Who we are | Get hold of the books | Quoting from NRB
Contribute | Get Reviewed
The Newtown Review of Books was established in March 2012 by Jean Bedford and Linda Funnell as an independent site for book reviews.
We believe that a strong reviewing culture is important for both writers and readers.
NRB publishes reviews of fiction, memoir, biography, history, politics and true crime. Our tastes are eclectic, and we aim to provide intelligent reviews of books people will want to read. We post new reviews two or three times a week, and occasional extracts and giveaways.
We do not review poetry or children’s books.
The Newtown Review of Books is produced entirely by volunteers. You can support us by buying books via the links on the site (we earn a small commission on these sales), or by making a donation.
If you are interested in advertising with NRB please contact us.
Who we are
Editor
Linda Funnell is an editor and publishing consultant and has taught courses in publishing, editing and writing for UTS, the ASA, Writing NSW and the University of Sydney. For ten years she was a publisher with HarperCollins, and previously worked with Random House, Pan Macmillan, and legendary literary agent Rosemary Creswell. She has been NRB’s editor since 2020, having been co-editor with Jean Bedford from 2012 to 2019.
Editor Emerita
Jean Bedford is a prizewinning novelist and short-story writer. She was Literary Editor of the National Times and has been a freelance and in-house publisher’s editor as well as a teacher of Creative Writing. She has been a judge for many local, state and national literary awards and prizes. Her acclaimed novel Sister Kate has been included in Melbourne University’s Untapped: The Australian Literary Heritage Project. Jean was co-editor of NRB from its foundation until 2019, when she stepped back from day to day operations.
Foundation guest contributor
Peter Corris is the creator of PI Cliff Hardy and known as ‘the Godfather of Australian crime fiction’. Peter was married to Newtown Review of Books editor Jean Bedford and wrote ‘The Godfather’ column for NRB from 2012 to 2018. You can read his columns here, including tributes following his death in September 2018.
The Scribe and Bark Foundation
NRB gratefully acknowledges the support of the Scribe and Bark Foundation, which has enabled us to undertake important behind-the-scenes upgrades to our website.
Get hold of the books
We hope that if you like a review you might want to read the book. We have provided links to some of our favourite bookshops, who offer books at a discount. (We receive a small commission on sales made via our site, so if you shop via the NRB links, you are helping to support the work we do.)
But you might prefer to borrow a copy rather than buy, so we’ve also provided links to the Newtown Library.
Quoting from NRB
Please note that copyright in all reviews and articles is retained by the author of the individual review or article.
If you would like to quote from something published in the Newtown Review of Books please credit the author of the review and the Newtown Review of Books. Including a link to the original article would make us even happier.
Contribute
Contributions of reviews are welcome but please be aware this review is run by volunteer labour and we cannot afford to pay you!
If you would like to submit a review, please read our guidelines first.
Copyright in all reviews remains with the reviewer.
Get Reviewed
We are always delighted to receive books for review, though cannot guarantee we will be able to review everything.
Please send review copies to:
The Newtown Review of Books, PO Box 1125, Newtown NSW 2042
We also love to get press releases about new books, so if you are a publisher please add us to your mailing list: editors@newtownreviewofbooks.com.au.
Our designer
Thanks to Ellen Kronen for invaluable assistance with the design of this site. If you would like to see all the wonderful things Ellen can do, visit her at Leumesin Design.
