Unlimited Futures (ed by Rafeif Ismail & Ellen van Neerven, Fremantle Press) 

Unlimited Futures is a YA anthology of sci-fi and speculative fiction edited by Rafeif Ismail and Ellen van Neerven. What makes it so different from other collections like it is the anthology’s centring of Blak and Black lives in an Australian context. Unlimited Futures contains a mix of genres including poetry, which is rare in…

The First Scientists (Corey Tutt, illus by Blak Douglas, Hardie Grant) 

In The First Scientists, Corey Tutt, founder of the Deadly Science charity and NSW Young Person of the Year 2020, brings us an extremely engaging, informative and at times funny account of the much-overlooked contribution of early First Nations people to various scientific fields. The text is presented in loosely chronological segments including First Astronomers, First Engineers,…

The bigger picture: Australian books respond to climate change

It’s hard to find a theme more urgent in publishing today—and one that unites fiction and nonfiction—than climate change.   Australian independent publisher Black Inc. has been particularly active in publishing books about the environment and climate change—and its titles have been picked up by numerous publishers around the world. ‘Books about the environment—particularly books…

Giggs wins ALA Andrew Carnegie Medal

In the US, Australian writer Rebecca Giggs has won the American Library Association’s (ALA) 2021 Andrew Carnegie Medal for nonfiction for Fathoms: The world in the whale (Scribe). The Andrew Carnegie Medals, chosen by a panel of library professionals from across the country, recognise the best fiction and nonfiction books written for adult readers and published…

Exploring the natural world: Australian picture books and children’s nonfiction with an environmental theme

Australian artist and mother of three Kat Macleod was inspired by the challenge of entertaining small children during lockdown to create her first picture book for Thames & Hudson Australia. The Tiny Explorers takes readers on a treasure hunt through the garden, exploring the natural world—including grass, leaves, bugs and flowers—up close through what the…

High-profile memoirs, political books, self-help guides: top nonfiction at Frankfurt

Memoir and biography  Look out for Ash Barty’s memoir My Dream Time (HarperCollins), which reflects on Barty’s tennis career, her family, and ‘finding the path to being the best I could be, not just as an athlete but as a person’. Hachette is excited to pitch Ellidy Pullin’s memoir Heartstrong, which debuted at number five…

The Australian publishers shortlisted for the 2023 Bologna Prize

Australian publishers Affirm Press, EK Books, Magabala Books, Starfish Bay and Wilkins Farago have been shortlisted in this year’s Bologna Prize for Best Children’s Publisher of the Year in the Oceania category. For Affirm Press, EK Books and Magabala it is the second shortlisting in a row. The winners will be announced at the fair….

Byrne to adapt ‘The Geography of Friendship’ for TV

Sally Piper’s 2018 novel The Geography of Friendship (UQP) will be adapted for television as a six-part series. Dollhouse Pictures, a creative collective and independent production company founded by actress Rose Byrne alongside Krew Boylan, Jessica Carrera, Shannon Murphy and Gracie Otto, has partnered with Aquarius Films to develop the work for television, in a…