News and Updates

The latest consolidation in the Australian market is Hachette Australia’s acquisition of lifestyle and gift publisher Smith Street Books, a 10-year-old independent that will continue to operate as three distinct Smith Street imprints under the agreement. It’s the most recent in a series of acquisitions by larger publishers of independents – including Affirm Press, acquired...

After unveiling a new-look stand at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, featuring the work of Scribble illustrator Allison Colpoys, the Australian Publishers Association (APA) is set to launch a new-look stand at Frankfurt too. The new stand was designed using artwork by Jenna Lee from the First Nations Classics series, published by University of Queensland...

Romance, murder, history and “intellectually ambitious literary fiction”: Australian titles on offer at the fair have all fiction bases covered.  Fiction titles from publishers on the Australian Collective Stand The Book of the After Rebecca Higgie Fremantle Press October 2026 Fremantle Press head of sales and marketing Claire Miller said: “The Book of the After is a...

There is a strong “how to” theme in the titles Australian publishers have highlighted for the fair: how to find the sublime in everyday life, how Zen helps light it up, or how not to lose yourself to AI. But there are books on art, health and history too. Read on to learn what gives...

A picture book, a graphic novel, younger readers, middle grade and YA. Whatever age bracket you’re looking for, Australian publishers have something for you at Frankfurt. CYA titles from publishers on the Australian Collective Stand Amazing Astro Animals  James Foley Fremantle Press October 2026 (Picture book) Fremantle Press rights manager Claire Miller said: “Amazing Astro...

We asked Australian creators to share a recent book they have read and loved – and why. Eugen Bacon is an African Australian author whose science fiction novel Crimson in Quietus (Meerkat Press) is set within the Sauútiverse, a shared fictional universe created by African and African diaspora writers. In his review for Books+Publishing, Stefen...

A bilingual picture book, YA verse novel, literary novella, novel and nonfiction: recent Australian acquisitions offer a breadth of perspectives. As local titles are included in the catalogue for the IBBY–UNESCO Collection of Remarkable Books for Young Readers in Indigenous and Endangered Languages, a local imprint of Simon & Schuster Australia has acquired its first...

The Prime Minister’s Literary Awards are due to be announced this week, with winners to take home $80,000 each. In the meantime, these are the titles that have been garnering acclaim from awards judges in recent months. Omar Musa won the Miles Franklin Literary Award for his novel Fierceland (Penguin). The book also won the Fiction...

The publishers sharing the 2026 Australian Collective Stand at Frankfurt this year range from first-timer attendees to those who’ve lost count of their visits. Read on to see who’s who. University of Queensland Press: Erin Sandiford I’ve been attending the Frankfurt Book Fair for around seven years, with a couple of missed years due to...

Ginny Grant launched independent publisher Bakers Lane Books in 2025 with a commitment to “platforming bold, inclusive storytelling”. Ahead of her first visit to Frankfurt, she tells us about her list, why she started an independent and the $10,000 investment that paid off. You’ve worked in several Australian publishing houses. How has your experience in...

Australian fiction top 10 YTD Mad Mabel (Sally Hepworth, Macmillan), 71k Three Reasons for Revenge (Dervla McTiernan, HarperCollins), 47k Last One Out (Jane Harper, Macmillan), 35k Wild Dark Shore (Charlotte McConaghy, Penguin), 31k The Ballad of Falling Dragons (Sarah A Parker, Voyager), 27k The Witness (Fleur McDonald, HarperCollins), 23k The Heir Apparent (Rebecca Armitage, HarperCollins),...

On the surface, children’s book sales in 2025 have surged in Australia, compared to the previous year. But a look at volume shows much of the increase in value comes from higher prices, with increases in volume more modest than increases in value. And drilling down into the categories shows that while YA surged (up...

Australian publishers nominate the graphic novels and picture books they have high hopes for at Bologna.  Anders and the Mountain Gregory Mackay Allen & Unwin Children’s April 2026 Graphic novel Rights contact: Carey Schroeter Rights held: World Allen & Unwin rights and international sales manager Carey Schroeter said, “Anders and the Mountain by Gregory Mackay...

Australian publishers nominate the middle-grade and YA books they have high hopes for at Bologna.  Akarnae book 1 Lynette Noni Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing Titles in series: 7 Rights contact: Evie Green Rights sold: US, Canada, France, Turkey, Czech Republic, Hungary Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing rights manager Evie Green said, “We relaunched YA fantasy series...

We asked Australian creators to share a recent book they have read and loved – and why. Jasmin McGaughey is a Torres Strait Islander and African American author and editor, and the writer behind Ash Barty’s Little Ash series. Her new young adult novel, Moonlight and Dust (A&U Children’s, 2025), is “an intriguing, fast-paced read full of magic,...

Recent Australian acquisitions, as reported by Think Australian’s sister publication Books+Publishing, include: The Everywhere Train by Deborah Frenkel and illustrated by Danny Snell, world rights acquired by Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing (HGCP) Frenkel said the story was one “about love, about memory and imagination and the things that endure forever, everywhere”. Snell said, “Deb has written...

Three Australian publishers have been shortlisted for the 2026 Bologna Prize for the Best Children’s Publishers of the Year. Publishers shortlisted in the Oceania category are: Affirm Press (Australia) Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing (Australia) Messy Press (Aotearoa New Zealand) Wild Dog Books (Australia) Au vent des îles (Tahiti, French Polynesia). Organised by the Bologna Children’s Book Fair and...

These are the Australian titles that have been making shortlists, longlists and winning awards – both in Australia and overseas. Darren Rix and Craig Cormick’s Warra Warra Wai (Scribner) won the Australian History Prize at the NSW History Awards, the ACT Book of the Year award, the First Nations History Award at the Canberra Critics’ Circle Awards...

Come visit the Australian stand this year at Bologna and you’ll find that while the high-quality publishing remains the same, the stand itself has a brand-new look. Gone is any hint of traditional “green and gold”, and in its place a colourful design based on a forthcoming highly anticipated title. Miriam Rosenbloom is publisher at...

On the eve of Bologna Book Fair, Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing rights manager Evie Green is one of a reduced cohort of Australians still planning to make the trip, and she has good reason. Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing is among three Australian publishers nominated for the 2026 Bologna Prize (BOP). Nominated alongside Affirm Press and...

Top 10 Australian picture books (2026 year to date, ranked by volume) Do Not Open This Book It’s Out of This World (Andy Lee, Lake Press) Claris and the Easter Delight (Megan Hess, Hardie Grant Egmont) Where Is The Green Sheep? (Mem Fox, Puffin) Wombat Stew (40th Anniversary Edition) (Marcia Vaughan, Scholastic) Fairy Beach (Sheila...

Each year, Think Australian’s sister publication Books+Publishing surveys publishers to see how Christmas matched up with their expectations and what they expect from the year ahead. This year, while half of publishers reported sales were up for Christmas 2025 and one sixth reported they were down, Christmas 2025 sales were nonetheless “close to expectations” for the majority of...

Debuts, literary heavyweights and genre standouts: Australian fiction publishers bring a wide-ranging list to LBF. International Anneliz Marie Erese Black Inc. March 2027 Rights contact: Sophy Williams at Black Inc. Black Inc. publisher, international director Sophy Williams said International by Anneliz Marie Erese is “an outstanding debut novel, deftly written and poetic”.The story is about...

