Text acquires Kernot’s “Night Swimming”

Text Publishing has acquired world rights to Night Swimming, a psychological thriller in verse by Sharon Kernot, in a deal brokered by Martin Shaw at Shaw Literary.

According to the publisher, the novel follows January Clare Colson, who is confronted by a perpetrator from her past – “a man who holds a powerful sexual allure and the key to the death of her best friend” – and devises a plan to get close to him.

Based in Mount Barker, South Australia, Kernot is the author of 2 YA verse novels, The Art of Taxidermy and Birdy. Her poems and short stories have been published in Australia and internationally.

Senior editor Jane Pearson said, “I was completely absorbed by Sharon’s remarkable new verse novel. I barely drew breath, enthralled by this complex portrait of obsession, revenge, attraction and madness.”

Night Swimming is scheduled for publication in June 2026.

Category: Local news Rights and acquisitions