Leading Australian novelist Tim Winton says he has been left "deeply wounded" by the decision of the country's biggest publishing company, Penguin Random House, to axe his highly respected publisher, Ben Ball.

Ball was appointed publishing director of the newly created Penguin Random House Literary division less than a year ago and has an illustrious career publishing literary heavyweights including Winton, Peter Carey, Robert Drewe and Sonya Hartnett.

Winton, who has won the Miles Franklin Award four times, said in a statement to trade magazine Books + Publishing on Wednesday that he was "deeply wounded by this decision and bewildered by its timing."

"A publisher of Ben's stature is so rare in Australia and his departure diminishes the company, the trade and the culture. This is a bad day and a time to take stock. My heart goes out to Ben and his young family," Winton said.

The departure of Ball, who is based in Melbourne, is particularly surprising given Penguin Random House is midway through the marketing campaign for Winton's The Shepherd's Hut which has been the best selling Australian novel since its release in March, with sales already approaching 50,000. The highly-sought after Winton switched publishers from Pan Macmillan to join Ball at Penguin in 2008 after a bidding war, and has worked closely with him ever since.