Leadership, loneliness, conservation and resilience: Australian nonfiction publishers are spotlighting big ideas at LBF. Foreign Return: On Art and Inhabitation Neha Kale NewSouth Publishing September 2026 Rights contact: Harriet McInerney at NewSouthNewSouth publisher Harriet McInerney said, “Taking us across the globe, this mesmerising literary work is a generous and generative exploration of how we make...

Since the previous edition of Think Australian, Australian authors have been making shortlists, longlists and winning awards – both in Australia and overseas – with fiction, poetry and nonfiction for adult audiences and younger readers. Here, Books+Publishing highlights some of these internationally and nationally renowned authors. Repeat winners  Rick Morton’s Mean Streak (Fourth Estate), an...

Meet the Australian visitors attending LBF this year. University of Queensland Press (UQP) UQP rights and contracts manager Erin Sandiford will be talking with international publishers about a range of “bold, globally resonant titles from UQP’s list that speak to urgent contemporary questions while offering strong commercial and critical appeal.” This includes The Rot by...

Top 10 Australian adult fiction bestsellers Last One Out (Jane Harper, Pan Macmillan), 112k Gravity Let Me Go (Trent Dalton, HarperCollins), 75k Mad Mabel (Sally Hepworth, Pan Macmillan), 63k The Unquiet Grave (Dervla McTiernan, HarperCollins), 51k The Detective (Matthew Reilly, Pan Macmillan), 49k Here One Moment (Liane Moriarty, Pan Macmillan), 47k Pilbara (Judy Nunn, HarperCollins),...

Australia is set to star in a number of screen adaptations as international and local producers tap into talent down under.  Brad Pitt is set to star as protagonist Fred Scully in the film adaptation of Tim Winton’s novel The Riders (Penguin). Produced by Scott Free Productions, the film is set to be directed by...

See what Australian publishers have been signing recently in children’s and YA. Picture books: First Nations storytelling, a sausage dog, cooking and phonics  University of Western Australia Publishing (UWA Publishing) has acquired world rights to Stories About Fire, Wind, the Moon and Other Dreamings – Warinypa wariny Mangunyjaja muwarr wirlarrapa wangalpa wika by Solomon Cocky, edited...

Even though there are a relatively small number of CYA highlights – compared to other categories – Frankfurt attendees will still find the Australian stand brightened with works for younger readers (and others who still enjoy rewarding their inner child). There’s a trend towards illustrated books among CYA highlights from participating local publishers heading off...

After a turbulent 12 months for independent publishing, with three established independent publishers acquired by and integrated into larger publishing houses, 2025 has been an opportunity to walk a new publishing landscape. Affirm Press (acquired by Simon & Schuster Australia in August 2024), Pantera Press (acquired by Australian independent publisher Hardie Grant in September 2024),...

Giramondo Publishing, a small independent Australian publishing house, has partnered with London-based Fitzcarraldo Editions and New York City–based New Directions to launch the Poetry in Translation Prize, following the success of the three publishers’ Novel Prize, which began in 2020.  The Poetry in Translation Prize is a biennial award for an outstanding poetry collection translated...

Among the new Australian fiction and poetry titles signed this year are books from familiar names, debut works, titles signed at competitive auctions, and a range of romcoms. Fiction Familiar names Pan Macmillan Australia has acquired ANZ rights to Last One Out by Jane Harper. According to the publisher, Last One Out is a standalone mystery...

Australian publishers are showcasing nonfiction titles on topics ranging from the familiar-yet-crucial (such as the mismanagement of climate change by those in power) to the niche-yet-topical (like the trio of authors investigating the details behind the now-infamous story of Erin Patterson, convicted of a triple murder using death cap mushrooms).  History, society and culture  ...

Readers of fiction and poetry will be keen to learn what’s been happening here in Australia through a visit to the Australian stand. Threads of romance and humour weave through this year’s publisher recommendations, as debuts and familiar names meet on the shelves, often travelling through time and space (and not just to get to...

Moving memoir, politics, cooking, sport and true crime – read all about Australian publishers’ recent nonfiction acquisitions. Memoir  Kicking off memoir acquisitions is Allen & Unwin (A&U), which has shared news recently of two new memoirs acquired for upcoming publication. First is How Will I Ever Get Through This? by Lucy Hone, acquired in a...

Fiction Siang Lu won the $60,000 Miles Franklin Literary Award for his novel Ghost Cities (UQP), which judges celebrated for ‘shimmering with satire and wisdom, and with an absurdist bravura’, deeming the novel ‘a genuine landmark in Australian literature.’ Ghost Cities was also shortlisted for the Russell Prize for Humour Writing, the John Clarke Prize for Humour...

We asked Australian creators to share a recent book they have read and loved – and why. Newly minted Miles Franklin winner Siang Lu is ready to build up your reading pile. His novel Ghost Cities (UQP) is described by the Miles Franklin judging panel as ‘shimmering with satire and wisdom, and with an absurdist bravura’...

Overall, the book market was down in Australia in 2024, by 3% in value and 1.2% in volume, according to figures from Nielsen BookData’s BookScan service. Nielsen’s 2024 snapshot, which covered 31 December 2023 to 28 December 2024, showed the Australian market for the period was worth A$1.29 billion in value, down from A$1.33 billion in...

We ask Australians attending Bologna this year what they are looking to acquire – and what they are expecting to talk about with fellow attendees. Miriam Rosenbloom, publisher and art director at Scribe’s children’s imprint Scribble, has attended Bologna ‘irregularly since 2017’, most recently in 2024. This year’s fair will be her fifth visit to...

Australian publishers at Bologna name the picture books they have the highest hopes for at the fair. Alexandra Yatomi-Clarke, founder, managing director and publishing director at Berbay Books, will be attending Bologna for the 12th time in 2025. The book she’s most excited about? ‘Sea, the new picture book by John Canty – an extraordinary...

Australian publishers at Bologna name the junior and middle-grade fiction titles they expect to gain international interest at the fair. On the eve of Bologna, Annabel Barker Agency announced that middle-grade novel Thunderhead (Sophie Beer, A&U Children’s) has been optioned for film in a deal negotiated by the agency. Annabel Barker Agency holds world rights...

Australian publishers pick their top YA offerings. Carey Schroeter, rights and international sales manager, books for children and young adults at Allen & Unwin (A&U), will be attending Bologna in person alongside A&U publisher Anna McFarlane. Of A&U’s YA titles, Schroeter singles out Blood Moon Bride (Demet Divaroren, April 2025), which A&U says is perfect for fans of...

Australian publishers offer not one but two Dogs with Jobs children’s books, among a range of nonfiction titles on offer at Bologna. We suppose publishers must be onto something when two of them pitch a nonfiction book with the same topic and title! Dogs with Jobs is the name and premise of forthcoming books from...

Read on for recent Australian award winners in children’s and young adult literature. Illustrated children’s titles For the first time in the history of the prestigious Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards, a children’s book has taken out the overall prize. Nukgal Wurra author-artist Wanda Gibson took out the $100,000 overall prize for her picture book Three...

Top 10 Australian YA fiction Cruel Is the Light (Sophie Clark, Penguin) 5.0K I Am Not Jessica Chen (Ann Liang, Harlequin Teen) 2.0K Immortal Dark (Tigest Girma, Lothian) 1.8K My Family and Other Suspects (Kate Emery, A&U Children’s) 1.2K Tom Appleby, Convict Boy (Jackie French, HarperCollins) 1.1K Comes the Night (Isobelle Carmody, A&U Children’s) 1.1K...

