller...

Blake Poetry Prize 2026 winner announced

Wednesday, 13 May 2026
Chen Wang has won the 69th Blake Poetry Prize, worth $5000, for his poem “The Woman Who Refused the Kingdom of Forgetting”. Chen Wang is a Melbourne-based medical student whose...

Allen & Unwin acquires Ryan’s “Eleven”

Wednesday, 13 May 2026
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired world rights to Eleven: We Burn Them in the Sun by Christian Ryan. The narrative nonfiction title about cricket is “a hugely creative work...

Vale Lorraine Marwood

Wednesday, 13 May 2026
Writer and poet Lorraine Marwood has died, aged 73. The Jane Novak Literary Agency writes: Lorraine was the author of several children’s books and poetry collections. In 2010, her novel Star Jumps [Walker...

Silvey pleads guilty; Age, ABDA winners; Open Book interns announced

Wednesday, 13 May 2026
Author Craig Silvey has pleaded guilty to possessing and distributing child exploitation material; the successful interns for the 2026 Open Book: Australian Publishing Internship have been announced; Berkelouw Books Leichhardt has closed after...