Weekly Book Newsletter (end March 2022)
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26 April 2018

 

ABIAs 2018 shortlists announced

The shortlists for the 2018 Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIAs) have been announced. The titles in each category are: General fiction book of the year... Read more
 
Image. Advertisement: Entries now open: Prime Minister's Literary Awards 2018.

Kibble and Dobbie Awards 2018 longlists announced

The longlists for the 2018 Kibble and Dobbie Literary Awards have been announced. The eight longlisted titles for the $30,000 Nita B Kibble Literary Award... Read more
 

 

O’Grady wins Vogel for ‘The Yellow House’

Brisbane writer Emily O’Grady has won the 2018 Australian/Vogel’s Literary Award for The Yellow House (A&U), a story about ‘the legacies of violence and the... Read more
 
Image. Advertisement: Save the date. #ABIA2018 dinner May 3. Tickets on sale April 3.

 

Sandhu wins Readings Children’s Book Prize 2018

Jo Sandhu has won the 2018 Readings Children’s Book Prize for her middle-grade novel Tarin of the Mammoths: The Exile (Puffin), the first book in... Read more
 

 

black&write! Writing Fellowship 2018 winners announced

The 2018 black&write! Fellowships for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers have been awarded to Gold Coast writer Lystra Bisschop and Sydney-based writer Nardi Simpson.... Read more
 
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Black Inc. sells 'Nobel Prize' middle-grade in seven territories x

Nobel Prize-winner Barry Marshall and Lorna Hendry’s middle-grade time-travel adventure, How to Win a Nobel Prize (illus by Bernard Caleo, Black Inc.), has sold into... Read more
 

 

O’Neill’s forthcoming ‘Drover’s Wives’ sold to UK

Prime Minister’s Literary Award-winner Ryan O’Neill has sold UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Australia and New Zealand) to his Henry Lawson-inspired short-story collection, The Drover’s... Read more
 

 

Creative Victoria forms working group to combat harassment and misconduct

Creative Victoria has formed a working group of industry leaders to combat sexual harassment, bullying and misconduct in Victoria’s creative industries. Formed at the request... Read more
 

 

Belgrave wins 2018 Ernest Scott Prize

Michael Belgrave has won the 2018 Ernest Scott Prize for history for his book Dancing with the King: The Rise and Fall of the King Country,... Read more
 

 

Fraillon shortlisted for CrimeFest Awards

Australian author Zana Fraillon has been shortlisted in the young adult category of the UK CrimeFest Awards, for her book The Ones that Disappeared (Lothian).... Read more
 

 

CBCA announces recipients of 2018 Maurice Saxby Creative Development Program x

The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Victoria Branch has announced the successful applicants for the 2018 Maurice Saxby Creative Development Program, which provides emerging... Read more
 

 

New Frontier signs first licensing deal for new early years imprint

Children’s publisher New Frontier has signed the first licensing deal for its new baby and early years imprint, Catch a Star. The five-year publishing contract... Read more
 

 

Edinburgh Exchange recipients announced

Creative Victoria has announced the recipients of the Edinburgh Exchange, an exchange program between the Melbourne and Edinburgh Cities of Literature. The six Victorian delegates... Read more
 

 

EWF announces inaugural fellowship for emerging writers

The Emerging Writers’ Festival (EWF) has announced it is partnering with State Library Victoria (SLV) to offer a new fellowship for emerging writers. The Emerging... Read more
 

 

Subbed In Chapbook Prize expands in 2018

Sydney-based literary organisation Subbed In is expanding its Chapbook Prize—previously open to NSW residents only—to writers across Australia. Launched last year, the Subbed In Chapbook... Read more
 

 

Shortlist announced for Women’s Prize for Fiction 2018

In the UK, the shortlist for the 2018 Women’s Prize for Fiction has been announced. The six shortlisted titles are: The Idiot (Elif Batuman, Penguin) The Mermaid... Read more
 

 

Nasrallah wins International Prize for Arabic Fiction

Jordanian-Palestinian author Ibrahim Nasrallah has won the 2018 International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF) for his novel The Second War of the Dog (Arab Scientific... Read more
 

 

PEN America launches Online Harassment Field Manual

PEN America has created an online field manual resource to address the rapid rise in the harassment and trolling of US writers and journalists. The... Read more
 

UK report finds 'class pay gap' in publishing industry

A new UK report on representation in the arts has revealed a ‘class pay gap’ in publishing of £23,000 (A$41,900) a year, and found that people... Read more
 