Each year, Think Australian’s sister publication Books+Publishing surveys publishers to see how Christmas matched up with their expectations and what they expect from the year ahead. This year, while one third of publishers reported sales were up for Christmas 2024 and another third reported they were down, Christmas 2024 sales were nonetheless ‘close to expectations’...

Meet the Australian visitors – both seasoned and brand new – attending LBF this year.  In her nine years at Australian independent Allen & Unwin, Wenona Byrne (Creative Australia director, literature) regularly attended LBF. ‘It’s been ten years since I last visited, and I’m excited to return!’ ‘Writing Australia will be established this year within...

A new publisher, a new literary agency and the Australian fiction on offer at LBF. Members of newest Australian literary agency on the block, a4 Literary – for which former Left Bank Literary agents Grace Heifetz and Tom Gilliatt joined forces with Michaela McGuire and Rebecca Slater – are attending LBF en masse this year. Among...

Food and family, AI, and escaping a cult: The Australian nonfiction publishers have high hopes for at LBF Sandra Buol, rights and international sales manager at Australian independent Allen & Unwin, will be attending LBF in person, and singles out the ‘deeply personal and evocative memoir about love, food and family reconciliation, Chinese Parents Don’t...

With Australia’s independent publisher count recently dropping significantly – thanks to the acquisitions of Pantera Press by Hardie Grant and Text Publishing by Penguin Random House following hot on the heels of Simon & Schuster’s acquisition of Affirm Press – it’s a pleasure to report the establishment of a brand-new publishing venture. Pink Shorts Press...

Repeat winners, internationally recognised authors and the latest winners of Australian manuscript prizes  As reported in the previous edition of Think Australian, Alexis Wright’s Praiseworthy (Giramondo) has already won the Miles Franklin Literary Award, Stella Prize, the Australian Literature Society Gold Medal, the fiction book award at the Queensland Literary Awards and the UK’s James Tait Black...

Top 10 Australian adult fiction bestsellers Here One Moment (Liane Moriarty, Macmillan), 157K Lola in the Mirror (Trent Dalton, Fourth Estate), 80K Boy Swallows Universe (Trent Dalton, Fourth Estate)*, 64K What Happened to Nina? (Dervla McTiernan, HarperCollins), 57K When the Moon Hatched (Sarah A Parker, HarperVoyager), 53K Juice (Tim Winton, Hamish Hamilton), 51K The Valley...

Australian publishers are excited to pitch a wide range of fiction titles this year, including major award winners, debuts and follow-ups, in genres ranging from complex literary works to page-turning thrillers. Below are some titles Australian publishers look forward to highlighting at the fair. Literary and contemporary fiction After taking out the Australian awards that...

Australian publishers are heading to Frankfurt with plenty of nonfiction titles on offer, from poetic memoirs to vibrant art books. Below, they share highlights they look forward to pitching at the fair. Life writing, politics and society Nonfiction specialists Black Inc. bring to Frankfurt ‘the gripping story of Australia’s first female crime writer and her...

An array of books—from those for young children to those on the cusp of adulthood, and with subjects ranging from axolotls to ultra-villains—are set to feature among publishers’ CYA pitches at Frankfurt. Below are some highlights that publishers are excited to share at the fair this year. Picture books From Allen & Unwin, for children...

Australian creators tell us the most recent book they have read and loved, and why. Michelle de Kretser won the Miles Franklin twice, for The Life to Come and Questions of Travel. Her forthcoming novel, Theory & Practice (Text, November 2024), is a combination of fiction, memoir and essay set in St Kilda, Melbourne, in...

Among the new Australian fiction signed this year are books from familiar names, debut works, manuscript prize winners, titles signed at competitive auctions, and a good dose of romantasy. Fiction Familiar names Ultimo has acquired the political thriller Unfinished Business by Miles Franklin Literary Award winner Shankari Chandran. Set in Sri Lanka in 2009, the novel...

First Nations reportage, moving memoir, cooking, sport and Drag Queens Down Under—read all about Australian publishers’ recent nonfiction acquisitions. S&S imprint Scribner Australia has acquired ANZ and UK rights to Kumanjayi: Death and Indifference by First Nations journalist Jack Latimore, in a deal via Melanie Ostell at Melanie Ostell Literary, for publication in the first...

See what Australian publishers have been signing recently in children’s and YA. Animals Penguin Random House (PRH) Australia has acquired rights to Bindi Irwin’s debut picture book, titled You Are a Wildlife Warrior! Saving Animals & the Planet, illustrated by Ramona Kaulitzki, for publication in February 2025. The picture book, which the publisher said is ‘written...

Fiction Alexis Wright’s Praiseworthy (Giramondo) won the $60,000 Miles Franklin Literary Award, the $60,000 Stella Prize, the Australian Literature Society Gold Medal, the 2023 Queensland Literary Awards (QLAs) fiction book award ($15,000) and the UK’s James Tait Black Prize. Said the Stella judges: ‘Fierce and gloriously funny, Praiseworthy is a genre-defiant epic of climate catastrophe proportions.’...

As the Australian book trade approaches the crucial Christmas bookselling period, publishers do so with some relief that a key local channel to market has survived to sell books in Christmas 2024. Booktopia is an Australian-owned online-only bookseller established in 2004 and publicly listed on the Australian Securities Exchange in 2020. When it entered voluntary...

In this Bologna Book Fair issue of Think Australian, we introduce you to Nicola Robinson, who will be attending Bologna for the first time, representing the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. See our profile to learn about the foundation’s publishing work and titles. Robinson is among 13 publisher representatives who will be at the fair as part...

Australian publishers Affirm Press, Fremantle Press and Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing have been shortlisted for this year’s Bologna Prize for the Best Children’s Publisher of the Year in the Oceania category. Affirm has been shortlisted for the third year in a row. The winner of the 2023 prize in the Oceania category was Australian First Nations publisher...

Overall, the book market was down in Australia in 2023 by 2.1% in value and 1.7% in volume, according to figures from Nielsen BookData’s BookScan service. However, sales in 2023 were up both by value and volume when compared to 2021 figures, and were boosted by strong Christmas sales. Nielsen’s 2023 snapshot, covering 1 January to 30...

From Walker Books, I Wonder ‘explores how curiosity leads us to knowledge’ in a book by Philip Bunting, ‘the master of inviting us to ponder questions without definitive answers’. Other children’s nonfiction titles from Walker include John Larkin and Chrissie Kreb’s ‘hilarious, nonsensical and mischievous’ advice book How to Avoid Being Eaten By Sharks, and...

First Nations publisher Magabala, winner of the 2023 Bologna Prize for the Oceania region, is excited: ‘The release of a book by bestselling and award-winning author Gregg Dreise is always an event, so this Bologna Book Fair we’re excited to be presenting a whole new picture book series by Gregg … called Scales and Tales.’...

Junior Affirm Press describes its junior fiction title Forbidden Journal of Rufus Rumble #1: Worst Space Crew Ever (Nick Long, illus by Robin Tatlow-Lord) as Diary of A Wimpy Kid and The Brilliant World of Tom Gates meeting Guardians of the Galaxy. It’s the first entry in a new series featuring a diary-entry format, immersive page...

From First Nations publisher Magabala Books, winner of last year’s Bologna Prize for the Oceania region, comes a young adult novel ‘and gripping thriller’ Robert Runs by Mariah Sweetman, winner of the Daisy Utemorrah Award. Based on true events, it tells of the experiences of the author’s great-great-grandfather Robert ‘Goupong’ Anderson, who was once the...

