A&U acquires “Being” by Menzies & Menzies

Monday, 23 February 2026 Books+Publishing

Allen & Unwin has acquired Australian, New Zealand, Oceania and non-exclusive Southeast Asia rights to Rachel E Menzies and Ross G Menzies’s Being: Why It’s Harder to be Human Than a Hamster or a Herring from the Naher Agency.

Humans battle an “inner critic” across our lives, say the authors. We never truly know those around us, and we are aware that our lives must end in death. From this knowledge, they argue, emerge many of our psychological problems.

The psychologist authors, daughter and father, “explore what it is to be human,” said the publisher, “and our shared need for love, significance and self-understanding.” They highlight “the power of hope, the role of purpose in wellbeing, and how acceptance is key to a more authentic and joyful life.”

Rachel E Menzies is a psychology lecturer, research fellow and director of the Menzies Anxiety Centre at the University of Sydney. Her experimental work on death anxiety and psychopathology has been published in the academic journals in clinical psychology. She has published 6 books.

Ross G Menzies is professor of clinical psychology in the Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney while also running a private practice. He is national president of the Australian Association for Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and president-elect of the World Confederation of Cognitive and Behavioural Therapies (WCCBT) based in New York. He has published 10 books.

Their co-authored book Mortals was awarded several national and international book prizes, including the Nib People’s Choice Prize and American Psychological Association’s 2023 William James Book Award.

The authors said, “We wrote this book to meet a growing appetite for something deeper than surface-level self-help: psychologically rigorous, accessible guidance on how to live well in full awareness of life’s limits.”

Publisher Sally Heath said, “This highly readable and timely book will spark conversations and offers practical tools for navigating the inescapable realities of being human and finding meaning in life.”

A&U plans to publish Being in July 2026.

Category: Local news Rights and acquisitions