Anita Heiss on ‘Dirrayawadha’
Tuesday, 18 June 2024
Anita Heiss is one of Australia’s most prolific and celebrated authors, known for her works across genres including nonfiction, historical fiction, commercial fiction and children's books. Books+Publishing reviewer Melissa Mantle...
Anita Heiss recommends
Tuesday, 18 June 2024
I just re-read Vivienne Cleven’s Bitin’ Back, published as part of the UQP First Nations Classics series. Hands down, this is one of the funniest books I have ever read,...
A&U acquires two Nix novels
Tuesday, 18 June 2024
Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired ANZ rights to Garth Nix’s adult science fiction novel Massif, in a two-book deal via Fiona Inglis at Curtis Brown Australia. US rights to...
Transit Lounge acquires Lyons-Lee gothic literary fiction
Tuesday, 18 June 2024
Transit Lounge has acquired world rights to The Haunting of Mr and Mrs Stevenson, a second novel from Belinda Lyons-Lee. Described by the publisher as ‘gothic literary fiction in the...
Ross wins final Vogel
Tuesday, 18 June 2024
First Year by Kristina Ross has won this year’s $20,000 Australian/Vogel’s Literary Award, for an unpublished manuscript by an author under the age of 35. First Year follows Maeve, a...
Ortiz wins 2024 Dorothy Hewett Award
Tuesday, 18 June 2024
Kaya Ortiz has won the 2024 Dorothy Hewett Award for their unpublished manuscript, Past and Parallel Lives. Ortiz receives a publishing contract and manuscript development with UWA Publishing, and $10,000...
Stella announces Stella Count return, Stella on the Go initiative
Tuesday, 18 June 2024
Stella has announced that the Stella Count—an ongoing research project tracking gender bias in Australian reviews—is returning. Started in 2012, the Stella Count went on hiatus in 2020. This followed...
BookPeople 2024 Book of the Year, Bookseller of the Year winners announced
Tuesday, 18 June 2024
BookPeople has announced the winners of the 2024 Book of the Year Awards, and the Bookseller of the Year awards. Adult fiction Edenglassie (Melissa Lucashenko, UQP) Adult nonfiction Wifedom: Mrs Orwell’s...
S&S to distribute MUP
Monday, 17 June 2024
Melbourne University Publishing (MUP) will partner with Simon & Schuster (S&S) for its sales and distribution in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand from February next year. MUP titles are currently...
‘The Story of Art Without Men’ tops BWF charts at ‘record-breaking’ festival
Monday, 17 June 2024
The 2024 Brisbane Writers Festival (BWF), which ran from 30 May until 2 June, was ‘a record-breaking festival across box office and book sales as well as audience attendance’, according...
Booktopia in voluntary trading suspension
Monday, 17 June 2024
Trading of Booktopia shares on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) is suspended, pending an announcement from the company. Booktopia requested a trading halt on Friday, 13 June, anticipating it would...
Ganeshananthan, Klein win Women’s Prizes
Monday, 17 June 2024
In the UK, Brotherless Night by US author V V Ganeshananthan (Viking) has won the 2024 Women’s Prize for Fiction, and Doppelganger: A trip into the mirror world by Canadian...
Zheng wins 2024 Island Nonfiction Prize
Monday, 17 June 2024
Island has announced that Cherry Zheng is the winner of the 2024 Island Nonfiction Prize for the piece ‘Fucking with Chineseness’. Zheng is a writer of Cantonese heritage, who was...
Saleh wins Anne Elder Award 2023
Monday, 17 June 2024
Australian Poetry has announced Sara M Saleh as the winner of the Anne Elder Award 2023 for a first book of poetry for The Flirtation of Girls/Ghazal el-Banat (UQP, 2023)....
Stills wins 2024 Text Prize
Monday, 17 June 2024
Melbourne writer Caroline Stills has won the 2024 Text Prize for her debut middle-grade novel A Gift from the Birds. Chosen from a shortlist of five announced earlier this month,...
‘Hungry Ghosts’ wins 2024 Walter Scott Prize
Friday, 14 June 2024
Kevin Jared Hosein has won the £25,000 (A$47,648) Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction for the novel Hungry Ghosts (Bloomsbury), reports the Bookseller. Set in Trinidad during the 1940s, Hungry...
Ultimo acquires Tunnicliffe novel
Thursday, 13 June 2024
Ultimo Press has acquired rights to Hannah Tunnicliffe’s domestic noir The Pool. The publisher said The Pool ‘explores the choices and challenges that come after a devastating event through a cast of...
Former Hachette Livre CEO launches publisher, partners with S&S
Thursday, 13 June 2024
Former Hachette Livre CEO Arnaud Nourry has launched a new group of publishing houses in France, reports the Bookseller. The company, Les Nouveaux Éditeurs, has entered a partnership with Simon...
Karajia and Environment Award for Children’s Literature shortlists announced
Thursday, 13 June 2024
The Wilderness Society has announced the shortlists for the 2024 Environment Award for Children’s Literature and the Karajia Award for First Nations children’s storytelling. Shortlisted titles in each category include:...
Island Nonfiction Prize 2024 shortlist announced
Thursday, 13 June 2024
Island has announced the shortlist for its annual nonfiction prize. Shortlisted essays for the prize include: ‘A Story-Shaped Life’ (Gan Ainm) ‘Writing Task 1’ (Suri Matondkar) ‘seeing Ningaloo’ (Jenny Sinclair)...
Summit Books to publish memoir from ‘Alone Australia’ winner
Wednesday, 12 June 2024
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 by Gina Chick, winner of...
Neilma Sidney Literary Travel Fund recipients announced
Wednesday, 12 June 2024
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 $50,419—are: Elfy Scott (NSW), to...
S&S acquires McCormack’s ‘Raising Resilient Children’
Wednesday, 12 June 2024
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 learners, via literary agent Daniel...
A&U acquires Trevelyan debut novel
Wednesday, 12 June 2024
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 Bank Literary on behalf of...
2024 Prix Voltaire shortlist announced
Wednesday, 12 June 2024
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 Kavala, Türkiye Dušan Gojkov, Balkan...
McIntosh’s ‘The Pearl Thief’ to be adapted for film
Tuesday, 11 June 2024
Penguin Random House (PRH) has announced Fiona McIntosh’s The Pearl Thief is being adapted into a feature film. Made Up Stories, led by Bruna and Steve Hutensky, will produce the...
Bill introduced to establish Writing Australia, First Nations Arts bodies
Tuesday, 11 June 2024
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. Following on from...
Orwell Prizes 2024 shortlists announced
Tuesday, 11 June 2024
In the UK, the shortlists for the 2024 Orwell Prizes for political writing have been announced. The titles shortlisted for the political writing book prize are: The Achilles Trap: Saddam...
WA Premier’s Book Awards 2024 winners announced
Tuesday, 11 June 2024
The winners of the 2024 Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards have been announced. At the awards, presented on 7 June at the State Library of Western Australia, novelist Gail Jones...
Book industry figures recognised in King’s Birthday Honours
Tuesday, 11 June 2024
Several book industry figures were among those recognised in the 2024 King’s Birthday Honours. Bundjalung artist and illustrator Bronwyn Bancroft was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia (AO), for ‘significant...