Among the latest children’s and YA acquisitions by Australian publishers: Junior Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired ANZ rights to Landovel, a three-part junior fantasy adventure story from Emily Rodda. Publisher Eva Mills described the work as ‘compulsive and engaging’ and ‘brilliantly plotted with multiple twists’. A&U stated that the planned publication of the three...

Illustrated books Open Your Heart to Country by Dharug author/illustrator Jasmine Seymour (Magabala) won in the children’s category of the 2023 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards (PMLAs) and is described by Books+Publishing reviewer Jacqui Davies as ‘a story of welcome and belonging told in two languages, illustrated using Seymour’s signature technique, which combines painting, printmaking and digital...

Lisa Fuller is a Wuilli Wuilli woman from Eidsvold, Queensland, and is also descended from Gooreng Gooreng and Wakka Wakka peoples. Her debut YA novel Ghost Bird won numerous awards in Australia, and was acquired by Old Barn Books in the UK. She is also an editor. This year, Fuller received a grant to support...

After a ‘varied career in educational and trade—both kids and adult—publishing’ Nicola Robinson is ‘now lucky enough to head up the publishing team at the Indigenous Literacy Foundation’ (ILF), which publishes community-developed children’s books for First Nations readers.  When did you start in your current role at ILF? What appealed to you about it? Back...

Australian creators tell us the most recent book they have read and loved, and why. Anton Clifford-Motopi is the debut author of the novel To and Fro (Allen & Unwin Children, March), ‘a heartfelt and humorous exploration of the complexities of growing up mixed-race’: ‘I recently finished reading What About Thao? by Oliver Phommavanh. I...

Ahead of this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair, here is your chance to see the titles that will be on offer from Australian publishers! See the Australian Publishers Association’s 2023 Australian Frankfurt Rights Catalogue here, and read on through this issue of Think Australian for additional information about the titles Australian publishers are most excited to...

After three consecutive years of growth, the Australian book market flattened out in 2023. In the year to 17 June 2023, Australian book sales totalled $548 million, up 0.6% on the same period in 2022, while sales by volume were down 0.2% to a total of 28.3 million units, according to Nielsen BookScan Australia. Compared...

Several prize-winning Australian authors will have new novels showcased at the fair. Waanyi (First Nations) author Alexis Wright, who is the only writer to have won both the Stella Prize and the Miles Franklin Literary Award, has released Praiseworthy (Giramondo, April 2023). This new novel is ‘an epic set in the north of Australia, told with the...

From literary memoir to survival in a broken world, from bookshop dogs to Sam Kerr’s World Cup journey, these are the nonfiction titles publishers are most looking forward to pitching at Frankfurt 2023. Memoir and biography On offer this year are a multitude of life stories, from genre-bending literary experimentation to a work contemplating the...

Picture books University of Queensland Press (UQP) is looking forward to pitching the forthcoming Yanga Mother from Kooma and Nguri (First Nations) writer Cheryl Leavy (July 2024), a ‘lyrical bilingual picture book about the all-encompassing love of mothers, layered with meaning and historical truth-telling’, following the journey of a grey kangaroo and her joey, with themes of...

Since the industry last gathered for a major rights fair, titles from Australian publishers have continued to sell into international markets, with a range of new and established authors’ works to enter new territories. Among these recent international rights sales of Australian titles, Echo has sold UK and Commonwealth (ex ANZ) rights to Debra Dank’s We...

Among recent book to screen adaptations, Cognito Entertainment, a new independent film and television production company in the United States, has optioned Every Version of You (Grace Chan, Affirm) for adaptation into an international feature film, in a deal negotiated by Bold Type Agency on behalf of Jacinta di Mase Management and Chan. Set in the ​near...

Among the new fiction signed by Australian publishers this year are books by several authors trying something new. Echo has acquired world rights to Katrina Kell’s first novel for adults, via Fiona Smith at Beyond Words Literary Agency. The book is inspired by the French nude portrait Chloé, which has been displayed on the wall of...

Hachette Australia announced last year that it would enter a publishing scout partnership with screenwriter, author and broadcaster Benjamin Law. The results are now materialising, with adult nonfiction publisher Sophie Hamley having acquired world rights to Complete and Utter Failure by Kara Schlegl and ANZ, UK and Commonwealth rights to Model Minority Gone Rogue by Lisa...

Christmas Press has acquired world rights to Leaf Letters, a junior fiction title by author-illustrator Lorena Carrington. Christmas Press publishing director Sophie Masson said, ‘Told in words and pictures, this is a story of friendship, the pleasures of the natural world, and the pleasures of mystery! Plus it’s an invitation for young readers to join...

Tamil Australian author Shankari Chandran won Australia’s most prestigious literary prize, the $60,000 Miles Franklin Literary Award, for her third novel, Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens (Ultimo). The book explores how the family behind the fictional Cinnamon Gardens Nursing Home came to be in Sydney, through five different perspectives and an ensemble of supporting characters. Waanyi...

Earlier this year, publishing professionals Lou Johnson and Jeanne Ryckmans set up a new literary agency, Key People Literary Management. With a connection going back to their time as colleagues at Penguin Random House in 2000, Johnson and Ryckmans have worked across a wide range of publishing roles, and Ryckmans is also author of the recently...

Ahead of this year’s London Book Fair (LBF), in this issue of Think Australian we once again round up the latest rights sales and acquisitions from Australia, as well as the titles on offer at LBF in fiction, nonfiction and children’s/YA. We also profile author Debra Dank, whose debut memoir We Come With This Place...

Following on from recent deals for her work in the UK and US, multi-award-winning writer Alexis Wright is the ‘top author’ for publisher Giramondo at this year’s London Book Fair. ‘We’ll be focusing on her entire catalogue: Praiseworthy, Tracker, The Swan Book and Carpentaria,’ says Nick Tapper from Giramondo. From Fremantle Press, look out for...

Forensic psychologist Ahona Guha’s groundbreaking book Reclaim: Understanding complex trauma and those who abuse (Scribe) will ‘broaden and expand your thinking, whether you are a trauma survivor, someone who loves a survivor, or someone seeking to understand abuse’. In Reclaim, Guha shines light on the ‘”difficult” trauma victims that society often ignores, and calls for...

According to booksellers surveyed by Books+Publishing for its annual post-Christmas survey, there was a bump in book sales in the lead-up to Christmas 2022 compared to the previous year. Booksellers reported an average increase of 6.9% in sales and most booksellers (79%) said sales were ‘up’ during Christmas. In the previous year, Christmas had been...

Fiction sales Black Inc. has sold world English-language rights (ex ANZ) to One Hundred Days by Alice Pung to HarperCollins imprint HarperVia. Shortlisted for the 2022 Miles Franklin Literary Award, One Hundred Days is Pung’s first novel for adults. Exploring the faultlines between love and control, the novel follows 16-year-old Karuna who falls pregnant and is confined to her 14th-storey...

Affirm Press has acquired world rights to One Divine Night by Mick Cummins, the winner of the 2023 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award (VPLA) for an unpublished manuscript, in a deal brokered by Jane Novak Literary Agency. One Divine Night is ‘a gritty and compelling novel exploring homelessness, independence and the ties that bind’, according to the publisher....

