WestWords acquires Burnham debut novel

WestWords Books has acquired world rights to Swallow by Alexandria Burnham.

The first in a trilogy, Swallow is described by the publisher as ‘the true story of William Swallow – Australian convict and the last man arrested for piracy’. Inciting a mutiny while in transit to a Van Diemen’s Land prison where he was sentenced to die, and ‘bruised by the betrayal of John, a fellow convict, friend and lover,’ Swallow plans a journey back to England, where his wife and young children are.

Author Alexandria (Ally) Burnham is a screenwriter, novelist and comics writer. She wrote the screenplay for romantic drama feature film Unsound (Apple, 2020), which has received several accolades, including nomination for best original feature at the 2020 Australian Writers’ Guild AWGIE Awards. She is also the lead writer for Metropius, a dieselpunk multimedia series that includes animations, comic books and board games.

Discussing the acquisition, Burnham said: ‘Australia loves our outlaws and our underdogs. Yet here was our very own pirate, and I knew nothing about him. I remember thinking, “Would William be upset to learn he wasn’t more famous for what he’d done?” And with that spark, suddenly I had the whole story, the character, the tone, the humour, all of it. This is a character that, through his every action, and every choice, refuses to die.’

Acquiring publisher Michael Campbell said: ‘If this was just one of those “important Australia stories” about our convict past, or just a rollicking adventure on the scale of Patrick O’Brien, Bernard Cornwell and C S Forester, it wouldn’t have been a WestWords book. But it is also a novel about the nature of love itself, who you can and can’t love, and how to break not only society’s shackles but also the prisons we make for ourselves. […] I couldn’t put it down. I don’t think readers will either.’

Swallow is scheduled for release on 1 November 2025.

Category: Local news Rights and acquisitions