No more ‘Orange’ Prize for Fiction + Bookish Links + Bookish Night Out – All Welcome!

… and the Orange Prize for Fiction is no more.

The organisers of the Orange Prize for Fiction have announced that this year’s prize will be the last to be sponsored by the mobile telecommunications   brand Orange.

After a successful partnership of 17 years, during which time the Orange prize   has boosted the status of female novelists worldwide, Orange has decided   that in 2013 it will focus its sponsorship activities on film in the UK.

You can read the full article here.

This come as another blow to the industry after the Queensland government cut funding for the QLD Premier’s Literary Awards – which have now been re-started by key industry folk as simply the Queensland Literary Awards.

In other bookish links:

• As always, check out Read In A Single Sitting’s links
• Don’t burn out if you’re self-employed on Yes and Yes
• Best Australian Book Design, 2012 on The Wheeler Centre
• Notes from the Sydney Writers’ Festival — Part I on Lit-icism
• All About Advances on Rachelle Gardner
• The best iPhone apps on Mamamia - lots of great bookish apps
• Julia Lawrinson’s launch for Losing It
• Speaking of, here’s a really great interview with Julia (stolen shamelessly from the above post)
• Postsecret
• It’s totes the EMERGING WRITERS’ FESTIVAL THIS WEEK.

And everyone is very excited.

Especially me.

The opening night, Stories That Matter, is on Thursday and I’m very sad to miss it.

(I have uni, and I’ve missed the last three weeks due to bookish things and figure I probably can’t miss anymore!)

Then the Top Secret Artists Party is on Friday night – I shall bring you all the gossip from that! Plus I get to wear my new pretty heels!

Then The Town Hall Conference is on this weekend: everyone’s going, right?

On the Sunday I’m ducking out early as I’m going to Women of Letters.

Also: any Melbourne bookish people are welcome to come along to ‘A Bookish Night Out at the Astor’ - should be a top night! Originally the wonderful Steph from Read In A Single Sitting’s idea – which our book club (Steph, Steph, Sarah, Jess and me (yeah, we’re pretty cool!)) has shamelessly stolen and pretending we’re all organising it together when really it’s all Steph – we’re going to see back-to-back movies, The Artist and My Week with Marilyn and have lots of bookish discussions.

Any bookish events coming up for you?