Vale Elizabeth Morrison
Wednesday, 18 March 2026
Media historian Elizabeth Morrison has died, aged 89. Professor Bridget Foley writes: Elizabeth Morrison was a print culture historian specialising in 19th-century Australia literature and the press. With a background...
Martin wins 2026 Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship
Wednesday, 18 March 2026
The 2026 Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship has been awarded to Jennifer Martin, who receives $20,000 for her proposed biography of Australian journalist Eva Sommer. In 1956 then 22-year-old Sommer beat...
S&S acquires Fanning memoir
Wednesday, 18 March 2026
Simon & Schuster Australia (S&S) has acquired world rights to the memoir All Heart, by three-time world champion surfer Mick Fanning. All Heart follows Fanning from the western suburbs of...
Read the latest Publishers Weekly
Wednesday, 18 March 2026
Books+Publishing partners with US trade news magazine Publishers Weekly to provide our subscribers with exclusive access to the weekly digital edition of PW magazine. View the current edition.
Once Upon Tomorrow (Karen Comer, Lothian)
Tuesday, 17 March 2026
Once Upon Tomorrow is a complex young adult verse novel by CBCA-winning author Karen Comer (Grace Notes). The novel weaves together 3 alternating perspectives: Miri, an ambitious Year 12 student...
The Ruiners (Ellena Savage, Summit)
Tuesday, 17 March 2026
Ellena Savage’s debut novel, The Ruiners, introduces a narrator suspended between self-awareness and self-sabotage: a 29-year-old waitress, working at casino-adjacent lobster shack Claws, whose life feels both theatrically doomed and...
The Prime Minister Problem (Brenton Cullen, Riveted)
Tuesday, 17 March 2026
Brenton Cullen’s debut middle-grade novel, The Prime Minister Problem, is a tender story about loneliness and community, an ode to the power one person can have to spark change, and...
Women Who Win: Celebrating Courage, Conviction and Change (Antoinette Lattouf, Penguin)
Tuesday, 17 March 2026
Before “Lattoufed” entered the lexicon as shorthand for an unjust dismissal, Antoinette Lattouf (How to Lose Friends and Influence White People) was already known for her award-winning media career. In...
Margaret, Are You Leaving? (Dianne Yarwood, Hachette)
Tuesday, 17 March 2026
Following her much-loved debut, The Wakes, Dianne Yarwood’s latest novel, Margaret, Are You Leaving?, is a contemplative exploration of mother–daughter relationships, identity and the accumulation of moments that make up a...
Drawing Nudes While Making Other Plans (Zoe Gaetjens, Penguin)
Tuesday, 17 March 2026
Zoe Gaetjens’s Drawing Nudes While Making Other Plans is a tender, thoughtful young adult novel about self-discovery, first love and learning to be brave in unfamiliar spaces. During a summer...
Mantle (Romy Ash, Ultimo)
Tuesday, 17 March 2026
Romy Ash’s Mantle is a novel that settles slowly and irrevocably, like sediment. Set on a windswept Tasmanian coastline, it follows Ursula as she returns to care for her dying...
Canberra Writers Festival announces anniversary events
Tuesday, 17 March 2026
Canberra Writers Festival is hosting a series of events this year, celebrating its tenth anniversary in the lead-up to the festival, which runs from 15 to 18 October. These events...
Fitzroy Writers Festival 2026 program announced
Tuesday, 17 March 2026
Yarra Libraries has released the program for this year’s Fitzroy Writers Festival, running on 18 April. To be held in inner Melbourne’s Fitzroy Town Hall, sessions are set to cover...
A&U acquires Tasker’s debut novel
Tuesday, 17 March 2026
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired ANZ rights to Michael Caleb Tasker’s Just Like the Night, in a deal brokered by Ellen Levine at Trident Media Group. The novel follows...
Carnegie Medal 2026 shortlists released
Monday, 16 March 2026
In the UK, the shortlists for this year’s Carnegie Medal for Writing and the Carnegie Medal for Illustration have been announced. The shortlisted titles in each category are: The 2026...
