Description This company wants you to sit back and unwind with one of its books. Touting itself as Australia's leading independent publisher, Allen & Unwin publishes some 250 new books each year, specializing in fiction (particularly crime fiction), non-fiction, academic, and children's titles. The company's books are distributed worldwide. Allen & Unwin is also the administrator of The Australian/Vogel Award, an annual contest for the best manuscript by a writer under the age of 35. The publisher came into existence when its UK-based parent company George Allen & Unwin Ltd. (established in 1914) was acquired by HarperCollins in 1990 and the company's Australian directors took over in a management buy-out.