Macky, Ballantyne to be inducted into ABIA Hall of Fame; ABIA business awards shortlists announced
Bookseller Mandy Macky and children’s publisher Maryann Ballantyne will be inducted into the ABIA Hall of Fame at the Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIAs) on Wednesday, 28 April.
Macky will receive the 2021 Lloyd O’Neil Award for outstanding service to the Australian book industry. The owner of Adelaide’s Rundle Mall Dymocks store, Macky has been a bookseller for 30 years, chair of the Franchise Business Development Council, and has mentored numerous employees, authors and other bookstore owners.
‘Mandy has championed innumerable initiatives and improvements within the business,’ said Dymocks MD Mark Newman. ‘Mandy is a wonderful mentor to her loyal and dedicated team, finding their strengths and then encouraging them to follow through and improve and have some control of those areas. She sets the highest standards for customer service, and her willingness to go the extra distance for a customer is an example the team follow. Dymocks is honoured to have had a long and fruitful association with Mandy and congratulate her on this well-deserved prestigious award.’
Ballantyne will receive the 2021 Pixie O’Harris Award, which recognises excellence and dedicated service to Australian children’s literature. She is currently children’s publisher of independent press Wild Dog Books and was publisher of Black Dog Books, which was acquired by Walker Books in 2011.
‘Maryann has always been passionate about publishing new authors and illustrators and stories that “tell us something about ourselves” and reflect upon “where Australia has come from and who we are now”,’ said children’s book publisher and previous Pixie O’Harris recipient Jane Covernton. ‘She is known for her fierce intellect and curiosity, her innate sense of style, taste and judgement, her unswerving loyalty to her authors and illustrators and her great respect and commitment to the Australian publishing industry.’
The Australian Publishers Association has also announced the shortlists for the ABIA business awards.
The shortlisted businesses are:
Bookshop of the Year
- Avid Reader (Brisbane)
- Books Kinokuniya (Sydney)
- Mary Martin Bookshop Southgate (Melbourne)
- Matilda Bookshop (Adelaide)
- The Little Bookroom (Melbourne)
- The Sun Bookshop (Melbourne)
Book Retailer of the Year
- Big W
- Booktopia
- Dymocks
- Harry Hartog
- QBD Books
- Readings
Publisher of the Year
- Allen & Unwin
- Hachette Australia
- Hardie Grant Publishing
- HarperCollins Publishers
- Pan Macmillan Australia
- Penguin Random House Australia
Small Publisher of the Year
- Affirm Press
- Australian Scholarly Publishing
- Cordite Publishing Inc.
- Magabala Books
- Pantera Press
- University of Queensland Press.
The business award winners will be announced at the ABIAs ceremony at Carriageworks as part of the Sydney Writers Festival on Wednesday, 28 April.
For information and tickets visit the ABIA website.
Category: Awards Local news