Affirm Press has acquired world rights to the debut nonfiction work by journalist and activist Melinda Ham, via Rochelle Fernandez of Alex Adsett Literary. The Lucky Ones is about refugees from different generations, different countries and diverse backgrounds, with one thing in common—they all escaped persecution, found safety in Australia and built new lives. Affirm...

Affirm Press has acquired world rights to a new five-book series by Amelia Mellor as well as the third novel in Mellor’s series that began with The Grandest Bookshop in the World. Set in a fantastical island world that is on the brink of ruin, the new series for readers 8–12 years follows a fiery young...

Australian authors recognised recently with international awards include Michelle de Kretser, who won the fiction category of the 2023 Rathbones Folio Prize for her novel Scary Monsters (A&U), and Shelley Parker-Chan, who won two British Fantasy Awards, taking out both best fantasy novel and best newcomer for She Who Became the Sun (Tor), as well as winning...

Ahead of the London Book Fair, Think Australian talks to author Debra Dank, whose debut memoir is in the running for three NSW Premier’s awards and the Stella Prize, about the book’s journey to publication, what she hopes international readers might take from it, and plans for her second book. Your book We Come With This Place...

Winner of the 2022 Text Prize, Let’s Never Speak of This Again by Megan Williams (Text) is a ‘big-hearted YA debut’, which celebrates ‘the depth and strength of friendship through all of life’s ups and downs’. Another debut YA novel, also discovered through the Text Prize, is Robyn Dennison’s Blind Spot, ‘an immensely readable and unflinching look at teenage...

Coming to you from a country that has seen sales of children’s books boom in recent years, we are so pleased to share news and new books from the world of children’s and YA publishing in Australia in this Bologna issue of Think Australian, which is produced in partnership with the Australian Publishers Association (APA)...

Publishers attending the Bologna book fair in person on the Australian Publishers Association (APA) Australian Collective Stand are Allen & Unwin, Berbay Publishing, CSIRO Publishing, Five Mile, Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing, Interactive Publications, Magabala, Pascal Press, Scribble, UQP and Windy Hollow Books. They will be joined on the stand by literary agencies the Annabel Barker...

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....

The Australian book market is trading well above the last pre-Covid year of 2019 after three consecutive years of growth. Sales of books in Australia grew 7.2% last year to A$1.3 billion, up from A$1.26 billion in 2021, according to Nielsen BookData, while the total number of unit sales for 2022 was 70.9 million, an...

A debut young adult title by Lystra Rose, a descendant of the Guugu Yimithirr, Birri Gubba, Erub and Scottish nations, took out the prestigious $25,000 Indigenous writing prize in the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards. The Upwelling (Lothian) is the outcome of Rose’s research over many years and of her time as a participant of the black&write...

In junior fiction on offer at Bologna this year, Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing has Monsties: The Lost Bunny (Zanni Louise & Kyla May) featuring Orla, Pearl, Mig, Boo and Oops—five best friend monsters who live in Scaryland, surrounded by scary monsters, but who are hopeless at being scary. They much prefer candy and cupcakes to...

Experiences in nature fill many of the picture books on offer from Australian publishers at Bologna this year. Thank you rain! (Sally Morgan & Johnny Warrkatja Malibirr, Magabala Books) is full of the plants and animals that welcome rain: raindrops in the treetops; birds singing in the rain; raindrops wetting the dry earth and filling...

In nonfiction the ‘long-awaited’ picture book Your Brain is a Lump of Goo from Idan Ben-Barak (A&U), the award-winning author of Do Not Lick This Book, and Christopher Nielsen. It explores ‘the biggest and most mysterious organ in the human body’ with expertise and humour, says A&U, while All About the Heart (Berbay) will give curious...

Among the latest children’s and YA acquisitions by Australian publishers: Children’s Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing (HGCP) has acquired two books by Maxine Beneba Clarke. Releasing in June 2023, It’s the Sound of the Thing: 100 new poems for young people, is Clarke’s debut collection of poetry for children and teens. Aimed at upper primary through...

Children’s and young adult (CYA) titles have been driving the growth of the Australian book market in the past year, with titles like Heartstopper, Bluey and The Bad Guys becoming regular presences on the bestsellers chart. The numbers from Nielsen BookData confirm this: looking at children’s and young adult fiction alone, the CYA fiction category...

Lystra Rose has won the $25,000 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Indigenous Writing for her YA debut novel The Upwelling (Hachette Australia), while We Who Hunt the Hollow (Kate Murray, HGCP) took out the $25,000 YA category in the awards. In other state-based awards, Ella and the Ocean (Lian Tanner & Jonathan Bentley, A&U) took out...

Sophie Splatt, an editor of books for children and young adults at Allen & Unwin for the past decade, is the Australian Publishers Association’s (APA) 2023 Beatrice Davis Editorial Fellow. Her research project will take her to the US and Canada to meet with graphic novel publishers, editors, agents and creators for her research project...

The launch of your own agency was quickly followed by the pandemic; how did that affect what you were pitching and how you were making deals? Like others, I had to cancel my trip to Bologna Book Fair with two weeks’ notice and pivoting to digital meetings was, to begin with, really challenging. The deals...

Melbourne-based author and illustrator Jess Racklyeft has been awarded a Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) International Bologna Scholarship to attend this year’s Bologna book fair. Here she shares her journey to illustration and writing, upcoming projects, the illustrators she admires and why she cried at Bologna the last time she visited. How...

Australian creators tell us the most recent book they have read and loved, and why.   Illustrator and author Jess Racklyeft will attend this year’s Bologna Book Fair as the winner of a Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) International scholarship: ‘I am a huge fan of Claire Saxby’s work (I have been...

Australians have spent most of the past two years confined to our home country (and much of that time confined to our homes!), so it is wonderful to report that representatives from 14 Australian publishing businesses will attend Frankfurt this year as part of the Australian Publishers Association (APA) stand. A further 14 will be...

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...

Picture books Allen & Unwin Children’s (A&U) is pitching a list of exciting new titles from beloved authors, including the picture book Shadow Catchers by award-winning team Kirsty Murray and Karen Blair, that captures the joy of playing with shadows; and Big Cat, a richly illustrated story about finding your inner wildness in unexpected places,...

The Australian book market posted strong results throughout the Covid-affected years of 2020 and 2021, and has continued this growth in 2022, with overall sales for the year to 18 June up 4.1% year-to-year, for a total of A$544 million, according to Nielsen BookData. Coming after two years of consecutive growth in 2020 (up 7.8%)...

As well as a wealth of trade offerings, Australia boasts a healthy educational publishing sector. Attending in person on the Australia stand at Frankfurt this year will be ATF Press Publishing Group an Australian-based independent publisher with an international reach, established in 1993. ATF publishes trade books as well as academic books and peer-referred journals...

Among recent fiction acquisitions by Australian publishers are literary speculative fiction books, a plethora of debut authors, and more poetry and short story collections. HarperCollins Australia has acquired ANZ rights to The Visitors by Jane Harrison, in a highly competitive auction brokered by Danielle Binks of Jacinta di Mase Management Literacy Agency. Based on Harrison’s...

Among the most recent nonfiction acquisitions by Australian publishers are a plethora of memoir titles, including actor Sam Neill’s memoir Did I Ever Tell You This?, for which Text acquired world rights and which is due to be published in the first half of 2023. Described by the publisher as ‘the work of a natural...

