Tree change: Melissa Lucashenko on ‘Mullumbimby’
Melissa Lucashenko’s novel Mullumbimby (UQP) is the story of one woman’s attempt to build a new life in country Australia. Reviewer Max Oliver describes it as ‘a modern tale of...
Second act: Karen Foxlee on ‘The Midnight Dress’
Karen Foxlee suffered from severe ‘second novel syndrome’ while working on her suspenseful drama The Midnight Dress. She spoke to Melanie Barton. How did it feel to work on your...
Birch wins Melbourne Prize for Literature Civic Choice Award
Tony Birch has won this year’s Melbourne Prize for Literature Civic Choice Award for his novel Blood (UQP). Birch was named as the recipient of the $5000 award on 23...
Wharton wins OzCo Lifetime Achievement in Literature Award
The Australia Council for the Arts has awarded Indigenous writer and poet Herb Wharton the Australia Council Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature. The $50,000 award is presented annually to...
Interview with Kristy Chambers on ‘Get Well Soon!’ (UQP)
Kristy Chambers’ stories about nursing used to make her friends ‘laugh, cry or throw up over coffee’—so she turned them into a book, Get Well Soon! (UQP, September). Chambers spoke...
Get Well Soon! My (Un)Brilliant Career as a Nurse (Kristy Chambers, UQP)
*Nonfiction Television audiences have been inundated with programs that attempt to depict the medical profession. Brisbane nurse Kristy Chambers’ memoir Get Well Soon! embodies the reason for their popularity: our tendency...
Queensland Literary Awards receives $20,000 from CAL
The Queensland Literary Awards (QLA), the volunteer-led awards that have replaced the axed Queensland Premier’s Awards, has received $20,000 from the Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) Cultural Fund to administer and...
Black Mountain (Venero Armanno, UQP)
This intriguing novel takes you from a small coastal Queensland town to the sulphur minefields of Sicily. There are elements of Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s The Shadow of the Wind and...
City (James Roy, UQP)
In any move to a new city, familiarity takes time. The links between people and places aren’t always immediately apparent, and although one day you might find yourself strolling the...
Mazin Grace (Dylan Coleman, UQP)
Winner of the 2011 David Unaipon Award for Indigenous Writing, this is a remarkable novel. Based on the author’s mother’s recollections of growing up on a South Australian Lutheran Mission...
Interview with Dylan Coleman on ‘Mazin Grace’
Winner of the David Unaipon Award for Indigenous Writing, Dylan Coleman’s novel is ‘in turn heart-wrenching, amusing, tragic and resilient’, writes reviewer Max Oliver. He spoke to the author. This...
American Stories: Tales of Hope and Anger (Michael Brissenden, UQP)
ABC TV’s Michael Brissenden has written a sharply observed and hugely entertaining collection of essays on contemporary American life. He covers the expected turf—healthcare, the war on drugs, asylum seekers,...
Publishers support agreement to reduce PIR timeframe
Most major Australian publishers have said that they support the Book Industry Speed to Market Initiative, developed by the Australian Publishers Association (APA) and the Australian Booksellers Association (ABA), which...
Commonwealth Writers Prize shortlist announced, Text scoops three nominations
The shortlist for the 2012 Commonwealth Book Prize and Commonwealth Short Story Prize has been announced. Text Publishing received three of the four Australian nominations for the Commonwealth Book Prize among a total...
Miles Franklin 2012 longlist announced
The longlist for this year’s Miles Franklin Literary Award has been announced. The longlisted titles are: Blood (Tony Birch, UQP) The Spirit of Progress (Steven Carroll, Fourth Estate) Spirit House...
Australian, New Zealand titles among IPG ebooks pulled from Amazon
Australian and New Zealand publishers are among those affected by Amazon's decision not to sell Kindle editions distributed by US book distributor Independent Publishers Group (IPG), after IPG and Amazon...
Colin Roderick Award shortlist announced
The shortlist for this year's Colin Roderick Award has been announced. The shortlisted titles are:Singing Saltwater Country: Journey to the Songlines of Carpentaria (John Bradley & Yanyuwa Families, A&U)The Vintage and...
Colin Roderick Award shortlist announced
The shortlist for this year's Colin Roderick Award has been announced. The shortlisted titles are:Singing Saltwater Country: Journey to the Songlines of Carpentaria (John Bradley & Yanyuwa Families, A&U)The Vintage and...
‘Indelible Ink’ wins Age Book of the Year
The winners of the 2011 Age Book of the Year awards were announced on 25 August at the opening keynote address of the Melbourne Writers Festival. Indelible Ink (Fiona McGregor, Scribe) won the...
‘Indelible Ink’ wins Age book of the year
The winners of the 2011 Age Book of the Year awards were announced last night at the opening keynote address of the Melbourne Writers Festival. Indelible Ink (Fiona McGregor, Scribe) won...