Weekly Book Newsletter (end March 2022)
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13 June 2019

 

Pages & Pages to close

Pages & Pages Booksellers in Mosman, Sydney, will close on 30 August following the owners’ decision not to renew their lease. Chris and Phil Page... Read more
 
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Hollier joins MUP as CEO x

Melbourne University Publishing (MUP) has appointed Nathan Hollier as its new chief executive officer. Hollier, who has been director of Monash University Publishing for nine... Read more
 

 

Morrissey, Cunningham, Wood awarded in 2019 Queen’s Birthday Honours

A number of Australian authors and industry figures were recognised in this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours. Di Morrissey, author of 25 novels and five children’s... Read more
 
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Byron Writers Festival program announced

The program for this year’s Byron Writers Festival, which runs from 2–4 August, has been announced. More than 140 local and international guests will take... Read more
 

 

CBCA conference 2019 highlights children’s humour writing x

Around 320 delegates attended the Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) conference in Canberra from 31 May to 2 June, where children’s humour writing was... Read more
 
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Boochani, Kneen, Coleman to contribute to Affirm collection on homelessness

Affirm Press will publish a new ‘profit-for-purpose’ book, an anthology of stories by writers who have experienced homelessness. We Are Here: Stories of home, place... Read more
 

 

Netflix to adapt ‘Thelma the Unicorn’ for animated musical feature

Aaron Blabey’s picture book Thelma the Unicorn (Scholastic) will be adapted into an animated musical film by Netflix. The project will be adapted by husband-and-wife... Read more
 

 

Booktopia launches book club; McHardy joins as head of publishing x

Booktopia will launch a members-only book club, with former Simon & Schuster Australia managing director Franscois McHardy joining the company to oversee the program. As... Read more
 

 

Transit Lounge acquires new novel from Krauth

Transit Lounge has acquired world rights to Kirsten Krauth’s new novel Almost a Mirror in a deal brokered by Jo Butler. Recently shortlisted for the... Read more
 

 

‘At the End of Holyrood Lane’ wins SCBWI Crystal Kite Award

Children’s picture book At the End of Holyrood Lane (Dimity Powell & Nicky Johnston, EK Books) has won the Australian and New Zealand division of... Read more
 

 

Parrish wins Lambda award for graphic novel

Canada-based Australian comics artist Tommi Parrish has won the 2019 Lambda Literary Award for a graphic novel for their book The Lie and How We... Read more
 

 

Rachel Funari Prize for Fiction 2019 shortlist announced

Lip magazine has announced the shortlist for the 2019 Rachel Funari Prize for Fiction. The shortlisted stories are: ‘Inheritance’ by Elizabeth Flux ‘How to Cook... Read more
 

 

Chloe Wilson wins ‘Iowa Review’ Award for fiction

Melbourne writer Chloe Wilson has won the Iowa Review Award for fiction for her story ‘Tongue-Tied’. Wilson receives US$1500 (A$2150) and publication in the December... Read more
 

Melbourne Spoken Word & Poetry Festival program announced

The program for the 2019 Melbourne Spoken Word & Poetry Festival, running from 12–28 July, has been announced. More than 60 events will be held... Read more
 

Booktopia shortlisted for online retail awards

Online bookseller Booktopia has been shortlisted in several categories in the 2019 Online Retail Industry Awards (ORIAs). Booktopia is a finalist for Best Pureplay Retailer... Read more
 

 

NZ Book Awards for Children and YA 2019 finalists announced

The shortlists for the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults have been announced. The shortlisted titles in each category are: Picture book... Read more
 

PANZ Book Design Awards 2019 shortlists announced

The shortlists for the 2019 Publishers Association of New Zealand (PANZ) Book Design Awards have been announced. The shortlisted titles in each category are: Best... Read more
 

Ngaio Marsh Award 2019 longlist announced

The longlist for this year’s Ngaio Marsh Award for New Zealand crime fiction has been announced, featuring a work begun by Ngaio Marsh herself during... Read more
 

Barnes & Noble sold to Waterstones owner Elliott Advisors

In the US, hedge fund Elliott Advisors has agreed to buy bookselling chain Barnes & Noble (B&N), reports Publishers Weekly. Under the agreement, Elliott will... Read more
 

 

Ruskovich wins 2019 International Dublin Literary Award for ‘Idaho’

US writer Emily Ruskovich has won the €100,000 (A$162,930) Dublin International Literary award for her debut novel Idaho (Vintage). Idaho follows a family living in the... Read more
 

 

Jones wins 2019 Women’s Prize for Fiction for ‘An American Marriage’

American author Tayari Jones has won the 2019 Women’s Prize for Fiction for her novel An American Marriage (Vintage). The book follows newlyweds Celestial and... Read more
 

