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Weekly news >

RiP Studs Terkel 

Tuesday, 4 November 2008
Pulitzer-prize winning US author Studs Terkel has died, aged 96. His books included Division Street: America and For The Good War: An Oral History of World War II.

RiP Milton Katseles 

Tuesday, 4 November 2008
Milton Katseles, acting teacher, director and founder of Skylight Books in Los Angeles has died, aged 75.

Board appointed for Melbourne Centre for Books 

Tuesday, 4 November 2008
Crikey publisher Eric Beecher will head up the inaugural board of the Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas. The centre is part of Melbourne's winning UNESCO City of Literature bid....

Were to step down as SWF director 

Tuesday, 4 November 2008
Wendy Were has announced that she will not be renewing her contract as festival director of the Sydney Writers' Festival (SWF) for the 2010 festival and beyond. ‘While delighted at...

Quote of the week 

Tuesday, 28 October 2008
‘You can't just retreat ... and hide and cower until it's all over. You still have to assume there's a market for good books'--Scribe Publications' Henry Rosenbloom on the global...

Around the world 

Tuesday, 28 October 2008
Among the stories added to our Around the World blog in the past week:Google to settle Book Search lawsuitsCanada again suffers from exchange-rate woesPublishers look to the Middle EastOprah endorses...

In brief 

Tuesday, 28 October 2008
Man Asia Literary Prize shortlist announcedThe shortlist for the 2008 Man Asian Literary Prize has been announced. The five books are Alfred A Yuson's The Music Child; Miguel Syjuco's Illustrado;...

New online bookshop launched 

Tuesday, 28 October 2008
A booklover with a background in retail, management and software development has launched a new online bookshop, The Mighty Tiny Book Shop. While the store began as a way for...

KOALA award winners announced 

Tuesday, 28 October 2008
The winners of the 2008 New South Wales children's choice awards, the Kids Own Australian Literature Awards (KOALAs,) were announced on 22 October. Authors such as Duncan Ball, Ursula Dubosarsky,...

NSW Premier’s History Awards announced 

Tuesday, 28 October 2008
The winners of the 2008 NSW Premier's History Awards and History Fellowships have been announced. The awards were presented by the NSW Premier and Minister for the Arts, Nathan Rees...

Borders to open in Geelong 

Tuesday, 28 October 2008
Borders will open a new store in Geelong on Victoria's surf coast tomorrow. The store, which will feature more than 100,000 titles, according to a Borders statement, will be managed by...

Melbourne Cup Holiday next Tuesday 

Tuesday, 28 October 2008
Due to next Tuesday's Melbourne Cup Day public holiday in Victoria, next week's Weekly Book Newsletter will be published on Thursday 6 November. Please note that the deadline for classifieds...

Bestsellers this week 

Tuesday, 28 October 2008
Nothing like a new Maeve Binchy title to give the charts a shake-up. Heart and Soul by the aforementioned Irish writer has claimed number one spot in both the Bestseller...

Forthcoming events 

Tuesday, 28 October 2008
Trade events coming up over the next week, as shown on our events calendar, include: Debate: Will parallel imports kill publishing in Australia? Melbourne University, 30 October Closing date for...

RiP Esther Deans 

Tuesday, 28 October 2008
Amruta Slee from HarperCollins writes: Esther Deans--author, gardener, cook and poet--has passed away aged 97. Esther’s bestselling books about no-dig gardening had made her a household name, and her robust...

RiP Dan Harvey 

Tuesday, 28 October 2008
American book publishing executive Dan Harvey has died aged 62. During his career, Harvey created publicity and marketing campaigns for many of America's bestselling authors, including Tom Clancy, Patricia Cornwell,...

RiP Tony Hillerman 

Tuesday, 28 October 2008
Novelist Tony Hillerman has died aged 83. His titles included The Blessing Way, People of Darkness and Skinwalkers.  

Around the world 

Wednesday, 22 October 2008
In news from our Around the World blog this week: Coehlo celebrates selling 100 million booksShatzkin and 'the Copernican change'British Library acquires Hughes archiveFilm of Coetzee book wins Middle East...

NSW Premier’s History Awards shortlist announced 

Tuesday, 21 October 2008
The shortlist for the NSW Premier's History Awards has been announced. The shortlisted titles were chosen from 268 audio/visual and book entries. Each of the book prizes is worth $15,000...

Quote of the week 

Tuesday, 21 October 2008
'Maybe, depending on the book, publisher and category'--a Frankfurt-goer on whether books are 'recession proof'. 

Harpercollins new imprint HarperStudio coming to Oz 

Tuesday, 21 October 2008
HarperStudio, a nonfiction imprint of HarperCollins run by Bob Miller in the US, is branching out to the UK, Australia and New Zealand. Carole Tonkinson, publisher for Harper Nonfiction in...

Espresso Book Machine for Melbourne Uni 

Tuesday, 21 October 2008
Following Angus and Robertson's announcement of the instalment of the first retail Espresso Book Machine (EBM), The University of Melbourne is set to install the machine on campus. The University...

In brief 

Tuesday, 21 October 2008
New Koorong book storesKoorong, the Christian booksellers, have opened a new store in Springwood, a suburb of Brisbane. The store manager is David Perry. Koorong are also planning a new...

Walkley nonfiction award longlist announced 

Tuesday, 21 October 2008
The longlist for the Walkley Award for Best Nonfiction Book was announced along with all finalists for the 53rd Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism on 15 October at the...

APA announces new digital publishing training 

Tuesday, 21 October 2008
The APA has announced a new limited-place workshop to provide training on digital publishing. Publishing in the Digital Space: the E-ssentials is a two-day workshop to be held on 2...

$110,000 Australia-Asia Literary Award longlist announced 

Tuesday, 21 October 2008
The longlist for the Australia-Asia Literary Award, formerly the West Australian Premier's Literary Award, has been announced. The award, which at $110,000 is Australia's richest, is open to any book-length...