Our latest blog posts

Q&A with artist Adam John Cullen

by Adam John Cullen

Melbourne based artist (and St Kilda bookseller!) Adam John Cullen is one of 78 dynamic Australian artists featured in Melissa Loughnan’s Australiana to Zeitgeist. We chat with Adam about his practice, and the best ways to learn more about other Australian artists.

1. Tell us a little bit about your art practice.

My practice is largely based in sculptural installation, working with themes of commodity exchange/trade, and personal histories of found objects. I studied photography at RMIT and Monash…

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Mark's Say, May, 2017

by Mark Rubbo

Like Australian publishing generally, university publishing in Australia has gone through its ups and downs. Melbourne University Publishing has dominated the sector for the last 30 years or so, but like many Australian publishers, it’s had to adjust to a changing landscape. University of Queensland Press established itself as a literary publisher in the 70s and 80s, publishing Peter Carey, Kate Grenville and David Malouf. It’s recently appointed former Australia Council Literature executive, Jill Eddington, as its director.

It’s heartening…

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Read an extract from The Hot Guy

by Mel Campbell and Anthony Morris

Film critics Mel Campbell and Anthony Morris have teamed up to create The Hot Guy, a satirical rom-com that both sends up and pays tribute to movies, romantic conventions, and inner-city Melbourne – complete with hipster jokes, fake film trailers and good-natured snark. You can read a short extract from the novel below.

We’re pleased to be hosting a free event with Mel and Anthony discussing the novel with the Good Copy’s Penny Modra on Wednesday 25 May. Find…

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Karen Foxlee wins the 2017 Readings Children's Book Prize

The winner of this year’s Readings Children’s Book Prize is A Most Magical Girl by Karen Foxlee!

The Readings Children’s Book Prize recognises and celebrates Australian books that children love to read and raises the profile of debut and on-the-rise Australian children’s book authors. Foxlee’s first book for children, Ophelia and the Marvellous Boy, was shortlisted for the Prize in 2015. As this year’s winner, she will receive prize money of $3000.

This book was chosen – and unanimously…

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Miles Franklin Literary Award longlist 2017

The longlist for this year’s Miles Franklin Literary Award has been announced. Congratulations to all all the authors and publishers.

The longlisted titles are:

The Easy Way Out by Steve Amsterdam

An Isolated Incident by Emily Maguire

The Last Days of Ava Langdon by Mark O’Flynn

Their Brilliant Careers by Ryan O’Neill

A Loving, Faithful Animal by Josephine Rowe

Waiting by Philip Salom

Where The Trees Were by Inga Simpson

Hold by Kirsten Tranter

Extinctions by Josephine Wilson

This year’s…

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The ABIA Book shortlists 2017

The Australian Book Industry Awards Academy has announced the ABIA Book shortlists for 2017. For the first time, the fastest-growing book publishing segment in the world is acknowledged with an ABIA for Audiobook of the Year.

Congratulations to all the authors, illustrators, narrators, and publishers.

Australian Women’s Weekly General Fiction Book of the Year

Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty (Macmillan Australia, Pan Macmillan Australia)

The Chocolate Tin by Fiona McIntosh (Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House)

The One Who Got

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What we're reading: Wesley Lowery, Mel Campbell and Anthony Morris

Each week we bring you a sample of the books we’re reading, the films and TV shows we’re watching, and the music we’re listening to.

Bronte Coates is reading They Can’t Kill Us All by Wesley Lowery

They Can’t Kill Us All is a compact, fiercely galvanising read about the birth of the Black Lives Matter protest movement. Wesley Lowery is singularly placed to tell this story. Reporting for The Washington Post, he was on the streets during the…

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Historical fiction for feminists

by Lian Hingee

Skylarking by Kate Mildenhall

Inspired by a true story, Kate Mildenhall’s debut novel addresses issues around gender identity and sexuality. The book offers a unique perspective into the lives of women in the nineteenth century. Our reviewer says: ‘Kate is a wonderful literary character – chafing against the expectations of her gender in the 1880s, and wondering what is possible for her beyond the roles of wife and mother.’

Stolen Beauty by Laurie Lico Albanese

Stolen Beauty reimagines the true…

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