“Pissants” to be adapted for television
Thursday, 23 April 2026
Filmmakers Jesse Laurie and Lewis Mulholland have optioned television rights to Pissants by Brandon Jack (Summit Books), via Alice Cottrell on behalf of the Jane Novak Literary Agency. Laurie, a...
HarperCollins acquires Johnston nonfiction title “Fifty Beating Wonders”
Wednesday, 22 April 2026
HarperCollins has acquired ANZ rights to the nonfiction title Fifty Beating Wonders by Michelle Johnston, via Martin Shaw at Shaw Literary. Publisher Catherine Milne said, “This is the book that...
Publishing Triangle Awards winners announced
Wednesday, 22 April 2026
In the US, the Publishing Triangle, an association of LGBTQ+ people in publishing, has announced winners for the 2026 Publishing Triangle Awards. Winners were announced for 10 categories, including: The...
Penguin Random House Australia: “The Penguin Modern Australian Classics will be treasured by readers for years to come”
Wednesday, 22 April 2026
In the lead-up to the 2026 Australian Book Industry Awards, Books+Publishing is inviting the event’s major sponsors to share little-known facts about their organisations, their top tips for booksellers and...
Bakers Lane acquires Strauss’s “Holding Space”
Wednesday, 22 April 2026
Bakers Lane Books has acquired world rights to the nonfiction title Holding Space by Gina Strauss. The publisher described Holding Space as a “hybrid memoir and professional guide offering reflections...
Lai’s “Cannon” shortlisted for Carol Shields Prize for Fiction
Wednesday, 22 April 2026
Australian cartoonist Lee Lai, who currently lives in Canada, has been shortlisted for the US$150,000 (A$209,673) Carol Shields Prize for Fiction for the graphic novel Cannon (Giramondo). The full 2026...
PANZ to host AWF festival director speed dating event, copyright workshop
Wednesday, 22 April 2026
The Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o Tāmaki (AWF) and the Publishers Association of New Zealand Te Rau o Tākupu (PANZ) will host an event to connect publishers and international festival...
Ball joins UQP; new owner for Robinsons; ABIA business shortlists
Wednesday, 22 April 2026
In local news this week, University of Queensland Press has announced the appointment of Ben Ball as publishing director “after an extensive recruitment process”; Denis Crema is the new owner...
Read the latest Publishers Weekly
Wednesday, 22 April 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.
Night Swimming (Sharon Kernot, Text)
Tuesday, 21 April 2026
Sharon Kernot’s first foray into adult fiction, Night Swimming, is both a suspenseful verse novel and a ghost story in which the narrator of the book haunts herself. Night Swimming...
A Flash in the Dust (Meg Caddy, UQP)
Tuesday, 21 April 2026
Set in Western Australia in 1899, Meg Caddy’s queer YA historical novel A Flash in the Dust follows Gilberta and Norah, who are imprisoned in Fremantle Asylum and escape into...
I Remember Everything (Fiona Wilkes, Fremantle)
Tuesday, 21 April 2026
Fiona Wilkes’s debut novel, I Remember Everything, memorialises the LGBTQIA+ communities lost to the AIDS crisis. In this fictionalised memoir, Billie recounts her formative years from 1979 to 1990, moving...
Floating by the Clouds (Mohammad Awad, illus Niña Nill, Penguin)
Tuesday, 21 April 2026
Floating by the Clouds by Mohammad Awad is a lyrical debut picture book that explores the highs and lows of emotions, encouraging children to acknowledge and express their feelings. The central...
Seasons of Clementine (Jess Galatola & Jasmine Berry, Perentie Press)
Tuesday, 21 April 2026
Seasons of Clementine, written by Jess Galatola and illustrated by Jasmine Berry, is a sweet and reflective graphic novel about growing up and learning to cope with change. Aimed at...
The Sisters of Serendib (Ayesha Inoon, HQ Fiction)
Tuesday, 21 April 2026
The Sisters of Serendib, the sophomore novel from Ayesha Inoon (Untethered), opens in 1990 with a flurry of events as Tamil Muslims board boats to escape the escalating violence of...
