News of the Week: the latest from Hannah Kent, Richard Flanagan, Amie Kaufman, Matthew Reilly and more.

Richard Flanagan to publish new book, First Person.

Richard Flanagan has announced he will be releasing First Person in October this year, his first book since winning the Man Booker Prize in 2014 for The Narrow Road to the Deep North.

First Person is inspired by Flanagan’s real-life experience ghost-writing the memoir of Australian conman Johann Friedrich Hohenberger. In a statement by Penguin Random House, they announced it is written in the first person by ‘reality TV producer Kif Kehlmann’ and details how ‘Kif, as a younger, penniless writer unable to finish his first novel, agrees to ghost write the memoir of a notorious con man, Ziggy Heidl, who has defrauded the banks of $700 million’.

As work gets underway, Kif ‘begins to fear that he is being corrupted by the con man’ and ‘grows ever more uncertain as to whether he is ghost writing a memoir, or if Ziggy Heidl is rewriting him’. ‘At the novel’s heart is a question: what is the truth?’

Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIAs) announce 2017 longlist.

For 17 years, the Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIAs) have been celebrating Australian stories and the astounding talent in the Australian publishing industry. This week, they announced their longlist across the 11 categories.

Categories include Biography Book of the Year (Jimmy Barnes and Deng Thiak Adut have been longlisted), General Fiction Book of the Year (Matthew Reilly and Liane Moriarty have been longlisted), and General Non-Fiction Book of the Year (Scott Pape and Helen Garner have been longlisted). Browse all longlisted authors here.

Hannah Kent to publish two new novels.

Following on from the success of Burial Rites and The Good People, book publisher Pan Macmillan has announced that their imprint Picador will be publishing the next two novels by Hannah Kent. Details are scarce at present, and publication dates are unknown.

PODCAST: Listen to Hannah chat about The Good People.

Ian Rankin, George Saunders, Amie Kaufman, and Stan Grant to attend 2017 Auckland Writers Festival.

More than 160 writers will attend the 2017 Auckland Writers Festival, which will run from 16-21 May. Over this period there will be readings, debates, stand-up poetry, literary theatre, and free public and family events.

The line-up of 42 international authors will include: Ian Ranking, author of the Inspector Rebus novels; George Saunders, one of America’s foremost contemporary writers; Man Booker prize-winning Anne Enright and Paul Beatty, and bestselling feminist writer Roxane Gay.

Australian authors attending include: Award-winning young adult author Amie Kaufman and Australian broadcaster and memoirist, Stan Grant.

Tickets go on sale 17 March. To view the program, click here. 

Two Australian authors shortlisted for the 2017 Carnegie and Greenway Medals.

Australian authors Zana Fraillon and Glenda Millard have been shortlisted for the 2017 Carnegie and Greenway Medals, for The Bone Sparrow and The Stars at Oktober Bend respectively. The Carnegie and Greenway Medals are the UK’s oldest and most prestigious book awards for children and young people.

Now in its 80th year, the CILIP Carnegie Medal is awarded to the writer of an outstanding book for children and young people; the Kate Greenway Medal, now in its 60th year, is awarded for outstanding illustration in a children’s book. The latter is the only award in the UK to solely reward excellence in illustration in children’s books.

European authors and male writers dominate The Man Booker International Prize 2017 Longlist.

The Man Booker International Prize 2017 Longlist has been announced, with European authors and male writers dominating the list.

The annual award is worth  £50,000, and celebrates the finest global fiction translated into English. The prize money is split evenly between the author and translator.

The 13 longlisted books were chosen from 126 submissions by the judges. A shortlist of six books will be announced on 20 April and a winner will be revealed at a ceremony in London on 14 June. Discover the longlisted authors here.

Missed these podcasts?

Sarah Wilson, founder of the I Quit Sugar movement, speaks with Anastasia Hadjidemetri about her book about anxiety, First, We Make The Beast Beautiful.

Peter Robinson, author of the DCI Banks series, speaks with Sarah McDuling about his latest novel, When The Music’s Over.

Garth Nix, author of The Old Kingdom Chronicles, chats with Sarah McDuling and Bronwyn Eley about his latest fantasy adventure, Frogkisser!

Missed last week’s news? Watch a 5 minute wrap-up

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About the Contributor

Anastasia Hadjidemetri

Anastasia Hadjidemetri is the former editor of The Booktopian and star of Booktopia's weekly YouTube show, Booked with Anastasia. A big reader and lover of books, Anastasia relishes the opportunity to bring you all the latest news from the world of books.