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Ultimo acquires debut novel ‘Higher Education’

Ultimo Press has acquired ANZ rights to debut novel Higher Education by Kira McPherson, in a deal brokered by Cara Lee Simpson from UK-based agency Peters Fraser + Dunlop.

According to the publisher, Higher Education offers a ‘funny, humorous and knowing’ take on the dynamics of class and privilege—‘issues that are too often ignored within Australian culture’.

The novel centres on Sam, who is struggling to find her place at university when a lecturer introduces her to Julia, his charming wife and a corporate lawyer who can help Sam get to grips with law school. Their closeness provides a way for Sam to understand who she is, and who she wants to become. With time, this unspools into a dynamic of mutual preoccupation and boundary crossing, as they navigate their feelings for one another, the appropriateness of their relationship, and where it might be heading.

‘I wanted to write a book about growing up—the movement from childishness to maturity, the way we develop socially and intellectually, and the struggle to reconcile where we have come from with who we want to be,’ said McPherson of her first novel.

McPherson, who grew up in Perth and now lives in London, has had work published in Westerly, the Stockholm Review of Literature and the London Short Story Prize Anthology, and in 2018 she received a London Writers Award.

Publisher Alex Craig said McPherson’s debut is ‘a brilliant, darkly funny, and insightful novel about finding your way into adulthood, traversing the politics and social nuance of campus life, of shared houses, of new friendships and ambiguous relationships’.

Ultimo Press will publish Higher Education in Australia in February 2023.

 

Category: Local news Rights and acquisitions