Prime Minister’s Literary Awards, Wood on Booker Prize shortlist, Hayward appointed ASA CEO
The 2024 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards took place last Thursday, with André Dao and Daniel Browning among the winners. Also headlining awards news this week, Charlotte Wood is on the 2024 Booker Prize shortlist for Stone Yard Devotional (A&U).
In other local news this week, the board of the Australian Society of Authors has appointed Lucy Hayward to the role of CEO, succeeding Olivia Lanchester; Affirm has made a distribution agreement with independent UK publishing house Firefly Press, beginning next year; Shawline Publishing has rebranded as New Found Books; Sally Hepworth and Andy Griffiths are the inaugural ambassadors for Love Your Bookshop Day; and the OzAsia Festival’s Weekend of Words and Queenscliffe Literary Festival programs are live.
Finalists for the Nib Literary Award and winners of the 2024 Danger Awards were also announced this week. Meanwhile, in other awards-related news, a new prize—the John Clarke Prize for Humour Writing—has been added to the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards; and the Fogarty Literary Award for young Western Australian writers has received an increase in funding.
As well as the Booker shortlist, there were also some other international awards happenings: In the US, the longlists for the 2024 National Book Awards have been announced. And, in the UK, the 2024 Wainwright Prize winners, the shortlist for the 2024 British Academy Book Prize and the winner of the 2024 Klaus Flugge Prize were all announced.
Last but not least, in acquisitions news this week, Hachette Australia acquired ANZ rights to Jessica Mansour-Nahra’s debut novel, with a working title of The Farm, in a five-way auction, in a two-book deal via Marina de Pass at The Soho Agency; Melbourne Books acquired world rights to Christy Tania’s first cookbook, Imagine: Creating Desserts with Christy Tania; Atlantic Books acquired ANZ rights to a new novel by Jessica Dettmann, in a deal brokered by Pippa Masson at Curtis Brown; Echo Publishing acquired world rights to two novels by debut author Anna Maynard, via Sally Bird at Calidris Literary Agency; and Riveted Press acquired worldwide rights to five picture books in the series The Book of Kin by author/illustrator Tamlyn Teow.
Category: This week’s news