Wormhole (Hannah McElhinney, Affirm)
Tuesday, 21 April 2026
How far should you go in search of answers when mainstream medicine can’t help? Wormhole is author Hannah McElhinney’s attempt to answer that question through a blend of memoir, cultural...
NSW Literary Awards 2026 shortlists announced
Tuesday, 21 April 2026
The shortlists for the 2026 NSW Literary Awards have been announced. The shortlisted works in each category are: Christina Stead Prize for Fiction ($40,000) Cure (Katherine Brabon, Ultimo) Arborescence (Rhett...
Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2026 shortlist announced
Tuesday, 21 April 2026
The shortlist for the 2026 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction has been announced, reports the Bookseller. The shortlisted titles are: Benbecula (Graeme Macrae Burnet, Text) The Matchbox Girl (Alice...
A&U acquires Jenkins’s “Bad Neighbours”
Tuesday, 21 April 2026
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired ANZ rights to forthcoming crime novel Bad Neighbours by Joanna Jenkins via Gaby Naher of The Naher Agency. Featuring Ruth Dawson, the main character...
Local authors longlisted for 2026 CWA Daggers
Monday, 20 April 2026
Local authors Sam Guthrie, Laura McCluskey, Zoë Rankin and Jennifer Trevelyan are among those whose works have been longlisted for the UK Crime Writers’ Association’s (CWA) 2026 Dagger Awards. Guthrie,...
Klassen wins Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award
Monday, 20 April 2026
Canadian illustrator and picture book artist Jon Klassen has won the 2026 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, worth 5 million SEK (A$761,000). Klassen’s breakout book, I Want My Hat Back (Walker...
Oliver wins €6000 Moth Poetry Prize
Thursday, 16 April 2026
English poet Adam Oliver has won the €6000 (A$9900) Moth Poetry Prize for “Shazaya”. The annual international prize for a single unpublished poem, now in its 15th year, is sponsored...
HGCP acquires “Sagittarius Rising”
Thursday, 16 April 2026
Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing (HGCP) has acquired world rights to children’s chapter book Sagittarius Rising by author Maxine Beneba Clarke and illustrator Jade Goodwin. Senior publisher Chren Byng said, “For...
Ingram: “Forecasting demand has become more challenging for retailers”
Wednesday, 15 April 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 publishers,...
ABIA 2026 business award shortlists announced
Wednesday, 15 April 2026
Books+Publishing, in partnership with the Australian Publishers Association, has announced the 2026 business award shortlists for the Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIAs). The shortlistees in each category are: Bookshop of...
Walsh’s “God AI” sells into North America, UK, India
Wednesday, 15 April 2026
Black Inc. has sold North American, UK, Indian subcontinent and audio rights to God AI: Boom or Doom? What to Expect When Machines Outsmart Us (Toby Walsh, La Trobe University...
SWF responds to bookseller criticism, Shakthidharan wins Windham-Campbell Prize, Stella shortlist announced
Wednesday, 15 April 2026
The Sydney Writers’ Festival (SWF) has stated that it is “supportive, on a case-by-case basis, of an in-store bookshop event with under 50 attendees”, responding to bookseller criticism of its...
The Age Book of the Year 2026 shortlists announced
Wednesday, 15 April 2026
The shortlists for the 2026 Age Book of the Year awards have been announced. Shortlisted works in each category are: Fiction Fierceland (Omar Musa, Penguin) The Immigrants (Moreno Giovannoni, Black Inc.) Out of the...
Hans Christian Andersen Award 2026 winners announced
Wednesday, 15 April 2026
Children’s writer Michael Rosen, from the UK, and illustrator Cai Gao, from China, have been named the winners of the 2026 IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) Hans...
Rights round-up
Wednesday, 15 April 2026
Sales Fiction Bold Type Agency has licensed Serbian language rights in Black Rock, White City by AS Patrić (on behalf of Transit Lounge), Bulgarian language rights in Last Shot by Emma...