Ebury restructures staff around audience hubs

In the UK, Penguin nonfiction imprint Ebury is restructuring its staff around four audience hubs to bring publicity and marketing closer to editorial, reports the... Read more
 

 

South African publisher awarded AAP International Freedom to Publish Award

In South Africa, NB Publishers has been awarded the Association of American Publishers’ (AAP) International Freedom to Publish Award for its book The President’s Keepers... Read more
 

 

Rights round-up x

Sales Fiction Fiona Henderson at Simon & Schuster Australia has sold North American rights to The Sunday Girl (Pip Drysdale) to Sourcebooks editorial director Shana... Read more
 

 

Publicity round-up x

Books+Publishing’s weekly publicity round-up covers forthcoming publicity for Australian and internationally authored books due to appear in Australian media over the coming weeks. Fiction &... Read more
 

 

Bestsellers: ‘Dark Emu’ and ‘Young Dark Emu’ in charts x

Boy Swallows Universe (Trent Dalton, Fourth Estate) has reclaimed the top spot on this week’s bestseller chart, relegating last week’s number one, Everything is F*cked... Read more
 

Dion Beasley & Johanna Bell’s ‘Cheeky Dogs: To Lake Nash and Back’

‘Cheeky Dogs: To Lake Nash and Back transcends the picture book genre, much in the way that Shaun Tan’s work does. Beasley’s story also presents... Read more
 

James Daunt: Barnes & Noble stores ‘need a little botox’

‘Elliott expects, at some point, to sell B&N for a lot more than they bought it for—they expect to make tons and tons of money. But they also know that they will only do that if we can make the business shinier, bigger, and better … The simple fact is that B&N needs money: people want to shop in places that look modern, clean, and inviting. The B&N stores look tired and need a little botox.’—Waterstones CEO James Daunt, who will take over as B&N CEO once the purchase by hedge fund Elliott Advisors is complete, says he wants to arrest the decline in sales and return B&N to growth.

 

 

RiP Philip Robinson

Robinsons Bookshop founder Philip Robinson has died, aged 90. Robinson and his wife Moira opened Robinsons Bookshop in Frankston, on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, in 1963.... Read more
 

 

Vale Christobel Mattingley

Author Christobel Mattingley has died, aged 87. Allen & Unwin executive publisher, books for children and young adults Erica Wagner says: ‘Her passing is truly... Read more
 

Librarians recognised in Queen’s Birthday Honours

Two librarians have been awarded a Medal (OAM) in the General Division in the Queen’s Birthday Honours. Geelong Regional Library Corporation CEO Patti Manolis received... Read more
 

 

Queensland Memory Awards winners announced

The recipients of the Queensland Memory Awards, which include a range of research fellowships and awards to recognise contributions to the study and preservation of... Read more
 

 

Staying relevant: Robbie Egan on his plans for the ABA

Ahead of the Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) 2019 conference, Books+Publishing spoke to ABA CEO Robbie Egan, who took over the role from Joel Becker in... Read more
 

 

The regional bookshops competing with Big W x

Brad Jefferies speaks to independent booksellers in regional areas about the impending closure of around 30 Big W stores. Reactions were mixed when it was... Read more
 

 

Meet the ABA Young Booksellers of the Year: Kate Adams from Better Read Than Dead

In the lead-up to the Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) 2019 conference, Books+Publishing spoke to each of the five shortlisted nominees for the Young Bookseller of... Read more
 

 

Meet the ABA Young Booksellers of the Year: Simon McDonald from Potts Point Bookshop

In the lead-up to the Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) 2019 conference, Books+Publishing spoke to each of the five shortlisted nominees for the Young Bookseller of... Read more
 

Varuna Residential Fellowships open for applications

Varuna the National Writers’ House invites writers from across Australia to apply for a Varuna Residential Fellowship. The fellowship offers writers working across a wide... Read more

Congratulations to Anna Fienberg

Allen & Unwin extends its heartfelt congratulations to Anna Fienberg for being made a Member of the Order of Australia in the Queen’s Birthday honours for her services to literature.

Anna Fienberg’s career spans an impressive forty years. She has written over forty books for children and young adults that have been translated into 27 languages and sold in 35 territories. Anna Fienberg’s first book with illustrator Kim Gamble, The Magnificent Nose and Other Stories, was published by Allen & Unwin in 1991 and won the CBCA’s Book of the Year Award. This book sparked a long-time collaboration, and Anna and Kim went on to work together for over thirty years until his untimely death in 2016.

Anna and Kim are best-known for their series about Tashi, a character made up by Anna and her mother Barbara. Since the first book was published in 1995, the Tashi series has sold over one million copies. Allen & Unwin will be publishing a number of Tashi books to celebrate Tashi’s 25th anniversary in 2020 as well as a new novel by Anna in 2021.

 
 
 
 
 

 

 

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