Kay Kerr’s debut novel Please Don’t Hug Me depicts life on the cusp of adulthood – and on the autism spectrum. Kerr is a freelance writer and former journalist and community newspaper editor from Queensland. She was writing the first draft of Please Don’t Hug Me when she received her own autism-spectrum diagnosis.

If I were asked to name my most life-changing moment, it wouldn’t be my book dea…

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We asked the team at Victorian Women’s Trust to share what they’ve been reading in isolation. Here’s what they said. From the Edge: Australia’s Lost Histories by Mark McKenna

“If there remains any need to drive the last nail in the coffin of terra nullius, this is it, with riveting historical accounts of overlooked or forgotten encounters between Indigenous people and White Europeans.”

– M…

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For bookclubs who remember Melbourne’s post-punk yesteryear… Almost a Mirror by Kirsten Krauth

Mona, Benny and Jimmy are drawn into the elegantly wasted orbit of the Crystal Ballroom and the post-punk scene of ‘80s Melbourne, a world that includes Nick Cave and Dodge, a photographer pushing his art to the edge. As it moves between the Blue Mountains and Melbourne, Sydney and Castlemaine, Almo…

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The Australian Book Industry Awards Academy has announced the ABIA Book shortlists for 2020, and the winners of the Rising Star and Hall of Fame Awards.

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

General fiction book of the year Bruny by Heather Rose Cilka’s Journey by Heather Morris Good Girl, Bad Girl by Michael Robotham Silver by Chris Hammer …

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Slime by David Walliams & Tony Ross Aurora Burning (The Aurora Cycle, Book 2) by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff Bluey: Time to Play! Landing with Wings by Trace Balla Eddie Woo’s Magical Maths by Eddie Woo I Can Be Anything by Shinsuke Yoshitake Bluey: Bob Bilby Sherlock Bones and the Natural History Mystery by Renée Treml E-Boy (E-Boy, Book 1) by Anh Do & Chris Wahl What Do You Call a Baby…? by Ka…

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A Bigger Picture by Malcolm Turnbull The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams Below Deck by Sophie Hardcastle The Coconut Children by Vivian Pham See What You Made Me Do by Jess Hill The Adversary by Ronnie Scott Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo Falastin by Sami Tamimi & Tara Wigley The Loudness of Unsaid Things by Hilde Hinton Redhead by the Side of the Road by Anne Tyler

Malcolm…

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Chris Gordon is our events and programming manager extraordinaire, as well as our monthly food and gardening columnist. Here is the latest instalment of her self-isolation cooking diary.

I’ve learned a little more about myself over the last few weeks, and reading Jaclyn Crupi’s excellent book, Nonna Knows Best (available 28 April) has helped me to reaffirm a few of these self-discoveries. Most…

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There are so many wonderful works of Australian fiction to celebrate in April. Here, we collect together seven first-time novels from local authors. For a fun, sexy, summer read… The Adversary by Ronnie Scott

In a creaky house in Brunswick, a young man has devoted himself to recreational showers, staring at his phone, and speculating on the activities of his best friend and housemate, Dan.…

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The shortlist for the 2020 Women’s Prize for Fiction has been announced. This Prize celebrates excellence, originality and accessibility in women’s writing from throughout the world.

Martha Lane Fox, Chair of the judging panel, commented: “We are all living in challenging, sad and complex times so incredible stories provide hope, a moment of escape and a point of connection now more than ever. C…

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Who’s Your Real Mum? is a fantastic new Australian picture book that celebrates nontraditional families and captures exactly what lies at the heart of family life – love. We chatted to author Bernadette Green about how her debut picture book came to life. You wrote Who’s Your Real Mum? to help smooth the path for kids of same-sex parents. What were the kinds of pressures you were hoping to rel…

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