 

UK report finds growing vocabulary deficiency among students

In the UK, a report commissioned by Oxford University Press (OUP) has found the number of students with ‘limited’ vocabularies is increasing, with the majority of... Read more
 

 

UK academics vote on most influential books in history written by women

In the UK, academics, booksellers, publishers and librarians have voted on a list of the top 20 ‘books by women that changed the world’. Covering... Read more
 

Rights round-up

Sales Fiction Author Ryan O’Neill has directly sold UK and Commonwealth rights (ex ANZ) to The Drover’s Wives to Lightning Books. (See news.) Children’s Berbay... Read more
 

 

Bestsellers this week x

Last week’s highest new entry, King of Ashes by Raymond E Feist (HarperCollins) has entered the overall bestsellers chart in tenth position this week, as well as... Read more
 

Clare Strahan's 'The Learning Curves of Vanessa Partridge' x

‘The Learning Curves of Vanessa Partridge is a book that speaks directly to the concerns of older teenage girls. It is a story that prioritises self-care... Read more
 

Quote of the week x

‘Publishers are talking about how much bigger audio is and how much they need to have it, but they’re having their cake and eating it if advances aren’t any different and [the value of audio is] not reflected in what’s offered.’—Literary agent Julia Silk believes publishers need to up their game for audio rights in an increasingly competitive market.

 

 

RiP Beverly Farmer

Australian writer and essayist Beverly Farmer has died, aged 77. Farmer, who won the Patrick White award—traditionally awarded to authors who ‘have made a significant... Read more
 

 

ALIA board election results announced

The results of the Australian Library and Information Association’s (ALIA) 2018 board election have been announced. Helen Ebsworth and Paula Kelly Paull have been elected... Read more
 

 

North Fitzroy Library nominated for 2018 Melbourne Design Awards

The City of Yarra’s Bargoonga Nganjin North Fitzroy Library and Community Hub has been nominated for the 2018 Melbourne Design Awards. The library building’s new... Read more
 

US Senate to consider Marrakesh Treaty on book accessibility for the print disabled

The United States Senate is poised to pass the Marrakesh Treaty Implementation Act, which, if passed, will make an additional 350,000 books available to the... Read more
 

 

Personal growth: 2017’s fastest growing categories x

This year Books+Publishing will publish a regular column from Nielsen BookScan Australia associate director Julie Winters on book data trends. In her first column, Winters... Read more
 

 

Podcast spotlight: The Morning Bell

Established in 2014, the Morning Bell is a literary podcast recorded live at the Brunswick Street Bookstore every second Wednesday. For each episode, a guest joins... Read more
 

The Wheeler Centre invites readers to The Next Chapter writers’ scheme launch

The Wheeler Centre would like to invite you to join the Wheeler Centre Board and VIPs for the launch of our exciting new writers’ scheme, The Next Chapter.

Presented by the Wheeler Centre and supported by the Aesop Foundation, The Next Chapter aims to find the Australian stories that aren’t being told—the voices we’re not hearing—by supporting a new generation of writers, from all sorts of backgrounds. The scheme gives writers the time, support and space they need to develop their work.

Each year, we’ll pick 10 outstanding writers from around Australia and give them $15,000 each to develop their work. We’ll match them with a mentor, and work with them over 12 months and beyond to connect them to publishers and readers.

Across the country—in our regions, in our suburbs, in our cities—we know there are aspiring writers with stories to tell, and we’re looking forward to unearthing them.

The first 20 people to RSVP to rsvp@wheelercentre.com by 5pm Tuesday 1 May will have the chance to attend.

Event details

Event: The Next Chapter launch
Date: Thursday 3 May, 7.30pm-9.30pm
Location: Handpicked Cellar Door, 50 Kensington Street, Chippendale NSW 2008
Bookings: To RSVP, please email the Wheeler Centre by 5pm Tuesday, 1 May.

 

ProQuest contracts Rachael McDiarmid to work with ANZ publishers

ProQuest has contracted Rachael McDiarmid (RM Marketing Services) to work with ANZ publishers to help them with their ebook sales in the global academic library market. Rachael will be working with new sign-ups and existing publishing partners to ensure their participation in the most appropriate models. She can be contacted on 04 097 72 850 or email rachael.mcdiarmid@proquest.com 
 
 
 

 

 

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