Wednesday, 12 April 2017
‘Now, more than ever, I think that readers will be turning to literature as a place of refuge’—Sydney Writers’ Festival artistic director Michaela McGuire on the launch of the festival’s...

Wednesday, 5 April 2017
‘The idea that schools and universities are ripping us off by illegal copying and that they would go rogue if the law was changed is a myth and is, frankly,...

Wednesday, 22 March 2017
‘A lesson learnt from the messy events of the past two years is that the arts sector must rely on itself to lobby for the arts in difficult times’—University of...

Thursday, 16 March 2017
‘It’s refreshing to see how books generally, and print books in particular, are still appealing to younger consumers, both male and female, despite so many other forms of entertainment and...

Wednesday, 1 March 2017
‘Independent booksellers are increasingly seeing their role as, necessarily, an active, educative, political one’—Monash University Publishing director Nathan Hollier reflects on the role of booksellers following the controversy over Milo...

Wednesday, 8 February 2017
‘All of the books are topical and many of them address urgent national issues with particular relevance to women, at a time when women are fighting to be politically seen...

Wednesday, 1 February 2017
‘While there is still plenty of beautiful, imaginative fiction, the trend—driven by the hunt for sales—has been towards more plot-driven, spare writing that blurs the line between literary and commercial...

Wednesday, 25 January 2017
‘We hand-sell virtually every book and it was very, very encouraging that our top bestsellers were from local authors!’—a Sydney bookseller from one of many stores reporting strong sales for...

Wednesday, 18 January 2017
‘Jimmy’s latest creative offerings mark the beginning of his new reign—as the granddaddy of Aussie rock’n’publishing!’—Bonnier Publishing Australia CEO Natasha Besliev on the acquisition of two children’s books by musician...

Wednesday, 11 January 2017
‘Australian fiction and nonfiction greatly appeals to Hollywood … our language is the same, but our landscape very different so there is a real sense of graduated adaptation’—newly appointed LA-based...

Wednesday, 14 December 2016
‘There’s not as many standout titles from big Australian names as there were last year. People seem to be responding more to independent literary fiction and trying new authors, which...

Wednesday, 7 December 2016
‘I think the world has been quite focussed on politics at home and abroad this past six months. With so much uncertainly about, it’s certainly had an effect on retail’—Murdoch...

Wednesday, 30 November 2016
‘I think there is a need for generational change in several big and medium-size Australian publishers, and a program such as this—which bridges the gap between experienced and non-experienced publishing...

Wednesday, 23 November 2016
‘To demonstrate a concern for the health of Australian cultural life, the government could either abolish parallel import restrictions and provide compensatory support ... or it could leave things as...

Wednesday, 16 November 2016
‘I am sad that not much has changed since the second-wave of feminism in the seventies argued that the personal is political. I watch young mothers in the publishing industry...

Wednesday, 9 November 2016
‘It seems that the psychological thriller is to the adult world what the YA dystopian trend is to children’s—publishers are almost tired of hearing about it, but they’re definitely interested...

Thursday, 3 November 2016
‘Our success showed there was an appetite for female writers. Of course, this meant that the big publishing houses soon realised there was a market in feminism; we gave muscle...

Wednesday, 19 October 2016
‘I found it a very curious and problematic choice ... It’s a prize for literature, not for literature and songwriting’—Readings managing director Mark Rubbo responds to the decision to award...

Wednesday, 12 October 2016
‘For me it is a real problem when we don’t reflect the society we live in. It’s not good for books, or culture, or commercially. We are going to become...

Wednesday, 5 October 2016
‘Here’s a scale I use to measure the quality of a writer’s diet: Fifty Shades of Grey is KFC and The Swan Book is the vegetables you grow in your...

Wednesday, 28 September 2016
‘We can never stay still because our consumers don’t just love books, they love YouTube, film, and so on … they’re not just readers, they’re consumers’— MD of Penguin Random...

Wednesday, 21 September 2016
‘When writing a review, my rule of thumb is always to benchmark a fellow writer’s novel against cluster munitions, rather than against the work of Marcel Proust’—UK author Chris Cleave...

Wednesday, 14 September 2016
‘Their immediate reaction was that all New Zealand fiction was Kiwiana, a slice of not-very-enjoyable life, plodding and dull’—a New Zealand Book Council research report has found most readers have...

Wednesday, 7 September 2016
‘I don’t believe in national literature per se. I do believe in Australian writing, conceived mostly in obscurity, frequently in poverty, almost always in adversity’—Richard Flanagan delivers his first public...

Wednesday, 31 August 2016
‘Independent publishers now publish a large percentage of Australia’s literary fiction and are supporting new Australian writers telling Australian stories. It is affirming to see this reality being reflected in...