'As children’s use of screens increased during the COVID pandemic, their reading of traditional books was affected, a national survey of Australian parents shows. The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Melbourne to compare young people’s use of screens and books in the pandemic. Their online survey of 513 primary caregivers of children aged seven to thirteen around Australia showed that tablet use flourished during the pandemic and that COVID lockdowns influenced book buying and library borrowing in consequential ways for publishing and literature. Many parents believed their children’s use of screens had come at the expense of book reading.' (Publication abstract)
'To get the stories behind the stories of genre fiction, few would be better situated than the Australian author trio of Genre Worlds: Popular Fiction and Twenty-First-Century Book Culture. Kim Wilkins, professor at the University of Queensland, is a literary studies specialist; Beth Driscoll, associate professor at the University of Melbourne, specializes in publishing studies and book history research; and Lisa Fletcher, professor at the University of Melbourne, teaches creative writing and writes fantasy novels herself. In this book, the three explore the myriad ways in which industry knowledge and practice, social connection both in-person and online, and authorial taste and expertise all affect the creation of the books that actually get read.' (Introduction)
