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Cody Simpson follows in the footsteps of a growing list of celebrities sharing their love of books. (PR IMAGE PHOTO)

BooksPremiumPop star turns over a new leaf, 'pouring' over books

Australian pop singer Cody Simpson is joining other celebrities who have come before him, starting his own book club.

Billie Schwab Dunn

Margaret River author Bernice Barry with her book, The Names of a Hare.

LITERARY HONOURPremiumMargaret River author wins $100,000 literary prize

Margaret River author Bernice Barry has taken out one of Australia’s top literary honours, winning the $100,000 ARA Historical Novel Prize for her spellbinding novel, The Names of a Hare.

Madelin Hayes

Perth author Rebecca Higgie has just released her second novel The Book of The After.

review
review
Book ReviewsPremium
review
An epic journey into afterlife finds meaning in the living

REVIEW: A genre-bending story of political ambition, climate chaos, and an afterlife governed by memory, The Book Of The After asks whether knowing what lies beyond death would change how we live today.

Amy Cavender

WA author Rebecca Higgie, with her new book, The Book Of The After, at home in Bentley, Perth.

Books WA author explores afterlife idea in epic Perth-based novel

What if a book could tell you exactly what happens after you die? Perth author Rebecca Higgie has imagined a world in which memory echoes through millennia in her novel The Book Of The After.

Amy Cavender

Anne Carson was in Iceland "listening to the wind" when she was told of her Nobel win. (AP PHOTO)

BooksPremiumCanadian writer Anne Carson wins Nobel literature prize

Canadian poet and ‌writer Anne Carson has won the ‌2026 Nobel Prize in ‌literature "for her bold and inventive oeuvre".

Kostya Manenkov and Stefanie Dazio

An extract from Judith Lucy’s new book Well Well Well. . .

Extract“Spoiler alert: there’s no magic pill”

In Judith Lucy’s new book Well Well Well. . . the comedian delves into her quest for health and wellness that took her from the Amazon rainforest back home to Perth. She shares an exclusive extract with STM.

Judith Lucy

Shaun Tan in his studio.

BooksNew twist on similar creative theme

Artist, writer and Academy Award-winning filmmaker Shaun Tan wishes he had a single lightning flash origin story for the inspiration behind his new hardback graphic novel Hometown.

Tanya MacNaughton

Vietnam veteran Laurie Fraser.

albany 2026Albany RSL to launch stalwart Laurie Fraser’s biography

Albany veteran and former RSL president Laurie Fraser has been an integral part of Albany’s commemoration of its servicepeople over the years, and is now set to have his story immortalised in print. 

Jacki Elezovich

Author Ruth McIver came to Narrogin to give a crime-writing workshop at the library.

Book dealReader, I murdered him: Crime writing workshop comes to town

Author Ruth McIver came to Narrogin to help local writers with their whodunnits – and to steer them away from endings where the butler did it.

Claire Middleton

Corrigin-raised author Erica Honey is putting pen to paper to document the stories behind the famous dog cemetery in a book tentatively titled Corrigin Dog Cemetery — Tails And Memories.

Dog bookPremiumErica Honey’s new book inspired by Corrigin Dog Cemetery

For generations, Corrigin’s dogs have been more than beloved pets, they have been part of the town’s story with their final resting place now inspiring a new book.

Amy Towers

Northern suburbs author Tess Woods has released her latest novel, The Cairo Bridal Shop.

BooksSewing up another novel success story

It has taken a long time for northern suburbs author Tess Woods to summon the courage to write her latest novel, The Cairo Bridal Shop.

Tanya MacNaughton

Author Nadine Browne shares an exclusive first-person piece ahead of her Gone Guru book release.

EXCLUSIVE I grew up waiting for the Rapture. It never came

Leaving a doomsday community at 16 meant rebuilding a brain from scratch for Nadine Browne. In a first-person piece for STM, the Perth author writes about faith, doubt and the road from WA to NYC.

Nadine Browne

2026 Premier's Book Awards Book of the Year and Emerging Writer of the Year winner Mabel Gibson.

BooksPremiumSignificant double win for First Nations storyteller

First-time author and Yamatji woman Mabel Gibson has taken home the top prize for Book of the Year at the 2026 Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards with her debut micro memoir CryBaby.

Tanya MacNaughton

Albany author Amy Ullrich with her Heroes of Wessex trilogy.

Great expectationAmong the Valiant by Amy Ullrich about to hit the shelves

Amy Ullrich is launching the final book in her Heroes of Wessex series this month, wrapping up in one last adventure the fiction she has woven around the life of Alfred the Great.

Claire Middleton

Author David Wray with his debut novel Diamond of the Desert.

albany 2026Fiction and fact combine to tell story of colonialism in WA

The bicentenary of WA’s oldest city is the perfect time to dig into the State’s colonial past, historical fiction author David Wray says.

Jacki Elezovich

Paperbark Merchants' Leisa Morton with the new releases.

Open bookPremiumReading between the lines to serve Albany’s literary tastes

She’s living the dream, a prolific reader who spends her days surrounded by books.

Claire Middleton

Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) starred in the film at the centre of a bizarre legal battle in Brisbane. Jonathan Olley

MOVIESPremiumAussie author’s war on Disney film backfires

An author claiming the makers of the final Indiana Jones film stole her work has faced harsh words in her fight against the Mouse House.

Kate Stephenson

Kirra Pendergast and Maggie Dent with their book, Digital Freedom.

NationalPremiumNew book reveals how parents can navigate kids’ screen time

Renowned parenting expert Maggie Dent has teamed up with leading online safety expert Kirra Pendergast for a new book which aims to help parents navigate one of the biggest issues facing families today.

Rhianna Mitchell and Caitlin Vinci

Author Liane Moriarty.

BooksLiane Moriarty on taking her characters back from Hollywood

A decade after HBO got hold of them, the Monterey five are Aussies again. The author explains how she wrote a sequel to a book that became a phenomenon on screen.

Jade Jurewicz

Jennifer Miller, Jane Taylor, Olivia Miller, and Didy and Chris Wallace with Voices Of The South: Reflections 2026.

Albany 2026Big crowd supports bicentenary book launch

The Albany Town Hall hosted the launch of Voices Of The South: Reflections 2026 on Thursday night, a new anthology featuring a host of Albany writers’ perspectives on the city’s bicentenary.

Jacki Elezovich

Roger Guinery, editor of Voices of the South: Reflections 2026, which launches at Albany Town Hall on Thursday.

Albany 2026Voices of the South: Reflections 2026 launches at Town Hall

More than 60 writers with a deep affection for Albany have contributed their stories, poems and memoirs to Voices of the South: Reflections 2026, which launches on Thursday night at the Town Hall.

Claire Middleton

Maggie Dawkins with her book To Be Believed.

Book launchPremiumMaggie Dawkins launches new book To Be Believed in Albany

Brave survivors of the former St Andrew’s Hostel came forward last week in Albany to listen as Maggie Dawkins launched her book detailing the harrowing failures that allowed abuse to occur for so many years.

Amy Towers

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NewsPremium‘Feels strange’: Rapper wins Miles Franklin

A writer, rapper, artist and poet from Queanbeyan has won the 2026 Miles Franklin Literary Award.

Emma Kirk

Omar Musa has won the prestigious $60,000 Miles Franklin Literary Award. (Bianca De Marchi/AAP PHOTOS)

BooksPremiumSix years, 21 drafts earn hip-hop poet top book prize

Author and hip-hop artist Omar Musa moved to Borneo to write his second novel Fierceland, which has taken out Australia's premier literary award.

Liz Hobday