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Coronavirus delays book supply, Dubosarsky announced as new children’s laureate and more

Local publishers are currently anticipating delays to some book supply due to printer closures in China, with most commercial printers expected to resume operations this week.

In more positive news, children’s author Ursula Dubosarsky was yesterday named the next Australian Children’s Laureate, and during her term aims to increase the number of children who join their local library. Australian women writers were also celebrated at last week’s Stella Prize longlist party, where for the first time a graphic work was selected as part of the 12-strong longlist. In other good news for writers, national arts reviews and criticism will be funded to the tune of $150,000, thanks to new investment from the Copyright Agency.

International guests attending the Visiting International Publishers (VIPs) program in late April have been announced, with OzCo supporting an additional three VIPs fellows to attend for the first time this year. UQP has instigated a new program for Indigenous university graduates hoping to enter publishing, while Magabala’s Rachel Bin Salleh has been recognised as ‘trailblazer’ and an ‘unparalleled advocate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices and stories’ through a new WA award.

In international headlines, a new prize for women writers in Canada is offering C$150,000 for a single work of fiction, and Barnes & Noble and Penguin Random House have cancelled a planned Black History Month promotion in the US after a social media backlash that accused the companies of ‘literary blackface’.

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Category: This week’s news