The Australian children’s middle-grade market continues to grow, and recent acquisitions show it won’t be slowing down anytime soon. Allen & Unwin (A&U) has acquired ANZ, Oceania and non-exclusive Asia rights to Two Sparrowhawks in a Lonely Sky, the new middle-grade novel by Rebecca Lim, via the Annabel Barker Agency. From the author of Tiger...

Melbourne writer Jennifer Down took out Australia’s most prestigious literary prize, the $60,000 Miles Franklin Literary Award, for her second novel Bodies of Light (Text). The winner was chosen from a shortlist announced in June, in a headline-grabbing year for the Miles Franklin that featured a plagiarism scandal as well as the shortlisting of a...

Nerrilee Weir, former Penguin Random House Australia senior rights manager and Fiona Henderson, former Simon & Schuster Australia publishing director, have joined forces to create new rights agency Bold Type Agency, which will focus on book-to-screen adaptations and representing Australian literary agents and publishers in international markets. Weir tells Think Australian what they’ll be pitching...

Australian authors tell us the most recent book they have read and loved, and why.   Michelle Kadarusman is the author of the middle-grade book on animal activism Berani (A&U Children’s, November). I usually have a few books on the go, both children and adult reads. Two newer books that really stood out for me...

After more than two years attending rights fairs virtually, several Australian publishers will be attending the 2022 London Book Fair (LBF) in person next week. ‘We’re excited to attend LBF in person for the first time since 2020,’ Allen & Unwin (A&U) rights and international sales manager Sandra Buol told Think Australian. Buol will be...

Trent Dalton, whose 2018 debut Boy Swallows Universe remains in the top 10 Australian fiction bestsellers over three years after its publication, is at the top of Australian nonfiction charts for the year to date with his collection Love Stories, released in October last year. Love Stories is closely followed in the Australian nonfiction chart...

A biography of Australian surfer Owen Wright (world rights acquired by S&S Australia) tells the story of the surfer’s recovery after a serious brain injury ahead of the Pipeline Masters competition in Hawaii: in a single moment, he went from being ranked fifth in the world to having to learn how to walk and talk...

Of all the titles being pitched at LBF, perhap the most instantly recognisable as Australian is forthcoming nonfiction title Koala by biologist Danielle Clode (Black Inc., September), which promises ‘an immersive, entertaining journey into the hidden life of the koala’, which, despite their iconic status and celebrity, ‘remain something of a mystery’ says the publisher....

After a pandemic-fuelled record year in 2020—during which sales of books in Australia grew 7.8% to A$1.25 billion (unit sales for the year were 67 million) according to Nielsen BookScan—in 2021, the Australian book market experienced more modest growth of only 2.5% in value to A$1.3 billion. (Nielsen reported book sales in 2021 fell 1% in volume compared...

Among recent acquisitions are a spate of two-book deals. MacLehose Press, an imprint of Hachette-owned UK publisher Quercus, has acquired world rights to two new novels by Australian author Peter Papathanasiou in a deal brokered by Martin Shaw at Shaw Literary. The new books follow on from Papathanasiou’s debut crime novel The Stoning (Transit Lounge),...

Australian authors tell us the most recent book they have read and loved, and why.   Hayley Scrivenor is the author of forthcoming crime novel Dirt Town (Macmillan, May). ‘I was fortunate enough to see Larissa Behrendt speak at the 2021 BAD Sydney Crime Writers festival about her book After Story (UQP). I got the...

Australian publishing continues to ride a literary crime wave, with several local publishers bringing crime offerings to London. ‘We are delighted to share Benjamin Stevenson’s Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone,’ says Penguin Random House Australia (PRH) senior rights executive Jordan Meek. Described by the publisher as ‘Agatha Christie meets Knives Out meets Richard...

In February this year, first-time author Veronica Gorrie took home Australia’s richest literary prize, the $100,000 Victorian Prize for Literature at the 2022 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards, for her memoir Black and Blue: A memoir of racism and resilience (Scribe). ‘Her personal journey, from thinking she can change Aboriginal worlds through joining the police force...

After saving the world from Kiala, the ancient spirit of destruction, Alex longs for more adventure—and the chance to feel special again. Compared to riding through the Tasmanian wilderness on a talking alpaca, home seems pretty dull. So, when Kiala’s prison crumbles, Alex is secretly thrilled. Enter Ivette, a mysterious, talented and very competitive American...

The first book in a fast-paced comedy-adventure series set in a town called Buttburgher where all the adults start turning into zombie cows! Jimmy, Daisy and Hooey will have to deal with cola explosions, bullies, runaway trains, really bad farts—and of course lots of drooling zombie cows!—to save the world. Highly illustrated with commercial, animation-style...

Publisher Anouska Jones introduces health and wellbeing press Exisle Publishing’s children’s imprint EK Books. How and why did Exisle’s children’s imprint EK begin its life? Exisle Publishing began 30 years ago as an independently owned nonfiction publishing company. Over the years, we’ve developed a very strong self-help/health and wellbeing list, and in 2013 we launched...

Publisher Rachel Bin Salleh introduces Australia’s leading First Nations press Magabala Books. How and why did Magabala’s children’s division begin its life? Magabala has been publishing children’s pictures books since our beginnings in the 80s. Our children’s poetry book Do Not Go Around the Edges by Daisy Utemorrah was first published in 1991 and is...

Children’s publisher Tash Besliev intoduces Melbourne independent Affirm Press. How and why did the Affirm Press children’s division begin its life? After successfully publishing across many other categories, Affirm Press began publishing books for children in 2017 as a way of continuing to grow the business and its list of books that ‘influence by delight’...

Two titles published by Walker Books Australia jointly won the children’s book category of the prestigious and valuable Prime Minister’s Literary Awards in 2021: middle-grade graphic novel Fly on the Wall (Remy Lai) and picture book How to Make a Bird (Meg McKinlay, illus by Matt Ottley). Metal Fish, Falling Snow (Cath Moore, Text) took...

Ahead of this year’s Bologna Children’s Book Fair, running 21–24 March, we are thrilled to share the latest children’s and YA titles from Australian publishers in this issue of Think Australian, which is being distributed by Publishers Weekly and BookBrunch. After two years away from in-person fairs, Australian rights managers are keen to meet up...

After a bumper year of sales in 2020, in which the children’s category was up 9.6% on 2019, the Australian children’s book market fell ever so slightly in 2021 (-0.2%), according to Nielsen Bookscan. Nonetheless, sales of children’s books in Australia in 2021 were still well above pre-pandemic levels. And children’s book authors dominated bestseller...

From horror to fantasy with some wit and mystery along the way, Australian YA shows its range in several recent deals. Two recent acquisitions by Australian publishers present a similar premise: What We All Saw (Mike Lucas, Penguin) is ‘an upmarket horror tale between four friends, four truths and one nightmare which brings them all...

Australian children’s author Gabrielle Wang is the new Australian Children’s Laureate for 2022–23. Wang is the award-winning author and illustrator of over 20 books, including The Lion Drummer (illus by Andrew McLean), A Ghost in My Suitcase and The Wishbird (all Puffin), which each received the Notable Book commendation in Australia’s prestigeous Children’s Book Council...

Australia’s ‘golden age’ of middle-grade fiction doesn’t look it’s ending any time soon, with several high-profile fiction acquisitions in the age bracket. Fans of Amelia Mellor around the world will be excited to hear Affirm Press has acquired world rights to The Bookseller’s Apprentice, the prequel to The Grandest Bookshop in the World. The Grandest...

