Nigerian publisher Masobe Books acquires 5 books by Bacon
Othuke Ominiabohs, founder and publisher of Masobe Books, has acquired Nigerian rights for five books by African-Australian author Eugen Bacon, in a deal brokered in partnership with Bacon’s US publisher Tricia Reeks of Meerkat Press and local publisher Barry Scott of Transit Lounge.
Bacon said the agreement “highlights the strength and possibility of global publishing alliances”.
The five books, described by the author as “Afro-irreal titles”, are the short story collection Danged Black Thing and literary novel Serengotti (both Transit Lounge); the Afrofuturistic dystopian novel Mage of Fools and story collection Road to Woop Woop and Other Stories (both Meerkat); and the forthcoming Chasing Whispers (2027), “an Afro-irrealist collection of Black speculative fiction in transformative stories of culture, longing, hybridity and a collision of worlds and folklore”.
Masobe Books, located in Lagos, Nigeria, was established in 2018 and has published over 200 African writers. The publisher intends to release the books over the coming two years.
Bacon told Books+Publishing her three publishers had not met in person. “I initiated the deal with Masobe – I approached them and asked if they might be interested to see my works, then I put them in contact with two of my publishers … both of whom have been valuable for my visibility in the US, Australia and globally. It was refreshing to see all three publishers open-minded to see how they could work together to promote my Afrocentric works internationally.”
Bacon is a multi‑award‑winning author and editor whose work spans literary, speculative and Afro‑irreal storytelling. She is a Solstice, British Fantasy, Ignyte, Locus and Foreword Indies Award winner, and a finalist in the World Fantasy, Shirley Jackson, Aurealis, Philip K Dick, Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards and Nommo Awards for speculative fiction by Africans. In 2024, Bacon was named the University of Tasmania Hedberg Writer-in-Residence. She used the residency to develop Crimson in Quietus (Meerkat).
Category: Local news Rights and acquisitions
