The Turning Page Bookshop to become co-op
30 September 2020
The owners of the Turning Page Bookshop in the Blue Mountains suburb of Springwood, NSW are in the process of transforming the business into a co-operative, after putting the shop...
Affirm acquires Bontempelli picture book
30 September 2020
Affirm Press has acquired world rights to a children’s picture book by Western Bulldogs AFL player Marcus Bontempelli, via Tom Petroro of TLA. To be co-authored with Fiona Harris, the...
Varuna Writing NSW 2020 fellowships announced
23 September 2020
The recipients of the annual Varuna Writing NSW fellowships have been announced. Kylie Boltin was awarded the general fellowship for her novel Snake Bite. Writing NSW said, ‘With striking prose...
Affirm acquires middle-grade fantasy series
23 September 2020
Affirm Press has acquired world rights to a four-book middle-grade fantasy series by Samantha-Ellen Bound, via Danielle Binks and Jacinta di Mase of Jacinta di Mase Management. The publisher describes...
Police procedural ‘Flood Debris’ wins 2020 Banjo Prize
23 September 2020
HarperCollins Australia has named Dinuka McKenzie the winner of the 2020 Banjo Prize for her 'gripping, pacy police procedural' Flood Debris. McKenzie's manuscript was chosen from a shortlist of four announced...
Avila wins 2020 Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize
16 September 2020
In the UK, Australian writer Jacob P Avila has won the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize for Best Unpublished Manuscript for his self-published novel Cave Diver. Avila receives a world...
APA, Australia Reads to host Indies Virtual Roadshow
16 September 2020
The Australian Publishers Association (APA) and Australia Reads are hosting a free online roadshow showcasing upcoming releases from independent publishers today, Wednesday, 16 September. The 12 independent publishers presenting at...
PRH acquires Madden’s ‘Anything But Fine’
16 September 2020
Penguin Random House Australia (PRH) has acquired ANZ rights to YA novel Anything But Fine by Tobias Madden. The novel’s teenage protagonist Luca Mason has been preparing to audition for...
QBD unrolls Australian Geographic kiosks
16 September 2020
QBD has unrolled three Australian Geographic kiosks within its stores at Carindale, Chermside and Joondalup as part of its retail partnership with the Australian Geographic brand. The partnership also includes...
NT Writers Festival program announced
9 September 2020
The program for this year’s NT Writers Festival, which runs from 1–4 October, has been announced. The festival’s theme is ‘Gunamidirra garawa birditj | when the tides turn’. Live events, including...
Australia Council to hold online discussions about future of arts
9 September 2020
The Australia Council has released a discussion paper ahead of two online ‘town hall’ meetings to discuss the future of the arts and culture industries in light of the Covid-19...
Grattan Street Press shortlisted for higher education award
9 September 2020
Grattan Street Press (GSP), the University of Melbourne's teaching press, has been named a finalist in the Learning Experience category of the Australian Financial Review's (AFR) 2020 Higher Education Awards....
PANZ Book Design Awards 2020 shortlists announced
2 September 2020
The shortlists for the 2020 Publishers Association of New Zealand (PANZ) Book Design Awards have been announced. The shortlisted titles in each category are: Best illustrated book Crafting Aotearoa (ed...
APA Books From Australia website to promote titles at Frankfurt
2 September 2020
The Australian Publishers Association (APA) will promote members’ titles to international publishers on a new export-focused website. According to the APA, the Books from Australia website will be ‘coordinated free...
Inaugural Write North residency recipients announced
2 September 2020
Create NSW and Byron Writers Festival have announced the recipients of the inaugural Write North Writers’ Group Residency, worth almost $40,000. The successful mid-career and established NSW writers' group comprises...
New parliamentary inquiry into Covid-19 impact on arts
2 September 2020
The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Communications and the Arts will report on Australia’s cultural and creative industries and the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on the sector in...
HarperCollins acquires four Hawkins novels
2 September 2020
HarperCollins Australia has acquired ANZ rights to two adult novels and world rights to two children’s novels by Kelli Hawkins via Melanie Ostell at Melanie Ostell Literary. Hawkins' debut Other...
Scribner acquires new Falconer nonfiction work
2 September 2020
Scribner Australia has acquired ANZ rights to Delia Falconer’s new nonfiction work Signs and Wonders from Jane Novak at the Jane Novak Literary Agency. Building on Falconer’s essays ‘Signs and Wonders’...
Ned Kelly Awards 2020 shortlists announced
26 August 2020
The Australian Crime Writers Association (ACWA) has announced the shortlists for this year’s Ned Kelly Awards for Australian crime writing. The shortlisted works in each category are: Best crime fiction...
OzCo report: more Australians reading for pleasure
26 August 2020
The number of Australians reading for pleasure has increased over the three years to 2019, according to the Australia Council’s fourth National Arts Participation Survey, while a Covid-19-specific survey commissioned...
Hardie Grant, RMIT announce new narrative nonfiction prize
26 August 2020
Hardie Grant Books and RMIT Writing and Publishing have established a new biennial developmental prize for narrative nonfiction. Open to published and unpublished Australian writers, the Spark Prize offers $2000...
RWA awards 2020 winners announced
26 August 2020
The winners of the 2020 Romance Writers of Australia (RWA) Romantic Book of the Year awards, known as the Ruby Awards, have been announced. The winners include: Contemporary romance The...
Synchronicity Australia options FitzGerald’s ‘Ash Mountain’ for screen
19 August 2020
Synchronicity Australia, the new Melbourne-based arm of Glasgow production company Synchronicity Films, has acquired screen rights to Helen FitzGerald's forthcoming novel Ash Mountain (Affirm, March 2021). Affirm Press described Ash Mountain...
Hachette announces paid summer internship program
19 August 2020
Hachette Australia has announced it will run a new annual paid internship program ‘for anyone interested in a career in publishing’. The Hachette Australia Summer Internship Program will run for...
Report finds people reading more books due to Covid-19
19 August 2020
A new research report from GlobalWebIndex (GWI) has found 20% of Australians and 26% of New Zealanders surveyed are reading more books due to Covid-19. The coronavirus-focused market research report...
Transit Lounge acquires Papathanasiou’s ‘The Stoning’
19 August 2020
Transit Lounge has acquired world English rights to debut crime fiction novel The Stoning by Peter Papathanasiou, via Martin Shaw from Shaw Literary. Canberra-based Papathanasiou, who published his memoir Little...
Auckland booksellers enter stage three lockdown
12 August 2020
In New Zealand, Auckland bookshops have entered stage three lockdown for at least three days as the country responds to four new cases of Covid-19 contracted from an unknown source....
CBCA Book Week 2020 postponed to October
12 August 2020
This year's CBCA Book Week, which usually runs in late August during term three, will now take place in term four, from October 17–23. The rescheduled dates are due to...
Shortlists for 2020 NSW Premier’s History Awards announced
5 August 2020
The State Library of NSW (SLNSW) has announced the shortlists for the 2020 NSW Premier’s History Awards, worth $15,000 each. The shortlisted works in each category are: Australian history prize...
Queensland Literary Awards 2020 shortlists announced
5 August 2020
The shortlists for the 2020 Queensland Literary Awards have been announced. The shortlisted titles in each category are: Queensland Premier's Award for a Work of State Significance ($25,000) Heartland:...
