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Program announced for second Rock & Roll Writers Festival; new Melbourne event

Friday, 10 February 2017
The program for the second Rock & Roll Writers Festival, to be held at the Old Museum in Brisbane from 1-2 April, has been announced. Organisers have also announced a...

ACT government to provide extra $230,000 in arts funding after protest

Thursday, 9 February 2017
The ACT government has announced it will provide an additional $230,000 for arts projects in 2017 after artists protested the drop in funding from the previous year. In December, ACT arts...

Australian publisher, NZ bookseller shortlisted for LBF International Excellence Awards

Thursday, 9 February 2017
Australia’s CSIRO Publishing and New Zealand’s Time Out Bookstore have been shortlisted for the London Book Fair (LBF) International Excellence Awards. CSIRO Publishing is shortlisted for the Academic and Professional...

NZ poet Tusitala-Marsh receives Society of Authors’ Waitangi Day Honours

Thursday, 9 February 2017
Poet and scholar Selina Tusitala-Marsh has been made an honorary literary fellow as part of the New Zealand Society of Authors’ (NZSA) annual Waitangi Day Honours. NZSA president Kyle Mewburn...

Tonner wins Finch Memoir Prize for ‘Cold Vein’

Wednesday, 8 February 2017
Anne Tonner has won the 2017 Finch Memoir Prize for her manuscript ‘Cold Vein’, an account of her daughter’s battle with anorexia. Judge Maggie Mackellar said Tonner’s memoir had a...

Stella Prize 2017 longlist announced

Tuesday, 7 February 2017
The longlist for the 2017 Stella Prize has been announced. This year’s longlisted titles are: Victoria: The Queen (Julia Baird, HarperCollins) Between a Wolf and a Dog (Georgia Blain, Scribe)...

NZ online children’s books magazine ‘Sapling’ reaches crowdfunding goal

Tuesday, 7 February 2017
A New Zealand online magazine about children’s books has reached its NZ$10,000 (A$9546) crowdfunding goal just over a week into its month-long campaign. The Sapling project is run by Sarah...

Wheelers receive Lifetime Achievement Award from UN tourism agency

Tuesday, 7 February 2017
The United Nations Tourism Organisation has awarded Lonely Planet founders Tony and Maureen Wheeler its annual Lifetime Achievement Award. The Wheelers are the 13th recipient of the award, which is...

Whittaker, Isemonger win ‘Overland’ Judith Wright Poetry Prize

Monday, 6 February 2017
Alison Whittaker and Holly Isemonger have been jointly awarded the 2016 Overland Judith Wright Poetry Prize for New and Emerging Poets. Whittaker won the prize for her poem ‘Many Girls...

Magabala to release teaching resources for Indigenous stories

Monday, 6 February 2017
Indigenous publisher Magabala Books has used a $33,550 grant from the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund to create teaching resources for Indigenous stories, to be delivered via the Copyright Agency’s Reading...

WAYRBA 2017 shortlists announced

Friday, 3 February 2017
The shortlists for the 2017 West Australian Young Readers’ Book Awards (WAYRBA) have been announced. The shortlisted titles in each category are: Picture books Thelma the Unicorn (Aaron Blabey, Scholastic)...

Buck Mulligan’s to host ‘Writers Under the Influence’ author series

Friday, 3 February 2017
Melbourne bar and bookshop Buck Mulligan’s will host a monthly author reading called ‘Writers Under the Influence’, with local writers reading from their favourite authors and their own work. Store...

ABA, APA to host forum for indie authors, booksellers and publishers

Friday, 3 February 2017
The Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) and Australian Publishers Association (APA) are hosting a forum for independent booksellers, publishers and authors in Melbourne on 20 February. Sessions include ‘what booksellers want’,...

Previously banned NZ YA novel ‘Into the River’ optioned for film

Thursday, 2 February 2017
New Zealand author Ted Dawe’s YA novel Into the River (Penguin), which the Film and Literature Board of Review temporarily banned in 2015, has been optioned for film, reports the...

Black Inc. to publish ‘Growing up Aboriginal in Australia’ anthology; call for submissions

Wednesday, 1 February 2017
Black Inc. is calling for submissions for a new anthology, Growing up Aboriginal in Australia, to be published in 2018. The anthology, which will be edited by Anita Heiss, will...

‘Overland’ poetry prize 2016 shortlist announced

Wednesday, 1 February 2017
The shortlist for the 2016 Overland Judith Wright Poetry Prize for New and Emerging Poets has been announced. The eight shortlisted poems are: ‘Many Girls, White Linen’ (Alison Whittaker) ‘Languages...

Full program for Adelaide Writers’ Week announced

Wednesday, 1 February 2017
The full program for Adelaide Writers’ Week, which runs from 4-9 March, has been announced. This year’s festival is dedicated to Elizabeth Harrower, who will be in conversation with Text...

‘Pencilled In’ launches #ReadAsianOz public transport book campaign

Wednesday, 1 February 2017
Queensland literary journal Pencilled In has launched #ReadAsianOz, an initiative that places books by Asian-Australian authors on public transport services to raise the profile of diverse Australian writing. As part...

Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards 2017 winners announced

Wednesday, 1 February 2017
Sydney-based writer, actor and playwright Leah Purcell has won the $100,000 Victorian Prize for Literature for her play The Drover’s Wife (Currency Press) at this year’s Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards....

Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards to waive entry fees for SPN members

Wednesday, 1 February 2017
The Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards, administered by the Wheeler Centre, will waive entry fees for up to three titles from Small Press Network (SPN) members from 2018. Wheeler Centre director...

London longlisted for Wellcome Book Prize

Tuesday, 31 January 2017
Joan London’s novel The Golden Age (Vintage, published in the UK by Europa Editions) has been longlisted for the Wellcome Book Prize in the UK. The annual prize, worth £30,000...

‘Introducing Teddy’ makes ALA ‘Rainbow List’

Tuesday, 31 January 2017
Jessica Walton’s Introducing Teddy (illus by Dougal MacPherson, Bloomsbury) has made the American Library Association’s (ALA) annual Rainbow List’s Top Ten books with significant gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender (LGBT)...