NewSouth acquires Grant’s latest book

NewSouth Publishing has acquired world rights to author and broadcaster Stan Grant’s When Words Fail Us: Truth beyond time, in a deal brokered by Tara Wynne at Curtis Brown.

The book explores the fragility of language and the importance of listening and silence in “an age of distracted, angry noise and disembodied algorithms,” said the publisher.

Grant said, “I am out of words at home. I have grown bored with my language; bored with my voice; bored with my writing. My words labour under Australia’s history. The land itself, as much as I love it, bears down hard.

“Now, in another place, I am finding lighter words. At times, I may not need to speak at all. I smile; I nod. I seek permission to speak. Please, do you mind? Will you allow me?”

Executive publisher Elspeth Menzies said, “This exceptional, poignant book is a philosophical masterclass from Stan Grant. He draws on everyone from Plato to Simone Weil to Radiohead to reflect on how we struggle to speak to one another today.”

Grant, a proud Wiradjuri man, is the vice-chancellor’s chair of Australian/Indigenous belonging at Charles Sturt University and former ABC global affairs and Indigenous affairs analyst. His books include Talking to My Country, The Queen is Dead, and Australia Day.

NewSouth has scheduled When Words Fail Us for publication in May 2026.

Category: Local news Rights and acquisitions