Inside the Australian and New Zealand book industry

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‘Axiomatic’ sold to UK’s Fitzcarraldo Editions

Small press Brow Books has sold UK and Commonwealth rights (ex ANZ) to Maria Tumarkin’s Axiomatic—‘a boundary-shifting fusion of thinking, storytelling, reportage and meditation’—to independent publisher Fitzcarraldo Editions. The deal follows the sale of North American, Spanish-language and Greek-language rights. Brow Books publisher Sam Cooney said: ‘Fitzcarraldo is a remarkably perfect fit for Axiomatic: anyone who has read this extraordinary book will know that Maria Tumarkin sits very comfortably on Fitzcarraldo’s list alongside contemporary writers like Svetlana Alexievich, Olga Tokarczuk, Claire-Louise Bennett and Ben Lerner.’

Acquisitions

Penguin Random House Australia has acquired world rights to Kyle Perry’s debut crime/suspense thriller The Bluffs—about a group of troubled teenagers who go missing in the Tasmanian wilderness—in a two-book deal. PRH publisher Ali Watts said, ‘This is a hugely exciting acquisition for us, in a genre that is so hot right now and from a cracking new author talent who has a fascinating other life as a youth worker and counsellor.’

Hachette has acquired ANZ rights to Victoria Hannan’s debut novel Kokomo—winner of the prestigious Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript—in a two-book deal. Kokomo follows Mina as she returns home to Melbourne after finding out her agoraphobic mother has left the house for the first time in 12 years.

Screen adaptations

Melissa Lucashenko’s Miles Franklin Literary Award-winning novel Too Much Lip (UQP)—see awards—has been optioned for screen by Cenozoic Pictures, with Lucashenko to assist with the script. ‘We couldn’t be happier with Cenozoic’s sympathy and vision for Melissa’s fierce (and funny) dark book,’ said Lucashenko’s agent, Alex Adsett.

Dancing Road Productions has optioned screen rights to Garry Disher’s crime novel Bitter Wash Road (Text), a modern western set in an isolated Australian bush town with a soaring crime rate. Bitter Wash Road is published by Soho Press in North America and Unionsverlag in Germany—where it won a major German crime prize—and will be published by Serpent’s Tail in the UK next year.

For the latest Australian rights sales and acquisitions news, click here.

 

Category: Think Australian rights