From a nonfiction book about how trees talk to a slam poetry adaptation, Australian publishers are pitching some picture books with a difference at Bologna this year. Jordan Collins’ debut picture book Where?, illustrated by Phil Lesnie, started as a slam poem Collins wrote and performed when they were 14. ‘It challenges racism, is both...

If you’re on the ground in Bologna for this year’s fair, pop by the Australian stand, Hall 25, Stand B78. The Australian Publishers Association stand will be managed by Rome-based Australian freelance editor, English-language consultant and former bookseller and publisher Kabita Dhara, and will this year feature 15 Australian publishers. Books from Bologna Prize nominee...

Australian publishers will be pitching several new series at Bologna—from some well established names, as well as emerging authors. In middle-grade, Penguin Random House Australia has a ‘charming’ new series from Jacqueline Harvey, whose previous series have sold widely: ‘Kensy and Max’ to North America; the Clementine Rose series to the UK, Brazil and Sri...

By the new Australian Children’s Laureate, Gabrielle Wang.  Meet Zadie Ma, a girl who writes magical stories that sometimes come true. Zadie’s dearest wish is to have a dog of her own and so she starts to write the story of a poor unwanted dog called Jupiter, who’s just waiting to be rescued by a...

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...

Zach Jones’s debut novel Growing Up in Flames is as gritty as bushfire ash. Written for a doctorate in creative writing at the University of the Sunshine Coast, the novel’s provenance is evident in Jones’s masterly use of the extended metaphor of fire to explore the relationship between intergenerational trauma and adolescent identity formation. In...

Pearly Woe is not your average 10-year-old. She can speak 27 languages, talk to and understand most animals and, in this tale, travels to Antarctica. However, this is no holiday. Pearly and her faithful friend Pig (a pig) are representatives of the Adventurologists Guild and need to find Pearly’s missing parents—all the while trying to...

The Australia Council has released the results of its research into Australian international book rights sales. The original research for the report was based at Macquarie University and supported by the Australia Council for the Arts and the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund. Success Story: International rights sales of Australian-authored books looks at data reported by...

Family Tree shares the beauty of life through the growth of a tree, one that unites families and communities around the world, spreading joy, love and spirit—and it all starts with one seed. Australian singer–songwriter and children’s author Josh Pyke delivers this deeply poignant and lyrical narrative that touches every fibre of our being. Representative...

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...

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...

Australia’s leading publisher of books on the visual arts, Thames & Hudson Australia, has been publishing—and exporting—local titles for many years.   ‘We find there is a real thirst for Australian illustrated books in the international market,’ says publisher Kirsten Abbott. ‘Thames & Hudson usually publishes at the higher end of the market, but even...

After almost 20 years of her books on our shelves, a new Freya Blackwood is always cause for delight. The Boy and the Elephant—Blackwood’s first wordless picture book—allows her quiet images to shine and tell their own story. Blackwood has described her work in the past as having both ‘softness and darkness’, able to be...

Tomorrow is a Brand-New Day is an ode to making a mistake and then making things right. It follows two children—friends with different styles—who come into conflict with each other and those around them. The wrongdoings range from small (spilling a bowl of cereal) to large (ripping up a book) and the rhyming text insightfully...

With a dozen adult novels under her belt, Monica McInerney is now turning her hand to children’s fiction and her first foray into middle-grade territory is just as full of heart and laughter as her previous books. Imagine 45 & 47 Stella Street receiving a visit from Salem, Sabrina the Teenage Witch’s familiar and you will have the premise of Marcie Gill...

UK independent publisher Old Barn Books has bought UK and Commonwealth (ex Canada and ANZ) rights to Lisa Fuller’s YA novel Ghost Bird from University of Queensland Press (UQP). The deal was handled by UQP rights manager Kate McCormack in negotiation with Old Barn Books publisher Ruth Huddleston. Ghost Bird won the David Unaipon Award...

Hachette has acquired world rights for two novels by Toni Jordan, in a deal struck between head of fiction Rebecca Saunders and Jane Novak of Jane Novak Literary Agency. The two novels are described as ‘family dramedies’, with the first novel titled Dinner with the Schnabels. Of Dinner with the Schnabels, Jordan said: ‘We all...

Sisters in Crime Australia has announced the winners of the 2021 Davitt Awards for the best crime books by Australian women. The winners in each category are:  Adult crime novel The Good Sister (Sally Hepworth, Macmillan) Young adult crime novel  Where We Begin (Christie Nieman, Pan) Children’s crime novel A Clue for Clara (Lian Tanner, A&U) Nonfiction crime...

The Australian Crime Writers Association (ACWA) has announced the winners of the 2021 Ned Kelly Awards. Crime novels released by Text Publishing swept the fiction categories, with the winning titles as follows: Best crime fiction Consolation (Garry Disher, Text) Best debut crime fiction The Second Son (Loraine Peck, Text) Best true crime Stalking Claremont: Inside the...

How to Repaint a Life is the latest offering from Steven Herrick, author of award-winning young adult titles including The Simple Gift and The Bogan Mondrian. This is gritty, heartbreaking prose that delves into topics such as homelessness, domestic violence and #MeToo, and is best suited to mature teenage readers. However, the narrative is written with sensitivity and offers...

The winners of the 2021 Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Book of the Year Awards have been announced. The winning titles and honour books in each category are: Older readers: winner The End of the World is Bigger than Love (Davina Bell, Text) Older readers: honour books Metal Fish, Falling Snow (Cath Moore, Text) Where We...

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,...

Acclaimed Australian children’s writer Peter Carnavas has followed up his wonderful first novel The Elephant with another book equally full of heart. An ode to sibling relationships, growing up and the natural world, My Brother Ben tells the story of 10-year-old Luke, whose love for birds and birdwatching is eclipsed only by his adoration for his older brother, Ben....

Melbourne graphic novel publisher Twelve Panels Press has sold world English rights (ex ANZ) to Safdar Ahmed’s Still Alive to Gary Groth at Fantagraphics, to be published under the Fantagraphics Underground imprint. Interweaving journalism, history and autobiography, Still Alive is the result of Ahmed’s visits to Sydney’s Villawood Immigration Detention Centre, beginning in 2011, where he...

Pantera Press has acquired world rights to The Reindeer and the Submarine, the debut middle-grade novel by Beverly McWilliams. Inspired by the true story of a reindeer who lived aboard the HMS Trident in 1941, The Reindeer and Submarine follows Pollyanna as she is taken from her beloved herder by a Russian admiral and gifted...

Will is on the run from the men who killed his mother. When a terrifying artefact is unleashed on the Thames docks, Will finds himself thrust into a hidden world of danger and forgotten magic, defended by the Stewards, an ancient order of knights dedicated to the Light. To prevent the rise of a terrible...

Penguin Random House (PRH) Australia has acquired world rights to the contemporary middle-grade graphic novel Oh, Brother by Adelaide author-illustrator Georgina Chadderton. Rights were acquired in a joint deal between PRH Australia, Random House Graphic (US), PRH Children’s (UK) and Tundra Books (Canada), via Annabel Barker at Annabel Barker Agency and Daniel Lazar at Writers House....

Dragon Skin is the much-anticipated new novel by Karen Foxlee, author of cherished modern classics including the internationally successful Lenny’s Book of Everything. Foxlee is skilled at writing brave yet vulnerable young characters who steal readers’ hearts forever, and Dragon Skin is no different. Ten-year-old Pip is going through a tough time. Her best friend Mika has left,...

