Writers Victoria has announced the 11th round of recipients for the Neilma Sidney Literary Travel Fund. The eight successful recipients—who share in a total of... Read more

Simon & Schuster Australia (S&S) has announced the first acquisition by Jane Palfreyman as Summit Books publishing director is We Are the Stars, a memoir... Read more

Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired ANZ rights to debut author Jennifer Trevelyan’s literary coming-of-age story A Beautiful Family, at an auction by Grace Heifetz at Left... Read more

Simon & Schuster (S&S) has acquired world rights to a nonfiction book from teacher Gavin McCormack, titled Raising Resilient Children: 7 ways to nurture lifelong... Read more

The International Publishers Association (IPA) has announced the 2024 shortlist for the Prix Voltaire. This year’s shortlist, announced at the World Expression Forum, includes: Osman... Read more

Federal arts minister Tony Burke introduced a bill to parliament on 5 June to formally establish Writing Australia and First Nations Arts as bodies within Creative Australia, with Writing Australia to commence operations (following the passage of the bill) in July next year. Meanwhile, a few book industry figures were among those recognised in the 2024 King’s Birthday Honours, including Bundjalung artist and illustrator Bronwyn Bancroft (AO), poet and scholar Mark O’Connor (OAM) and writer Robyn Davidson (OAM). And, on 7 June, the winners of the 2024 Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards were announced.

In other awards news this week, in Aotearoa New Zealand, the finalists for the 2024 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults were announced; and in Australia, The Occupation by Chloe Adams won the 2024 Penguin Literary Prize, the shortlist for the 2024 Australian Literature Society (ALS) Gold Medal was announced, and so was the shortlist for the 2024 Dick and Joan Green Family Award for Tasmanian History, and Writers Victoria announced the recipients for the eleventh round of the Neilma Sidney Literary Travel Fund.

In the US, Publishing Perspectives reported that several educational publishers filed a lawsuit against Google, alleging that it violates the Copyright Act and supports piracy; meanwhile, in the UK, the shortlists for the 2024 Orwell Prizes for political writing were announced. Also in international news, the International Publishers Association has announced the 2024 shortlist for the Prix Voltaire.

This week, in rights news, Penguin Random House announced that Fiona McIntosh’s The Pearl Thief is being adapted into a feature film; Upswell acquired world rights to a new collection of poetry from Yvette Henry Holt, titled Fitzroy North 3068; Allen & Unwin acquired ANZ rights to debut author Jennifer Trevelyan’s literary coming-of-age story, A Beautiful Family; Simon & Schuster Australia acquired world rights to a nonfiction title from teacher Gavin McCormack, titled Raising Resilient Children: 7 ways to nurture lifelong learners; and S&S announced that the first acquisition by Jane Palfreyman as Summit Books publishing director is We Are the Stars, a memoir by Gina Chick, winner of the inaugural season of Alone Australia.

Elsewhere in related news, the Indigenous Literacy Foundation received the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award at a ceremony in Sweden earlier this month, following the announcement of the win during the Bologna Children’s Book Fair in April. And, following the release of the 2024 King’s Birthday Honours list, ArtsHub wrote on the ‘appalling lack of King’s Birthday Honours for the arts’.

Top 10 bestsellers The Serpent and the Beast (The Bad Guys #19) (Aaron Blabey, Scholastic) Think Twice (Harlan Coben, Century) Mind Games (Nora Roberts, Piatkus)... Read more

Melanie Saward’s Love Unleashed is a bingeable, warm and soulful romantic comedy. Saward (whose debut novel, Burn, was released in 2023) draws on her own... Read more

As citizens of the global West, we are learning that sitting with discomfort is necessary to create change. Slick, by journalist Royce Kurmelovs (Just Money,... Read more

Winter of the Wolf is Amanda Willimott’s debut novel, inspired by the real-life trial of Gilles Garnier, who was convicted of being a werewolf in... Read more

John Byrnes’s The Youngest Son follows the fortunes of three siblings from a working-class Sydney family in the 1930s and 40s. Bob, the titular youngest,... Read more

The year is 1866, and 11-year-old Hester’s life looks like something out of A Series of Unfortunate Events: her father is lost at sea, her... Read more

Cartoonist and illustrator Fiona Katauskas’s debut middle-grade novel, Hi from Outer Space, is a wonderfully wacky sci-fi/comedy that will appeal to readers of Nat Amoore,... Read more

Grandmother takes her young grandchildren on a walk up a mountain in Trouwerner (Tasmania). As they walk together, Grandmother retells an ancient story of creation,... Read more

Brooke Scobie’s debut series, Yarn Quest, begins with The Search for the Story Realm (with the next two books in the series releasing concurrently) and... Read more

British television personality, medical journalist and author Michael Mosley has died, aged 67. As an advocate for intermittent fasting and low-carbohydrate diets, Mosley wrote the... Read more

Books+Publishing is partnering with US trade news magazine Publishers Weekly to provide our subscribers with exclusive access to the weekly digital edition of PW magazine.... Read more

Simon & Schuster Australia is thrilled to announce their partnership with Good360 to donate books to children in need. This partnership kicks off with the release of a very special children’s book, The Wrong Shoes by Tom Percival, which explores the experience of child poverty in a sensitive and relatable way. Suited for middle-grade readers, this book contains Percival’s iconic illustrations and a story full of heart and hope.

For every copy of The Wrong Shoes sold, Simon & Schuster Australia will donate a free book to Good360, which donates books to children in need.

Teacher’s notes and lesson plans are also available to download for educators, classrooms, and librarians.

The Wrong Shoes by Tom Percival (9781398536104) is out now.

In partnership with the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund, the Sydney Review of Books invites applications for the 2024 Emerging Critics Fellowship program.

Applications through our Submittable portal close 11:59pm, Monday, 17 June 2024.

Since 2016, the CA-SRB Emerging Critics Fellowship program has fostered diverse, provocative, and original critical voices, and created pathways for emerging critics to develop their practice. In this year’s program, we will offer four fellowships to the brightest emerging Australian literary critics. At least one fellowship will be awarded to a First Nations writer, and another to a culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) writer.

Fellowships will also reflect regional diversity and be allocated to critics from a minimum of three states and territories.

Each Fellow will receive a stipend of $3,000 to write three 2,000-word essays on new Australian books over a twelve-month period for publication in the SRB. Fellows will work closely with SRB editorial staff and receive mentoring and editorial support.

Judges for the 2024 CA-SRB Emerging Critics Fellowships are: James Jiang (SRB Editor), Harriet McInerney (Publisher, NewSouth Publishing), and Prithvi Varatharajan (Emerging Critics Fellow, 2020).

For more information, including eligibility, application instructions, and tips, visit: sydneyreviewofbooks.com/callout-srb-emerging-critics-2024/