Local news | Books+Publishing

Barcelona, Melbourne partner on Cities of Lit Mirror Cities initiative

Friday, 6 March 2026
UNESCO Cities of Literature Barcelona and Melbourne are partnering on the inaugural Mirror Cities initiative, a virtual exchange to connect librarians, booksellers and literary programmers from the two cities. The...

UQP sells Abdel-Fattah’s “Discipline” to Oneworld

Thursday, 5 March 2026
University of Queensland Press (UQP) has sold world English (ex ANZ) rights to Randa Abdel-Fattah’s novel Discipline to Oneworld Publications, in a deal between UQP rights manager Erin Sandiford and Oneworld...

ASAL 2026 fellows announced

Thursday, 5 March 2026
The Association for the Study of Australian Literature (ASAL) has announced its two writers’ fellowships for 2026 in association with the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund. This year’s fellows are: Western...

Summit acquires Coper’s “Angertainment”

Thursday, 5 March 2026
Summit Books Australia has acquired ANZ rights to Angertainment: How Social Media Outrange Ruined Everything by political communications specialist Ed Coper. “Rage-bait – the 2025 Word of the Year –...

McConaghy longlisted for 2026 Women’s Prize for Fiction

Thursday, 5 March 2026
Local author Charlotte McConaghy is on the longlist for this year’s UK-based Women’s Prize for Fiction. McConachy’s Wild Dark Shore (Penguin) “expertly conveys the awe-inspiring majesty of the extreme climate...

UNESCO Cities of Literature Fellowship announced

Wednesday, 4 March 2026
The Melbourne UNESCO City of Literature Office has announced a new $15,000 fellowship for researchers, writers, artists and creative practitioners from other UNESCO Cities of Literature. The fellowship is part...

A&U acquires Moss’s solo YA novel

Wednesday, 4 March 2026
Allen & Unwin has acquired ANZ rights to Tamara Moss’s YA murder mystery, Five Voices, in a deal negotiated at auction by Jill Grinberg and Sam Farkas at Jill Grinberg Literary...

Wiley acquires Zahner’s social media critique

Wednesday, 4 March 2026
Wiley has acquired world rights to Real: Reconnecting to Yourself in a World of Likes and Lies by Alexis Zahner. Drawing on the author’s own experience as well as psychological research...

Transit Lounge acquires Thompson novel

Wednesday, 4 March 2026
Transit Lounge has acquired world rights to Karenlee Thompson’s novel Notes from the White Room through NAC Literary Agency. The novel follows Hunter, “a lost soul searching for her missing...

Ockham 2026 shortlists announced

Wednesday, 4 March 2026
The shortlists for this year’s Ockham New Zealand Book Awards have been announced. The titles in each category are: Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction All Her Lives (Ingrid Horrocks,...

Two Milligan novels optioned for TV

Tuesday, 3 March 2026
Allen & Unwin has optioned Louise Milligan’s crime novels Pheasants Nest and Shellybanks (both A&U) for screen adaptation by Ambience Entertainment. Pheasants Nest (2024) follows the abduction of journalist Kate Delaney...

Inaugural Fearless Prize goes to Perkins for “New Growth”

Tuesday, 3 March 2026
Bakers Lane Books has awarded its inaugural Fearless Prize to journalist Miki Perkins for her debut novel, New Growth. Perkins receives a $10,000 advance and publication of the novel. The...

Hachette acquires Sunday’s “Kill to Love”

Tuesday, 3 March 2026
Hachette Australia has acquired world rights to the novel Kill to Love by Penny Sunday after a 2-book auction with 5 bidders, in agent Chloe Berry’s first print deal since...

Pantera acquires Coombs Marr’s “Queerstralia”

Tuesday, 3 March 2026
Pantera Press has acquired world rights to Queerstralia, comedian Zoë Coombs Marr’s exploration of Australia’s untold queer history. The book is a companion volume to the 2023 ABC documentary of...

Cannon leaves Monash University Publishing

Tuesday, 3 March 2026
Senior marketing coordinator Sarah Cannon is leaving Monash University Publishing after 21 years. Cannon, who has 35 years’ experience in publishing, joined Monash at the press's inception in 2004. “Since that time,”...

Christmas Press acquires Cullen middle-grade novel

Monday, 2 March 2026
Christmas Press has acquired world rights in The Secret of Panther Valley, a mystery/adventure novel for middle-grade readers by author Brenton Cullen, via Debbie Golvan of Golvan Arts Management. Staying...

“Security Questions” wins Poetry in Translation Prize

Monday, 2 March 2026
Osdany Morales’s Security Questions, translated from the Spanish by Harry Bauld, is the inaugural winner of the Poetry in Translation Prize, co-awarded by Giramondo. Shortlisted under the translated title of...

Sorrento Writers Festival program launched

Monday, 2 March 2026
Described as “Victoria’s biggest literary event”, Sorrento Writers Festival has launched a 155-session program across 10 venues in the Victorian beachside towns of Sorrento and Portsea from 23 to 26...

Trans Book Festival program launched

Monday, 2 March 2026
The full program has been launched for the second annual Trans Book Festival, which focuses on “uplifting and celebrating trans and gender diverse (TGD) literary excellence in all narrative forms.”...

Larrikan acquires Galatola picture book

Monday, 2 March 2026
Larrikan has acquired world rights to Jess Galatola’s The Witch Who Couldn’t Spell, illustrated by Lu Baker. The book follows the adventures of Wanda Spelled, “a little witch with a...

HarperCollins acquires Fineberg novel

Monday, 2 March 2026
HarperCollins has acquired world rights to Warren Fineberg’s novel A Boy from Buchenwald in a deal negotiated by Lyn Tranter at Australian Literary Management. According to the publisher, “A Boy...

Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards 2026 winners announced

Thursday, 26 February 2026
The Wheeler Centre has announced the winners of the 2026 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards. Goorie and Koori poet and academic Evelyn Araluen has won the overall Victorian Prize for Literature,...

Larrikin acquires Purcell novel

Thursday, 26 February 2026
Larrikin House has acquired world rights to John Purcell’s novel The Amateur’s Guide to Killing Bad Guys. The novel begins on the “worst day” of entrepreneur Matthew Burton’s life. “The...

NZ Booklovers Awards 2026 shortlists announced

Wednesday, 25 February 2026
In Aotearoa New Zealand, the 2026 NZ Booklovers Awards shortlists have been announced. Shortlisted titles include: Best Adult Fiction Book 1985 (Dominic Hoey, Penguin) A Beautiful Family (Jennifer Trevelyan, A&U)...

Narrative Muse recognised by UNESCO centre

Wednesday, 25 February 2026
Aotearoa New Zealand–based content discovery company Narrative Muse is among 100 projects recognised by the International Research Centre on Artificial Intelligence (IRCAI) for its application of generative AI. Narrative Muse...