News + Articles
Melbourne Writers Festival
Melbourne Writers Festival (MWF) is Melbourne’s annual, two-week celebration for writers, readers and thinkers. Each year in August, the Festival celebrates the talent and ideas of hundreds of writers from Australia and around the world, through a vibrant program of storytelling, conversation and discussion, intellectual debate, educational programs, live performance, music and art events. The […]

Sinking independents into libraries | Pepi Ronalds
There’s a quote on the Internet that is attributed to Virginia Woolf. ‘I ransack public libraries, and find them full of sunk treasure,’ it reads. In order to find its source I paste the full quote into a search box, held together by inverted commas. ‘Did you mean: “I ransack public libraries, and find them […]
On being underrated (the MUBA) | Pepi Ronalds
For Christmas last year Wayne Macauley’s partner gave him a t-shirt printed with the words Most Underrated 2012. ‘I don’t wear it out that often but it’s a beautiful thing,’ Macauley quips. The t-shirt is a reference to last year’s inaugural Most Underrated Book Award (MUBA) which Macauley won for his novel The Cook. ‘[The […]

Robert Galbraith Didn’t Sell. Why is Anyone Surprised? | Keiran Rogers
This article was originally published on 25 July 2013 on the ‘Books + Publishing’ website. Join up for all the news and publishing discussions you need. The Cuckoo’s Calling achieved mediocre sales before it was revealed bestselling author JK Rowling was the actual author ‘The Cuckoo’s Calling reminds me why I fell in love with crime […]
Meet the publisher: STEPHEN MINCHIN from Steam Press (NZ)
(Editor note: we LOVE this photo!) Steam Press is … a publisher of New Zealand science fiction, fantasy, and horror that is determined to give local authors a viable market for their work, and make that work available to the world. Stephen Minchin is… Drinking far too much coffee. When was the last time you […]
Content collection:
Book of the Year Award

In conversation with BOTY winning editors Leah Jing McIntosh and Adolfo Aranjuez
Against Disappearance: Essays on Memory (Pantera Press) is exactly the kind of invigorating non-fiction that small, risk-taking publications like Liminal, excel at. It is a physically beautiful collection, presented with an understated sophistication that reflects those same qualities in the works. Edited by Leah Jing McIntosh and Adolofo Aranjuez, this collection brings together writers from across […]

In conversation with BOTY shortlisted author Nornie Bero
Mabu Mabu (Hardie Grant Books) is an intricately crafted cookbook that melds together a perfect balance of memoir and recipe. In between stunning graphics and mouth-watering recipes, Nornie Bero recounts how her upbringing fostered a love for food and explores the deep connection between culture, identity and food. —BOTY 2023 judging panel We were lucky enough […]

In conversation with BOTY shortlisted author Andrew Sutherland
Paradise (Point of Transmission) (Fremantle Press) is beautifully layered collection of poems that explores the realities of a HIV diagnosis on home, community and freedom. It complex but inviting, an act of generosity and transformation. In his first poetry collection Andrew Sutherland simultaneously captures the stigma of a HIV-positive identity and the deep love of Queer community. […]

In conversation with BOTY shortlisted author George Haddad
For a novel about violence, Losing Face is surprisingly tender. George Haddad is a writer with a talent for voice and place, vividly capturing the intensity of Western Sydney. Haddad uses layered intergenerational storytelling to demonstrate the complexity with which lives intertwine and unravel around a violent crime. He avoids delivering neat and easy answers but instead […]
Content collection:
Meet the Publisher

The Small Press Network Interviews: Terri-ann White, Upswell Publishing
As she prepares for her keynote speech for this year’s 2021 SPN Independent Publishing Conference workshop day, Terri-ann White speaks to Holly Hendry-Saunders on launching Perth-based publishing house Upswell Publishing during a pandemic. Her life before Upswell’s inception White, a veteran in the book industry, began her career as a bookseller at eighteen, and at […]
Meet the Publisher: Duncan Felton, Grapple Publishing
When and how were you established? After many years of semi-organised pondering and planning, Grapple Publishing started late in 2013, making itself known to the world with a call-out for submissions to The Grapple Annual No. 1. At that point it was just me sitting at my computer with some ideas, some savings and a […]
MEET THE PUBLISHER – Lacuna Publishing
Linda Nix, Publisher and Editor, Lacuna When and how were you established? I have a long-standing fascination with how words and ideas are disseminated and become part of society’s cultural fabric. After years working in the industry, I realised my dream was to run a small press. In 2010 I set up a freelance editing, […]
Meet the Publisher – coeur de lion
When and how were you established? As with all good ideas, coeur de lion was born in a pub. The speculative fiction scene goes through boom and bust cycles and at the time there weren’t a lot of local independent presses catering to a sci-fi, horror, fantasy audience. Myself and fellow author Andrew Macrae were […]