Simon & Schuster Australia has acquired UK and Commonwealth rights to two adult novels by Jodi McAlister, author of the YA series ‘Valentine’, via Alex Adsett from Alex Adsett Literary. Here for the Right Reasons and Can I Steal You for a Second? are, according to S&S, two ‘adorable romantic comedies’ set on the same...

Nardi Simpson has won the 2021 Australian Literature Society (ALS) Gold Medal for Song of the Crocodile (Hachette). Song of the Crocodile is Simpson’s debut novel, and was the winner of the 2018 black&write! Writing Fellowship. An intergenerational family saga, the novel charts the experiences of Billymil family as their rural town undergoes social and environmental...

Amanda Lohrey has won the $60,000 Miles Franklin Literary Award for her seventh novel, The Labyrinth (Text). Lohrey, the second Tasmanian writer to win the Miles Franklin in its 64-year history, has twice been shortlisted for the award, with her shortlisted novel Camille’s Bread (Fourth Estate) winning the Australian Literature Society Gold Medal in 1996....

UQP has sold world English rights (ex ANZ) for The White Girl by Tony Birch to HarperCollins imprint HarperVia. The deal was handled by UQP rights manager Kate McCormack in negotiation with Judith Curr and Rosie Black from HarperVia. Curr said The White Girl ‘helps us understand the history, struggles, and culture of Aboriginal Australians’....

Michael Robotham has won the UK Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) Ian Fleming Steel Dagger award for best thriller for his novel When She Was Good (Hachette). The judges praised Robotham’s novel as ‘an urgent, poignant and terrifying thriller’. ‘This page-turner will hold your attention until you get to the very last page,’ the judges said....

Hachette Australia has acquired ANZ rights to Sydney author Dianne Yarwood’s debut novel The Wakes in a ‘hotly contested’ international auction. The six-figure, two-book deal was struck with Catherine Drayton at InkWell Management, while UK and Commonwealth rights (ex ANZ) were sold to Francesca Main at Phoenix, an imprint of Orion. Set in Sydney, and...

Affirm Press has acquired world rights to nutritionist and podcast host Lola Berry’s new personal development book Fearlessly Failing. Affirm said Fearlessly Failing is ‘a guide to embracing challenges and learning from mistakes, told with refreshing candour from Lola—someone eminently qualified in failing without fear.’ Fearlessly Failing is the first acquisition by Affirm’s commercial publisher...

Last week the Australian Publishers Association held the first in its series of international rights online networking events, in collaboration with Canadian counterpart, Livres Canada Books. This free event was an opportunity for Australians to connect and build new relationships with publishers and rights agents, while learning more about the Canadian publishing market. Proceedings began with...

One of our key Frankfurt initiatives for the online fair put Australian writers and publishers in the spotlight around the world as part of BOOKFEST digital. This is a day-long international festival of books that will stream live on YouTube, Facebook and the Frankfurt Book Fair website on Saturday 17 October. A panel facilitated by Benjamin Law, with authors...

By Think Australian Trent Dalton’s 2018 debut novel Boy Swallows Universe has topped the Nielsen BookScan’s Australian fiction chart for the year to date, having sold more than 80,000 copies in 2020. Literary, historical and crime fiction are all represented in the top 10, including a number of bestsellers from 2019 or earlier—indeed, only two of the...

By Think Australian Three Australian books have collected several prestigious awards and shortlistings over the past six months: Tara June Winch’s novel The Yield (Hamish Hamilton), ‘a powerful reclaiming of Indigenous language, storytelling and identity’, which won the Miles Franklin Literary Award; journalist Jess Hill’s investigation of domestic violence, See What You Made Me Do (Black Inc.), which picked up...

By Think Australian After a decade in print, Sally Rippin’s bestselling Billie B Brown junior fiction series (Hardie Grant Egmont) is finally heading to the screen. Global production company Fremantle and development partner 720 Creative have acquired screen rights to the children’s book character Billie B Brown, describing the brand as having ‘enormous potential for an international screen...

By Think Australian Australian publishers have been busy acquiring new titles over the past six months, including a kids’ guide to journalism, a ‘vital, groundbreaking book’ about gender transition, and a highly anticipated sequel to Rosalie Ham’s The Dressmaker. Adult fiction acquisitions A 2015 film adaptation of Rosalie Ham’s The Dressmaker (Duffy & Snellgrove) sent the novel to...

Award-winners among recent rights sales successes Despite the Covid-19 pandemic putting a halt to international travel, a majority of Australian rights managers and literary agents have reported a stable rights market over the past year, with strong demand for audio and screen rights. Here are some of the highlights. Adult fiction sales A major award...

by Think Australian Despite the disruption that the Covid-19 pandemic has had on the Australian book industry this year, overall sales figures are looking surprisingly healthy. For the first eight months of 2020, adult fiction sales were up 12% in value compared to the same period in 2019, and children’s, YA and educational sales were...

by Think Australian With the Frankfurt Book Fair now purely online, Australian publishers and literary agents are gearing up to pitch their titles via the fair’s—and their own—digital channels. Here are some of their highlights: Adult fiction and nonfiction The rights team at Penguin Random House Australia (PRH)—Nerrilee Weir, Jordan Meek and Alice Richardson—is excited to be...

By Think Australian Kate McCormack has been the rights and contracts manager for Brisbane-based independent UQP for the past four years, joining the publisher after 10 years at Penguin Random House Australia and stints in the UK and India. She spoke to Think Australian about her rights list and how Covid-19 has changed the way she works....

Across Australia, the 2020 ABIAs were streamed into our homes, where winners were toasted, writers celebrated, and history made. The 2020 Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIAs) were announced on Wednesday 13th May via a Virtual Awards Event streamed on YouTube, hosted by musician and performer Casey Bennetto. The awards are judged by an academy of more than 250 respected publishing industry figures and...

The Australian Reading Hour has become the flagship event of a new 17-day books and reading festival Australia Reads! Reaching more than 11 million Australians in 2019, The Australian Reading Hour has become the most successful campaign to unite the nation to pick up a book and discover the joys of reading. This year, this major event has...

Making history, MPs and Senators discussed Bruce Pascoe’s book, Dark Emu at the first Australian Parliamentary Book Club last night. During a nation-wide call out for nominations, Pascoe’s award-winning non-fiction book was a clear favourite. Bruce Pascoe and Anna Moulton, CEO of Dark Emu publisher Magabala Books, attended the evening and had a conversation with...

by Andrea Hanke, published in Publishing Perspectives, sponsored by the Australian Publishers Association The case for publishing diverse voices is ‘self-evident’ in Australia, as books on diverse experiences become a bestselling force in the market. A memoir from Kurdish journalist Behrouz Boochani—who has been detained by the Australian government for over five years after attempting...

by Andrea Hanke, published in Publishing Perspectives, sponsored by the Australian Publishers Association ‘There has never been a better time for Indigenous publishing,’ says one publisher, as Indigenous writings find staying power on Australia’s bestseller lists. When Melissa Lucashenko became the third Indigenous author to win Australia’s prestigious Miles Franklin Literary Award for her novel Too Much Lip in...

by Andrea Hanke, published in Publishing Perspectives, sponsored by the Australian Publishers Association Far from the halls of ivy, Australia’s university presses find favor with readers in search of authoritative information in time of fake news. It’s not unusual to find titles from Australia’s university presses stocked in bookshops across Australia, from independent booksellers to airport chains. Melbourne...