Hazelwood (Tom Doig, Viking)
During a heatwave in February 2014, brown coal ignites within Hazelwood Power Station’s open-pit mine, causing a fire that burns for 45 days and sends toxic plumes of smoke over...
Editor’s picks: What we’re reading
Andrew Wrathall: I enjoyed Claire G Coleman’s style of turning the narrative on its head to make readers see things from another perspective in Terra Nullius (Hachette), so I’m looking...
Pengelly buys ‘Books+Publishing’; Tang steps down as EIC
Thorpe-Bowker general manager Gary Pengelly has started a new company, Books and Publishing Pty Ltd, and has purchased the Books+Publishing business from a local subsidiary of its US-based parent company,...
The light of Sharjah: Connecting the publishing world to the Middle East
This year's Sharjah International Book Fair was held from 1-11 November in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. Books+Publishing’s Andrew Wrathall was a guest of the professional program. ‘Darkness can...
‘Four horsemen’ the focus of Digital Book World 2016
This year’s Digital Book World conference was held in New York from 7-9 March. Books+Publishing’s Andrew Wrathall reports from the event: Digital Book World (DBW) organiser and The Idea Logical...
Australian, Cambodian writers feature at inaugural Kampot Writers and Readers Festival
Books+Publishing’s Andrew Wrathall reports from Kampot: The inaugural Kampot Writers and Readers Festival (KWRF), featuring Cambodian, Australian and other international writers, artists and musicians, was held in Kampot, Cambodia, from...
Political intervention intensifies discussion at Ubud
Books+Publishing’s Andrew Wrathall reports from Ubud: The 12th Ubud Writers & Readers Festival, which ran from 28 October to 1 November in Bali, Indonesia, was a successful event despite the...
Digital sales, consumer marketing discussed at International Publishers Congress
Books+Publishing’s Andrew Wrathall reports from the International Publishers Congress in Bangkok:Around 300 delegates from 35 countries attended the International Publishers Congress in Bangkok on 24-26 March, which was jointly presented...
Editor’s picks: Jefferies, Tang and Wrathall
News editor Brad Jefferies, editorial assistant Jackie Tang and publishing and digital media coordinator Andrew Wrathall share their top picks for the New Year.Brad Jefferies:One of the books I’m curious to...
Postage costs and the Australian book industry: a history
The Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) believes the biggest threat to bookshops and other local retailers is postage costs. It offers this example: ‘It costs in excess of ten times more...
Interview: Lisa Dempster, CEO and director of Melbourne Writers Festival
This year’s Melbourne Writers Festival (MWF) is fast-approaching (22 August to 1 September). New CEO and director Lisa Dempster spoke to Andrew Wrathall about the program highlights and how MWF is supporting local literary talent. What do you...
Staff changes at ‘Bookseller+Publisher’
The editorial team that produces Bookseller+Publisher and the Weekly Book Newsletter has undergone some changes in 2013. Editor-in-chief Matthia Dempsey commenced maternity leave in January 2013. Her role will be...
Turning up the volume: Innovation at Bolinda
It’s a small and often overlooked part of the book market, but audiobooks are showing no signs of decline. Andrew Wrathall spoke to Bolinda CEO Rebecca Herrmann about the company’s...
Most Underrated Book Award shortlist announced
The Small Press Network (SPUNC) has announced the shortlist for the inaugural Most Underrated Book Award, a prize that was established to showcase outstanding books published by small and independent...
Interview: Jane O’Hara, director/CEO of the Brisbane Writers Festival
Over 5-9 September, Jane O’Hara will deliver her final Brisbane Writers Festival and celebrate the festival’s 50th anniversary. She spoke to Andrew Wrathall. What do you anticipate will be the...
Better than Fiction: True Travel Tales from Great Fiction Writers (ed by Don George, Lonely Planet)
Better than Fiction is a brilliant collection of travel stories, written especially for Lonely Planet, which spans the globe in the tradition of the publisher’s previous anthologies such as Unpacked:...
Interview: Steve Grimwade, director/CEO of the Melbourne Writers Festival
This will be Steve Grimwade’s final year as director of the Melbourne Writers Festival (23 August to 2 September), with Lisa Dempster recently announced as his successor. Grimwade spoke to...
Gaysia: Adventures in the Queer East (Benjamin Law, Black Inc.)
Benjamin Law embarks on a wild ride through Asia to investigate queer culture in Gaysia. In Indonesia he meets the moneyboys who prostitute themselves to Western men, usually preferring the...
Ten Tiny Things (Meg McKinlay, illus by Kyle Hughes-Odgers, Fremantle Press)
Each day Tessa and Zachary travel to school in a ‘shiny machine’ that is ‘smooth and swift and splendiferous’. It’s the perfect way to travel to school, but when the...
INTERVIEW: Deb Cox on ‘Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries’
Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries is the television adaptation of Kerry Greenwood’s Phryne Fisher books (A&U), currently screening each Friday night on ABC. Andrew Wrathall spoke to head writer Deb Cox....