Inside the Australian and New Zealand book industry

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Meet the Rising Stars: Yasmin Smith 

Wednesday, 31 July 2024
The Australian Publishers Association (APA) Rising Star award recognises an emerging talent in Australian publishing who has spent less than 10 years in the industry. In the lead-up to the...

Hasib Hourani recommends 

Cover of Translations Wednesday, 31 July 2024
I keep returning to Jumaana Abdu’s Translations, which will be released in August. It’s an expertly paced work of fiction about a woman trying to build a home for herself...

Hasib Hourani on ‘rock flight’ 

Tuesday, 30 July 2024
Hasib Hourani is a Lebanese-Palestinian writer, editor, arts worker and educator living on Wangal Country in Sydney. His debut book, rock flight (Giramondo, September 2024), is a 'structurally experimental long-form poem...

Tinsel time: Christmas 2024 children’s books 

Wednesday, 24 July 2024
Books+Publishing asked publishers to highlight their key local children’s and young adult titles releasing in time for Christmas 2024. From heartfelt picture books on social issues to everything a child...

Arnold opens Ladyhawke bookshop in Ivanhoe 

Photograph of Alison Arnold in Ladyhawke Bookstore Wednesday, 24 July 2024
After a ‘three-year sunny accident’ in Queensland, editor and bookseller Alison Arnold sold The Junction Bookstore in Noosa Junction and returned to Melbourne. Arnold spoke to Books+Publishing about the new...

Meet the Rising Stars: Rebecca Allen 

Photograph of Rebecca Allen Wednesday, 24 July 2024
The Australian Publishers Association Rising Star award recognises an emerging talent in Australian publishing who has spent less than 10 years in the industry. In the lead-up to the winner announcement...

Tigest Girma recommends 

Tuesday, 23 July 2024
The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni is a YA fantasy book about a girl who fights to survive in a death prison. It was my first time reading a fantasy...

Tigest Girma on ‘Immortal Dark’ 

Tuesday, 23 July 2024
Tigest Girma, an Ethiopian writer and teacher based in Melbourne, draws richly from East African history and cultures and blends Black stories with dark and fantastical elements. Books+Publishing reviewer Stefen...

Tinsel time: Christmas 2024 nonfiction 

Wednesday, 17 July 2024
Following on from last week's life writing highlights, publishers are looking forward to a colourful range of new nonfiction books that will enliven kitchens, inform conversations, inspire reflections, and maybe...

Meet the Rising Stars: Katherine Rajwar 

Photograph of Katherine Rajwar in front of tiled wall Wednesday, 17 July 2024
The Australian Publishers Association Rising Star award recognises an emerging talent in Australian publishing who has spent less than 10 years in the industry. In the lead-up to the winner announcement...

Christopher Cheng recommends 

Tuesday, 16 July 2024
I adored Emma Quay’s Happy All Over. It’s full of joy and light and happiness. The text consists of short, simple statements. These expressions of joy for a child arise from...

Christopher Cheng on ‘Dragon Folding’ 

Tuesday, 16 July 2024
Christopher Cheng is a Sydney-based, award-winning children's author of over 40 fiction and nonfiction titles. His latest picture book, Dragon Folding (illus Lucia Masciullo, Puffin, September 2024), shows readers 'how...

Tinsel time: Christmas 2024 biographies and memoirs 

Wednesday, 10 July 2024
From a soccer superstar to familiar faces in children's entertainment, and an equally wide range of non-celebrity (but far from ordinary) stories, Books+Publishing rounds up the local adult biography and...

Meet the Rising Stars: Riikka Dunn 

Photograph of Riikka Dunn in front of green leaves Wednesday, 10 July 2024
The Australian Publishers Association Rising Star award recognises an emerging talent in Australian publishing who has spent less than 10 years in the industry. In the lead-up to the winner announcement...

Raelke Grimmer on ‘White Noise’ 

Tuesday, 9 July 2024
Raelke Grimmer is an author and linguist from the Northern Territory. Her debut young adult novel, White Noise (UWAP, September 2024), is set in Darwin and explores grief, autism, friendship and...

Raelke Grimmer recommends 

Tuesday, 9 July 2024
Eta Draconis by Brendan Ritchie. I loved this novel not only for the vivid depictions of place and landscape but also for the resilience and determination of the characters. The...

Tinsel time: Christmas 2024 fiction 

Wednesday, 3 July 2024
From the big names to the surprising debuts (and a whole lot of crime in between), Books+Publishing rounds up Australian publishers’ top local adult fiction titles releasing in time for Christmas...

Meet the Rising Stars 2024: Justin Wolfers 

Photograph of Justin Wolfers in front of a brick wall Wednesday, 3 July 2024
The Australian Publishers Association Rising Star award recognises an emerging talent in Australian publishing who has spent less than 10 years in the industry. In the lead-up to the winner announcement...

Amplify Bookstore’s winter picks 

Cover of Love Unleashed Wednesday, 26 June 2024
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...

Louise Southerden recommends 

Tuesday, 25 June 2024
I loved Music and Freedom, a novel by Zoë Morrison, which I found in the street library out the front of where I live. (I stumble upon a lot of...

Anita Heiss on ‘Dirrayawadha’ 

Tuesday, 18 June 2024
Anita Heiss is one of Australia’s most prolific and celebrated authors, known for her works across genres including nonfiction, historical fiction, commercial fiction and children's books. Books+Publishing reviewer Melissa Mantle...

Anita Heiss recommends 

Tuesday, 18 June 2024
I just re-read Vivienne Cleven’s Bitin’ Back, published as part of the UQP First Nations Classics series. Hands down, this is one of the funniest books I have ever read,...

Liz Evans on ‘Catherine Wheel’ 

Wednesday, 5 June 2024
Based in Tasmania, Liz Evans is a British-born journalist, author, former psychotherapist and academic with a PhD in creative writing. Her latest novel, Catherine Wheel (Ultimo, August 2024), is ‘a...

Liz Evans recommends 

Cover of Body Friend Tuesday, 4 June 2024
The last Australian book I read and loved was Katherine Brabon’s Body Friend. It was so unusual and mysterious—and very elegantly crafted. It provides some beautifully profound insights into living...

Niki Horin on new venture Hobartisan Books 

Wednesday, 15 May 2024
Niki Horin is an editor and author with experience in children's trade publishing at Hardie Grant Egmont and as publishing director at Five Mile from 2018 to 2022. Now located...