Our latest blog posts

The Readings Foundation Grants 2015 now open

Applications for the Readings Foundation Grants 2015 are now open!

The Readings Foundation was established in 2009 to support Victorian individuals and organisations that wish to further the development of literacy, community work and the arts. Grant applications for 2015 close Friday 31 October, 2014.

You can download the application form here. (Please note, this is a pdf download.)

Readings donates 10% of its overall profit to the Readings Foundation each year, and crucial funds are also raised from donations…

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What we're reading

Each week we bring you a sample of the books we’re reading, the films we’re watching, the television shows we’re hooked on or the music we’re loving.

Amy is reading All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews

I stumbled upon a blurb and review for this novel online yesterday. The review said the novel, ‘reads as if it has been wrenched from [the author’s] heart’. There was something about the synopsis and this impression of the writing that had me…

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Martin Shaw's top picks for September

by Martin Shaw

Shortly after you read this column, the shortlist for the Man Booker Prize 2014 will be announced. Due to a quirk in the prize’s eligibility criteria (namely, to allow not-yet-published works), several of the longlistees are only just now being published. We’ve reviewed two that are released in September (with more to come in October) – Joseph O’Neill’s The Dog and David Mitchell’s The Bone Clocks – and, if the quality of these are any indication, it’s clearly going to…

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Ten gift ideas for dads

With Father’s Day is just around the corner (Sunday 7 September), we’ve put together a list of ten gift ideas for the ‘dad who…’

For the dad who always warned you off hitchhiking:

In Carsick, John Waters puts his life on the line and hitchhikes across America from Baltimore to San Francisco, braving lonely roads and treacherous drivers. Along the way, he fantasises about the best and worst possible scenarios: a friendly drug dealer hands over piles of cash…

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Books you might have missed in August

Given the sizeable number of new releases that arrive in store each month, it’s easy to miss some hidden gems. We’ve compiled a short list of books you might have missed in August.

Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes

Several of our staff members can attest to the fact that Lauren Beukes’ The Shining Girls was extremely terrifying. Her newest release, Broken Monsters looks set to the same. In Detroit, violent death - along with foreclosure and despair - is a…

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Mark's Say: Readings New Australian Writing Award 2014 Shortlist

by Mark Rubbo

A few years ago our events manager, Christine Gordon, some friends of Readings and I went to the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF). For lots of reasons it was the best literary festival I’d been to. Sorry Melbourne, sorry Sydney, sorry Adelaide and sorry Ubud, but none of you can match the vibrancy, diversity and sheer size of the JLF. This year, Readings has recruited Marieke Brugman to lead a tour to the 2015 JLF. Marieke has been taking tours to…

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The Readings New Australian Writing Award 2014 Shortlist

We’re thrilled to announce the six shortlisted books for Readings New Australian Writing Award!

The Readings New Australian Writing Award is for an Australian author’s first or second book of fiction, and recognises exciting and exceptional new literary talent.

Here are the shortlisted books for 2014:

The Tribe by Michael Mohammed Ahmad (Giramondo)

An Elegant Young Man by Luke Carman (Giramondo)

Foreign Soil by Maxine Beneba Clarke (Hachette)

Only the Animals by Ceridwen Dovey (Hamish Hamilton)

The Night Guest by…

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Sign up for our NAW Reading Challenge

To celebrate our our inaugural New Australian Writing (NAW) Award shortlist, we’re inviting everyone to take part in our NAW Reading Challenge!

Take the six book challenge and commit to reading the entire shortlist, or the three book challenge and read any three books on the shortlist, by Friday 17 October. Participants will have the opportunity to share their thoughts on the shortlisted books and win gift vouchers.

Here is what you’ll receive upon signing up (along with the…

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The Readings New Australian Writing Award Judges' Report

The Readings New Australian Writing Award is for an Australian author’s first or second book of fiction, and recognises exciting and exceptional new literary talent. Here is the judges’ report of the six shotlisted titles for 2014.

The Tribe by Michael Mohammed Ahmad (Giramondo)

Told from the point of view of a child called Bani, The Tribe introduces the members of a Muslim family who fled to Australia just before the civil war in Lebanon, and the narrative progresses through…

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