Puffin Books Australia

Penguin Australia, Chief Executive Gabrielle Coyne announced today the promotion of Ben Ball to the position of Publishing Director, Penguin General, a division made up of the imprints Viking, Michael Joseph, Hamish Hamilton and Penguin.

Ball, who was born in Melbourne, held numerous publishing positions in London before joining Penguin in January 2006.  As a Director, he will join Children’s and Young Adult’s Publishing Director Laura Harris and Illustrated Books Publishing Director Julie Gibbs, completing the new commissioning and editorial leadership group across the three distinct Australian publishing divisions.

In the five years he has been at Penguin, Ball has published a broad range of books, working with authors such as Peter Carey, Peter Goldsworthy, Sonya Hartnett, Mathew Hayden, Chloe Hooper, Paul Kelly, Nam Le, Judith Lucy, Steve Toltz, Brenda Walker and Tim Winton.

Ben Ball said “It’s an honour and a delight to help lead this great publishing house.  I’m fortunate enough at Penguin to work with wonderful authors and first-class colleagues, so I’m very energized by the prospect of tackling the challenges the industry has ahead of it in such fine company.”

Gabrielle Coyne said “I’m delighted to have someone of Ben’s calibre joining the new leadership group of the publishing division.  Ben is a passionate advocate for books and writers. No-one is more serious nor committed to the curatorial role publisher’s play, particularly when it comes to ensuring an author’s work is enjoyed by as many people as possible in formats old and new.”

With Ben moving into this new role, he, Julie Gibbs and Laura Harris will now assume full responsibility for their Publishing divisions, reporting to Gabrielle Coyne.

The shortlist for the 2011 Premier's Literary Awards has been announced and includes these following Penguin titles:

The Christina Stead Prize for Fiction ($40,000)

Parrot & Olivier in America by Peter Carey

The Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction ($40,000)

Tell Me The Truth: Conversations With My Patients About Life And Death by Ranjana Srivastava

Reading by Moonlight: How Books Saved A Life by Brenda Walker

The Ethel Turner Prize for Young People’s Literature ($30,000)

Saltwater Vampires by Kirsty Eager

The Piper’s Son by Melina Marchetta

The Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children’s Literature ($30,000)

The Three Loves of Persimmon by Cassandra Golds

The 2011 People’s Choice Award: Register your vote here www.pla.nsw.gov.au/peoples-choice-award

Parrot & Olivier in America by Peter Carey

For more information see www.pla.nsw.gov.au

Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy

Behemoth: Leviathan book 2 by Scott Westerfeld

For more information visit sfwa.org

The Best Designed Children's Cover of the Year sponsored by Xou Creative

The Midnight Zoo cover design by Tony Palmer

The Best Designed Children’s Fiction Book sponsored by 1010 Printing International

Kingdom of the Lost Book 1: The Red Wind cover and internal design by Marina Messiha

The Midnight Zoo cover and internal design by Tony Palmer

The Best Designed Children’s Non-fiction Book

Wicked Warriors and Evil Emperors cover and internal design by Adam Laszczuk

The Best Designed Cookbook sponsored by Kinokuniya

The Entire Beast cover and internal design by Daniel New

The Best Designed General Illustrated Book sponsored by Murdoch Books

Food, Fashion, Friends cover and internal design by Evi Oetomo

Shack cover and internal design by Allison Colpoys

What On Earth Are You Wearing? A Michipedia of Fashion cover and internal design by Ortolan

The Best Designed Non-fiction Book sponsored by Better Read Than Dead Bookshop

Reading by Moonlight cover design by Allison Colpoys, internal design by Allison Colpoys and Anne-Marie Reeves

Check out the cover of Throne of Fire, the second book in Rick Riordan's The Kane Chronicles series. You can also read the first chapter - bonus! Throne of Fire will be in stores from May 2.

Fiction for years 7-9

Boy Overboard by Morris Gleitzman

Pearson Australia Group is delighted to announce that it will be relocating to new premises in April 2012. More than just an office move, it will mean bringing together Penguin Group (Australia) and Pearson Australia, into a truly collaborative and creative space.

The new premises will be located in the heritage listed The Southern Goods Shed, which traverses the eastern boundary of Walker Corporation’s 735 Collins Street development in Melbourne.

Central to public transport and part of a developing precinct, the building will be converted to retain the heritage listed features of the original building - high ceilings, clerestory windows, exposed trusses, brickwork and cast iron columns - whilst transforming the interior into a contemporary, light-filled, open office environment incorporating state-of-the-art technology.

The Goods Shed was built in 1889 and was renowned for its outstanding aesthetic and historical significance as the largest and most elaborate railway goods building in Victoria. Its huge scale and grand style reflect Melbourne’s boom for almost a century and most of the materials for Victoria’s industries passed under its soaring, gabled roof.

Basso Project Management and architects BVN will work closely on the redevelopment of the new space. As a part of Pearson’s ongoing commitment to reducing its carbon footprint, the historic building upgrade is being designed to achieve a 5 star Green Star= Rating and use green principle for the office interiors.

“This is an exciting precinct and a building that really suits the creative, collective nature of the Pearson Australia Group,” commented Chief Operating Officer, Dionne Higgins. “Our thanks go to Stuart Allison from CB Richard Ellis Global Corporate Services, who has helped to select and secure our tenancy in this great property.”

Penguin Australia’s CEO, Gabrielle Coyne described it as an exciting move into a lively area. “It’s an opportunity to work in an open plan environment which will naturally make us more collaborative. Residing under the same roof with Pearson’s Education business will also see us share ideas and collaborate in ways we can’t even begin to imagine. Plus for Penguin, there’s a nice circular aspect to this – we originally commenced trading in Australia in a tin shed nearby in South Melbourne in 1946, so it feels a little bit like coming home.”

Pearson Australia’s CEO, David Barnett said the “The Southern Goods Shed will be a great work space for our Melbourne-based Education teams, close to first-class amenities and public transport. In addition it will be wonderful to be housed, for the first time, in the same building as colleagues from Penguin. We look forward to exploiting the collaboration opportunities.”

The 735 Collins Street development is the largest commercial mixed-use development in Australia, comprising five commercial towers alongside the refurbishment of the Southern Goods Shed, and a world class retail precinct fronting Collins Street.

Executive Chairman of Walker Corporation, Lang Walker, welcomed Pearson Australia Group to the new precinct, adding that he was delighted that a world-leading organisation had made the decision to move to this iconic new development.

“735 Collins Street has unprecedented transport and retail amenity, creating a vibrant new quarters for the western end of Collins Street. We know that the Pearson Group Australia will thoroughly enjoy their new premises and being part of the 735 Collins Street precinct. It’s fantastic to be able to undertake a heritage restoration the size and scale of the Southern Goods Shed as part of this iconic new development – it will set a new benchmark for environmentally sustainable, heritage restoration projects in Australia.”

The $1 billion 735 Collins Street precinct is one of four major projects Walker Corporation has underway in Melbourne.

For more information please contact: Sally Bateman, Penguin Group (Australia) Ph 03 9811 2496 or email: sally.bateman@au.penguingroup.com

Tessa McMahon, Walker Corporation Ph: 02 8273 9678 or email:Tessa.mcmahon@walkercorp.com.au

Now by Morris Gleitzman

For the complete list and for more information about the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize please visit the Guardian online.

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