A&U acquires Davis’s “The Modern Dad”
Monday, 16 March 2026
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired world rights to the nonfiction title, The Modern Dad, by Aotearoa New Zealand author Louis Davis. The Modern Dad provides advice about how to...
CJZ options Ayliffe’s “Dark Desert Road” for TV
Monday, 16 March 2026
Tim Ayliffe’s first standalone novel, Dark Desert Road (Echo), has been optioned by Australian TV production company CJZ. Dark Desert Road follows police officer Kit McCarthy, who hasn’t seen her twin...
Text acquires MacFie’s debut novel
Monday, 16 March 2026
Text Publishing has acquired world rights to Stephanie MacFie’s debut novel Once Upon a Breakfast Show. Set in the high-pressure world of breakfast radio, this “funny and wise novel about love and...
HarperCollins acquires “Conversations with My Rabbi”
Monday, 16 March 2026
HarperCollins Australia has acquired ANZ rights to Conversations with My Rabbi: Timeless Teachings for a Fractured World by Nikki Goldstein in a deal negotiated with Rena Rossner of the Deborah...
Apollo Bay WORDfest 2026 line-up announced
Monday, 16 March 2026
The Apollo Bay WORDfest has released the program for its 2026 festival, to be held in the Victorian coastal town from Friday 24 July to Sunday 26 July. Authors scheduled...
Vale Patricia Clarke
Thursday, 12 March 2026
Writer, historian and former journalist Patricia Clarke has died, aged 99. National Library of Australia Publishing writes: Dr Patricia Clarke OAM FAHA is the author of over a dozen books...
Penguin Literary Prize 2026 shortlist announced
Thursday, 12 March 2026
Penguin Random House Australia (PRH) has announced the shortlist for the 2026 Penguin Literary Prize. The shortlisted manuscripts are: “An Allergy” by Sunil Badami (Sydney, NSW) – “‘An Allergy’ explores...
Manly Writers’ Festival announces 2026 program
Thursday, 12 March 2026
The Manly Writers’ Festival has released its program, which will run from 19 to 22 March 2026, bringing together almost 90 writers, journalists, historians, thinkers and musicians, while examining “how...
Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o Tāmaki 2026 program announced
Thursday, 12 March 2026
The program for the 2026 Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o Tāmaki, to run from 12 to 17 May, has been announced. This third program by artistic director Lyndsey Fineran features...
Stella Prize 2026 longlist announced
Thursday, 12 March 2026
The longlist for the $60,000 Stella Prize for women and non-binary writers has been announced. The longlisted books are: KONTRA (Eunice Andrada, Giramondo) The Rot (Evelyn Araluen, UQP) Memorial Days...
Changes for QLAs; Mirror Cities initiative announced; local authors shortlisted in UK awards
Wednesday, 11 March 2026
The Queensland government has announced the State Library of Queensland will no longer manage the Queensland Literary Awards (QLAs) or the black&write! fellowship program; Melbourne’s UNESCO City of Literature is...
Rights round-up
Wednesday, 11 March 2026
Sales Fiction Bold Type Agency has sold German rights to Driven (Emma J Warrender) on behalf of Melanie Ostell Literary; Spanish rights to the first two Puckboy titles and the...
HarperCollins acquires new Rogers novel
Wednesday, 11 March 2026
HarperCollins has acquired ANZ rights to The Clue Keeper, a new novel by Megan Rogers, in a deal brokered by Benython Oldfield at Zeitgeist Agency. The Clue Keeper follows Ginnie...
Alliance Distribution Services: “A day at ADS”
Wednesday, 11 March 2026
In the lead-up to the 2026 Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIAs), Books+Publishing is inviting the event's major sponsors to share little-known facts about their organisations, their top tips for booksellers and...
S&S acquires world rights to Barry quartet
Wednesday, 11 March 2026
Simon & Schuster Australia has acquired world rights to The Northshine Quartet, a new contemporary series by Amy Barry, in a deal brokered by Sarah Younger at Nancy Yost Literary...
