The Australian merger of two publishing giants Penguin and Random House will be all but completed in early August as their distribution facilities merge into one combined facility. The process of merging the two companies will have taken almost 3 years since the original announcement. The merged companies will have a market share in Australia of close to 30%; in addition, Penguin and Random House provide different levels of sales and distribution services for a range of Australian and international publishers including Hardie Grant, Scribe, Text, Black Inc., Melbourne University Publishing, University of Queensland Press and Freemantle Arts Centre Press, among others.

Other publishers view the merger with some trepidation, fearing that the new entity will use its size to acquire books or concepts developed by comparatively smaller publishers. In Australia, the two companies Penguin and Random House separately have built up solid reputations as local publishers of quality fiction and non-fiction and have both contributed positively to the Australian publishing ecosystem. It will be interesting to see how this publishing giant develops, but whatever happens, many of the books we buy and read will be touched by Penguin Random House in some way.

Eddie Tamir and his wife Lindy are mad about cinemas. They had two, the Classic in Elsternwick, and the Cameo in Belgrave and now they’ve added a third, the Lido in Glenferrie Road Hawthorn, which opened in late June. The Lido, when it opened 100 years ago, was a cinema but hasn’t been until its reincarnation as an 8 screen venue with a rooftop cinema for summer.

Eddie and Lindy took me on a tour just before it opened; they have done a beautiful job retaining features of the old building where appropriate. The main auditorium is a beautiful space with the original pressed tin ceiling. Years ago, we used to hold literary events in that room and seeing it restored brought back some fond memories. The Lido will program an eclectic range of films ranging from art house to family and including some short films they’ve especially commissioned.

Two writers I greatly admire have books coming out in the next few months and I urge you to look out for them. The first is A Guide to Berlin by Gail Jones, which comes out in August. It’s a novel set, of course, in Berlin and is about six travellers in Berlin sharing stories. The next, due in October, is Drusilla Modjeska’s memoir, Second Half First; a reflection on her later life. If you know Drusilla’s work you know it will all be very good. Drusilla and I are going to be talking about the book in October, so keep your eyes peeled.

For more than 20 years Martin Shaw has been my colleague at Readings. For much of that time Martin has helped shape Readings’ offering, but most importantly he has become a champion for good Australian writing. He and his partner are moving to Germany this month and we will miss him, as will many authors and publishers.

Mark Rubbo