Vale Archie Roach
Wednesday, 3 August 2022
Indigenous Australian singer, songwriter, activist and storyteller Archie Roach has died, aged 66. Born in Mooroopna, Victoria, Roach was a child of the Stolen Generations, having been forcibly removed from...
Vale David Ireland
Wednesday, 3 August 2022
Novelist David Ireland has died, aged 94. The author of 10 novels, beginning with The Chantic Bird in 1968, Ireland won the Miles Franklin Literary Award three times: in 1971...
Vale Suzanne Bellamy
Wednesday, 13 July 2022
Artist, writer and scholar Suzanne Bellamy died on 20 June in Braidwood, NSW. Spinifex Press publisher Susan Hawthorne writes: Spinifex Press is saddened by the death of artist, writer and...
Vale Jean Ferguson
Wednesday, 13 July 2022
Book industry leader Jean Ferguson OAM passed away aged 90 on Sunday, July 3. Angus Dalton, Ferguson’s grandson, writes: ‘If you are looking for a fascinating, compulsive industry where one...
Vale Frank Moorhouse
Wednesday, 29 June 2022
Frank Moorhouse, the author of 18 books including the 'Edith Trilogy', has died aged 83. Penguin Random House Australia writes: Born in Nowra, Frank Moorhouse worked in newspapers and arts...
Vale Caroline Jones
Wednesday, 25 May 2022
Broadcaster, television journalist and writer Caroline Jones has died, aged 84. Jones, who presented the ABC radio program The Search for Meaning, authored several books based on the program, as...
Vale Blaise van Hecke
Thursday, 17 March 2022
Blaise van Hecke, co-founder and publisher of Melbourne-based Busybird Publishing, died suddenly on Sunday, 13 March. She was 53 years old. Small Press Network (SPN) general manager Tim Coronel writes:...
Vale Jordie Albiston
Wednesday, 9 March 2022
Melbourne-based poet Jordie Albiston has died, aged 60. Born and raised in Melbourne, Victoria, Albiston studied music at the Victorian College of the Arts and received a Doctorate in English...
Vale Shane Warne
Wednesday, 9 March 2022
Australian cricketer Shane Warne has died, aged 52. Warne was the author of the memoir No Spin (with Mark Nicholas), published by Penguin Random House (PRH) simultaneously in the UK and...
Vale Michael Cannon
Wednesday, 2 March 2022
Journalist and author Michael Cannon has died, aged 92. Cannon's daughter Sarah writes: Asked about the unusual badge in his lapel, Michael Cannon used to joke that it was presented...
Vale Keri Hulme
Wednesday, 19 January 2022
Aotearoa New Zealand writer Keri Hulme, author of The Bone People, the first New Zealand novel to win the Booker Prize, died in December 2021 aged 74. First published by...
Vale Doug MacLeod
Wednesday, 1 December 2021
Author, poet, playwright, screenwriter, songwriter and editor Doug MacLeod died on 22 November, aged 62. MacLeod wrote 26 books for children and young adults, published in Australia and around the...
Vale Brian Wilder
Wednesday, 24 November 2021
Leading Australian publisher Brian Wilder has died in Sydney, aged 82. Wilder's career in the Australian publishing industry spanned almost 40 years. He was the former managing director of Harper...
Vale Wendy Giese
Wednesday, 24 November 2021
Former Hardie Grant sales rep Wendy Giese has died. The team at Hardie Grant write: 'At Hardie Grant we had the pleasure of knowing and working with Wendy Giese for...
Vale Stuart Macintyre
Wednesday, 24 November 2021
Australian historian Stuart Macintyre has died, aged 74. Macintyre edited Cambridge University Press's The Cambridge History of Australia and was the author of books including Cambridge's A Concise History of...
Vale Chrissy Sharp
Thursday, 4 November 2021
Former Sydney Writers Festival CEO and former Wheeler Centre director Chrissy Sharp has died. Sydney Writers’ Festival writes: 'Sydney Writers’ Festival is deeply saddened to hear of the passing of...
Vale Ashley Mallett
Thursday, 4 November 2021
Ashley Mallett, ex-Australian cricketer and author of 35 books, has died in Adelaide at age 76. Born in Sydney in 1945, Mallett moved as a child to Western Australia where...
Vale Robert ‘Bob’ Stafford
Thursday, 4 November 2021
Robert 'Bob' Stafford has passed away at age 91, after a 70-year career across sales, marketing and publishing. Mark Stafford, Bob's son, writes: 'Bob's first job at age 16 was...
Vale Eddie Jaku
Wednesday, 13 October 2021
Eddie Jaku, Holocaust survivor and author of the bestselling memoir The Happiest Man on Earth (Macmillan), has died in Sydney, aged 101. Born Abraham Jakubowicz in Germany in 1920, Jaku...
Vale Fergus McCulla
Wednesday, 13 October 2021
Peribo account manager Fergus McCulla has died, aged 31. McCulla was diagnosed with a rare and ultimately incurable form of rhabdomyosarcoma in October 2018. He passed away peacefully on 20...
Vale Bill Noble
Wednesday, 19 May 2021
New Zealand bookseller Bill Noble died in April 2021. Noble, who also served on the board of Booksellers NZ, was the manager of Dunedin's University Book Shop (UBS) Otago for...
Vale Valerie Parv
Wednesday, 5 May 2021
Canberra-based romance novelist Valerie Parv has died, aged 69. The author of 93 books in 29 languages, spanning romance, nonfiction and writing guides, Parv's writing career began when her first...
Vale Margaret McKenzie
Wednesday, 5 May 2021
Margaret McKenzie, co-owner of the former Seagulls Bookshop in the Melbourne suburb of Williamstown, has died. Co-owner of Seagulls and McKenzie's husband Nick Chapman writes: 'Margaret died suddenly on Saturday,...
Vale Simon Player
Thursday, 11 March 2021
Simon Player, co-director of Footprint Books, has died. Player and his wife Kate O'Reilly established the Sydney-based distributor in 1999. It closed in November 2020 due to Player's health issues....
Vale Brian Yates
Wednesday, 20 January 2021
Logistics manager Brian Yates passed away on the weekend. Yates's career in book publishing spanned three decades. He managed the Universal Publishers (UBD Gregory’s) warehouse for many years from the...
Vale Mark Bonello
Wednesday, 13 January 2021
Publishing consultant Mark Bonello has died after an illness. Ernie Mason, friend and former managing director of Random House, writes: 'I first met Mark with Terry Kinsella in the early...
Vale Josie Wowolla Boyle
Wednesday, 9 December 2020
Josie Wowolla Boyle, Wonghi storyteller and artist, died peacefully on 7 December 2020, surrounded by family. Boyle was a Wongutha Elder, acclaimed storyteller, singer and artist who was born in...
Vale Barbara Ker Wilson
Wednesday, 9 December 2020
Children's author and editor Barbara Ker Wilson died in September 2020, aged 90. Margaret Hamilton AM writes: 'Vale Barbara Ker Wilson AM 1929–2020. Barbara Ker Wilson was a writer and...
Vale Garry Eastman
Wednesday, 28 October 2020
Garry Eastman, director of Garratt Publishing, died on 14 October 2020. Eastman, who established what was then called John Garratt Publishing in 1995, was a long-time member of the Australian...
Vale Ania Walwicz
Wednesday, 14 October 2020
Poet, writer and teacher Ania Walwicz died on 29 September, aged 69. Born in Poland in 1951, Walwicz emigrated to Australia in 1963 and studied at Melbourne's Victorian College of...
