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PW conference on AI and book publishing

Wednesday, 11 October 2023
Publishers Weekly (PW) hosted an AI webinar, Artificial Intelligence: Revolution and Opportunity in Trade Publishing, on 27 September, led by digital publishing analyst Thad McIlroy and online strategy director Peter...

Inaugural Stella Day Out announced

Wednesday, 11 October 2023
Stella has announced the inaugural Stella Day Out, a free one-day literary festival that ‘celebrates and promotes the outstanding contributions of women and non-binary writers to Australian literature’. The event...

Richell Prize 2023 shortlist announced

Logo for the Richell Prize, featuring a swooping bird Wednesday, 11 October 2023
Hachette, in partnership with the Emerging Writers’ Festival (EWF), has announced the shortlist for the 2023 Richell Prize for Emerging Writers. The five shortlisted entries are: ‘When I Was Your...

Introducing Key People 

Wednesday, 11 October 2023
Earlier this year, publishing professionals Lou Johnson and Jeanne Ryckmans set up a new literary agency, Key People Literary Management. With a connection going back to their time as colleagues...

Newcastle Poetry Prize 2023 shortlist announced

Wednesday, 11 October 2023
The Hunter Writers’ Centre has announced the 2023 shortlist for the $15,000 Newcastle Poetry Prize, with several poets reaching the shortlist with more than one entry. Shortlisted poets include: Eileen...

Pickard appointed OUP ANZ general manager 

Wednesday, 11 October 2023
OUP ANZ has announced that former operations director Selina Pickard is returning to the organisation in the role of general manager. At OUP, Pickard was previously a digital and creative...

The Community Publishing Research Project

Wednesday, 11 October 2023
The Community Publishing in Regional Australia project team comprises academic researchers Beth Driscoll, Kim Wilkins, Sandra Phillips and Alexandra Dane. With funding from the Australian Research Council, the project runs...

Larrikin House acquires two graphic novels

Tuesday, 10 October 2023
Larrikin House has acquired world rights to two graphic novels set for release in 2024. One title is Ultra Violet by Cristy Burne, illustrated by Rebel Challenger, which ‘follows Violet, a science...

Tighe wins 2023 Varuna-NEWC Fellowship 

Author photograph of Matthew Tighe Tuesday, 10 October 2023
The New England Writers’ Centre (NEWC)—in partnership with Varuna, the National Writers’ House—has announced Matthew Tighe as the winner of the 2023 Varuna-NEWC Fellowship. Tighe will work on his steampunk...

Rainbow Road board books recalled

Tuesday, 10 October 2023
Eight books in the Rainbow Road board book series, published by Make Believe Ideas, are being recalled because of concerns they could cause a choking hazard. In a statement published...

Writing WA to present 2024 Perth Writers Weekend

Tuesday, 10 October 2023
Perth Festival has formed a partnership with Writing WA to present the Perth Writers Weekend at Perth Festival 2024. To be held on 23–25 February 2024, the revamped Writers Weekend...

Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction shortlist

Tuesday, 10 October 2023
In the UK, the shortlist for this year’s Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction has been announced. The six shortlisted books are: Time to Think: The inside story of the collapse...

Kayser appointed Murdoch Books publisher 

Monday, 9 October 2023
Murdoch Books has appointed Melissa Kayser as publisher, in a newly created position. Kayser, who will be based in Melbourne, joins Murdoch from Hardie Grant, where she was most recently...

Doig wins NZ$25,000 CLNZ/NZSA Writers’ Award

Monday, 9 October 2023
Tom Doig has been awarded the 2023 Copyright Licensing New Zealand (CLNZ) and the New Zealand Society of Authors (NZSA) Te Puni Kaituhi O Aotearoa (PEN NZ Inc) Writers’ Award,...

Goldsmiths Prize 2023 shortlist announced

Monday, 9 October 2023
In the UK, the shortlist for the 2023 Goldsmiths Prize, worth £10,000 (A$19,170), has been announced. The shortlisted novels are: Lori & Joe (Amy Arnold, Prototype) The Long Form (Kate...

Leane wins 2023 David Harold Tribe Poetry Award

Monday, 9 October 2023
Jeanine Leane has won the University of Sydney's 2023 David Harold Tribe Poetry Award, worth $20,000. Leane's poem 'Water under the bridge' was chosen from a record of 522 poems,...

Bendigo moves back to August 

Friday, 6 October 2023
Bendigo Writers Festival has announced it will return to an August time slot for its 2024 event, with festival director Rosemary Sorensen leaving the role. The three-day festival will next...

Hardie Grant sells UK publishing arm to PRH 

Friday, 6 October 2023
Hardie Grant has sold its UK publishing arm, comprising Hardie Grant UK and Quadrille, to Penguin Random House (PRH) UK. Hardie Grant UK is a publisher of high-end, high-quality illustrated...

Fosse wins Nobel Prize

Friday, 6 October 2023
Norwegian author and playwright Jon Fosse has been awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature for ‘his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable’. Fosse is the...

HarperCollins acquires Wilson memoir 

Cover image of the book Rebel Rising by Rebel Wilson, featuring a portrait of the actor wearing a sparkling red dress Thursday, 5 October 2023
HarperCollins has acquired UK and Commonwealth rights to actor Rebel Wilson’s memoir Rebel Rising, via Matilda Forbes Watson at WME, reports the Bookseller. HarperCollins UK managing director and publisher Sarah...

Antigny steps down at Pantera, Draper promoted 

Thursday, 5 October 2023
Pantera Press has announced the promotion of senior publicist Lauren Draper to the role of head of publicity and communications, as publicity director Léa Antigny steps down to 'move in...

Affirm acquires Brissenden novel 

An author photograph of Michael Brissenden, who is looking off-camera Thursday, 5 October 2023
Affirm has acquired ANZ rights to Smoke, a new crime thriller from journalist Michael Brissenden, via Shane Salerno and Daniel Pilkington of The Story Factory. The publisher described Smoke as...

National Book Award finalists announced

Thursday, 5 October 2023
In the US, the finalists for the 2023 National Book Awards have been announced. The shortlisted titles are: Fiction Chain-Gang All-Stars (Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Pantheon) Temple Folk (Aaliyah Bilal, S&S)...

Amplify Bookstore’s summer picks 

Wednesday, 4 October 2023
Amplify Bookstore is an independent online bookseller specialising in books by Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) authors, founded by Jing Xuan Teo and Marina Sano. Here, they share their top...