We love this year’s list of Best Young Australian Novelists by Sydney Morning Herald. Here’s our thoughts on the five shortlisted authors’ books.

Maxine Beneba Clarke is the author of short-story collection Foreign Soil.

Our Head Book Buyer Martin Shaw has been a fierce supporter of Beneba Clarke’s debut short-story collection ever since he first read an early version of it, pre-publication. At the time, he wrote: “With stories of migration and emigration ranging across America, Africa, the…

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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.

Bronte Coates is reading Becoming Kirrali Lewis by Jane Harrison

I’ve been on a little bit of an OzYA journey lately, having just read and loved Ellie Marney’s smart, sexy and suspenseful Every series and the first two books of Jaclyn Moriarty’s pretty-much-perfect-in-every-way The Colours of Madeleine series.

Then, earlier this week I…

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Both of these authors are enjoying new success writing for a younger age group having published several novels for adults and teens. One of them comes from a writing family and has followed in her mother’s footsteps, while the other spent many years working as a nurse before turning to her favourite childhood past-time of making up magical stories.

Meet Karen Foxlee and Allison Rushby.

In these interviews, you’ll find out what sparked the idea in Karen Foxlee’s mind for…

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Here are four of our favourite young adult novels of the month.

1. Pieces of Sky by Trinity Doyle (YA Book of the Month)

“Death and its aftermath are rendered complex and chaotic in this stunning debut novel. There are no trite answers to the aftermath of tragedy, just a gradual discovery of the capacity to endure. Pieces of Sky is beautifully written, packed with longing and sadness, but also filled with hope. I inhaled it in enormous gulps like…

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Martin Shaw reports back from the Leading Edge Books and Australian Book Industry Award 2015 conferences.

So we’re all fresh from our annual conference which, as ever, re-charged the bookselling batteries with previews of the many highlights on the literary calendar for the remainder of 2015. Perhaps the book carrying the biggest buzz was the latest novel from Jonathan Franzen – Purity – advance copies of which naturally disappeared fast. But there were also some home-grown authors causing a stir…

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Each month we choose a newly released book that we feel is perfect for a book club. Then we roadtest it.

Here are our thoughts on whether Masha Gessen’s The Tsarnaev Brothers: The Road to a Modern Tragedy is a good pick for for book clubs.

Does the book make for good conversation?

Absolutely! This book raises so many questions that there is simply no doubt that good conversation will be had. Gessen’s exploration of terrorism and the immigrant experience…

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With the Emerging Writers’ Festival opening last night, it feels necessary to start our highlights reel for June with two free events we’re hosting as part of their festival program.

On Wednesday 27 May (well, it’s almost June), the ever lovely Andy Griffiths will talk about his grassroots beginnings to being a bestselling author for children. This event is for aspiring writers, not for young readers – it’s strictly for writers over 18 years old. Find out more here.

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In 1992 I turned 20 and got married. Raised as a strict Seventh-day Adventist (a boutique form of evangelical Christianity), I believed that the end of the world was near and that sex before marriage was a terrible sin. My boyfriend and I had fallen passionately in love at church, and we knew we had to get married quickly if we wanted to stay ‘good’. So we had our white wedding in the middle of winter during University’s mid-semester break…

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The 2015 Emerging Writers’ Festival kicks off tonight with their Opening Night Extravaganza (featuring must-see guest speaker, Emily St. John Mandel). Here are ten debut Australian authors we’re looking forward to seeing at this year’s festival.

Ellen van Neerven, author of Heat and Light

Ellen van Neerven is a writer of Mununjali and Dutch heritage. She belongs to the Yugambeh people of the Gold Coast and Scenic Rim. She won the David Unaipon Award for an Unpublished Indigenous Writer in…

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Our Managing Director Mark Rubbo recently won the Lloyd O’Neil Award for service to the Australian book industry. The award was announced as part of the 2015 Australian Book Industry Awards.

Here is his acceptance speech from the night.

It’s a great honour to receive this award. Lloyd O’Neil helped set the stage for a truly Australian publishing industry and without him, we perhaps would not be where are today.

I’ve been in the bookselling game for coming up to…

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