Inside the Australian and New Zealand book industry

Image. Advertisement:

Weekly news >

Noni, Black win 2019 Inky Awards

Wednesday, 4 September 2019
Lynette Noni and Holly Black have won the 2019 Inky Awards, presented by State Library Victoria (SLV). Noni’s dystopian YA novel Whisper (Pantera) won the Gold Inky Award for an...

Hachette appoints Adler publisher at large 

Wednesday, 4 September 2019
Hachette Australia has appointed former Melbourne University Publishing (MUP) CEO Louise Adler as publisher at large. On Adler's appointment, Hachette also acquired world rights to new works by Mick Warner...

Affirm signs White for third and fourth novels 

Tuesday, 3 September 2019
Affirm Press has acquired world rights to two new novels by Christian White. Affirm Press publishing director Martin Hughes said: ‘Christian has worked so hard over the past 18 months, promoting...

Cappielli, Mostafa win Viva La Novella VII

Tuesday, 3 September 2019
Seizure has announced New South Wales writers Carly Cappielli and Joshua Mostafa as the joint winners of its seventh annual Viva La Novella competition. Cappielli won for her novella Listurbia,...

Sorensen named 2019 Judy Harris Writer in Residence

Monday, 2 September 2019
The University of Sydney has announced that Tracy Sorensen is the recipient of this year's $100,000 Judy Harris Writer in Residence at its Charles Perkins Centre.  Sorensen will use the...

Finalists announced for Queensland people’s choice award

Monday, 2 September 2019
The State Library of Queensland (SLQ) has announced the finalists for the People's Choice Queensland Book of the Year Award. The finalists are: Boy Swallows Universe (Trent Dalton, HarperCollins) Requiem...

NSW Premier’s History Awards 2019 winners announced

Monday, 2 September 2019
The State Library of NSW (SLNSW) has announced the winners of the 2019 NSW Premier’s History Awards. The winning works in each category are: Australian History Prize ($15,000)  The Bible...

‘The Ruin’ wins best novel at 2019 Davitt Awards

Monday, 2 September 2019
Dervla McTiernan’s novel The Ruin (HarperCollins) has won the award for best adult novel at the 2019 Davitt Awards for crime books by Australian women, presented by Sisters in Crime. The...

Collins to waive franchise fee for independent bookstores 

Friday, 30 August 2019
Collins Booksellers is waiving its usual franchise fee for independent bookstores that want to join the group while keeping their independent identities. Under the arrangement, Collins will waive the initial...

UQP acquires new poetry collection by Ellen van Neerven

Thursday, 29 August 2019
UQP has acquired world rights to Ellen van Neerven’s second poetry collection, Throat. Throat is described by the publisher as 'a collection of poems about whiteness, climate change, extinctions; about...

ASA to track publishing, appearances fees for authors

Thursday, 29 August 2019
The Australian Society of Authors (ASA) has launched rates trackers to record how much authors and illustrators are being paid for publishing agreements and event appearances. The ASA is asking...

Fremantle sells ‘Antarctica’ picture book to US

Wednesday, 28 August 2019
Fremantle Press has sold US rights to Moira Court’s forthcoming picture book Antarctica to Massachusetts-based children’s publisher Charlesbridge. ‘Charlesbridge’s roots are in nature nonfiction, which is what attracted them to...

Banjo Prize 2019 shortlist announced

Wednesday, 28 August 2019
HarperCollins has announced the shortlist for the 2019 Banjo Prize for an unpublished work of commercial fiction. The shortlisted manuscripts are: ‘Beware of Dogs’ (Elizabeth Flann) ‘Nina and Pearl’ (Fleur...

Blue Mountains’ Turning Page Bookshop for sale 

Wednesday, 28 August 2019
The Turning Page Bookshop in the Blue Mountains suburb of Springwood is for sale. Annie Sharkey and Alan Crooks have owned the store for 11 years, and are the business's...

Yang charged with espionage in Beijing

Tuesday, 27 August 2019
Chinese-Australian writer and former Chinese diplomat Yang Hengjun has been formally charged with espionage in Beijing, reports the Guardian. Yang has been detained in China since January, after being arrested while travelling...

Inaugural Terror Australis Festival program launched

Tuesday, 27 August 2019
The program for the inaugural Terror Australis Readers and Writers Festival, which runs in various locations in Tasmania’s Huon Valley from 31 October to 3 November, has been announced. With...

Text acquires new Grenville novel

Tuesday, 27 August 2019
Text has acquired world rights to a new novel by Kate Grenville called A Room Made of Leaves. Following Australian pastoralist and merchant Elizabeth Macarthur, the novel ‘picks apart ideas...

Best wins 2019 Thomas Shapcott Prize

Monday, 26 August 2019
Poet Luke Best has won the 2019 Thomas Shapcott Poetry Prize for his manuscript ‘Cadaver Dog’. Best receives $2000 and a publishing contract with University of Queensland Press (UQP), which...

McDougall wins Special Book Award of China

Monday, 26 August 2019
Australian translator and academic Bonnie Suzanne McDougall has won a Special Book Award of China at the Beijing International Book Fair (BIBF). McDougall was awarded the prize for her work...

ABA announces 2020 conference dates

Friday, 23 August 2019
The Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) has announced that the 96th annual conference and trade exhibition will be held at the Sofitel Wentworth in Sydney from 21–22 June 2020. In conjunction...

Writing WA launches $10,000 literary medal

Friday, 23 August 2019
Writing WA has announced a new literary medal for ‘an individual who has made a substantial contribution to the vitality and success of Western Australia’s literary culture’. Produced by the...

Chew wins 2019 Overland VU Short Story Prize

Friday, 23 August 2019
Joyce Chew's short story ‘Water bodies’ has won this year's Overland Victoria University (VU) Short Story Prize. Chosen from a shortlist announced earlier this month, the winning story 'reflects on...