Publishers’ picks: Australian fiction

International
Anneliz Marie Erese
Black Inc.
March 2027
Rights contact: Sophy Williams at Black Inc.

Black Inc. publisher, international director Sophy Williams said International by Anneliz Marie Erese is “an outstanding debut novel, deftly written and poetic”.The story is about a young international student who leaves the man she has followed to Melbourne and finds herself lost, alone and broke. “Suddenly having freedom, she develops an intense desire for what this foreign city has to offer – friendship and love, sex, material possessions, creative success, a stable living situation – and finds various ways to satiate this hunger. But at what cost?”

Erese is a Filipino writer of prose and poetry. She was the 2023 scholar of the Faber Writing Academy Writing a Novel Course in Melbourne and a recipient of the Hot Desk Fellowship at The Wheeler Centre. In 2022, she was named the winner of the Deborah Cass Prize and the Deakin Postgraduate Prize in Writing and Literature.

Williams said, “This exciting new voice in Australian literature should appeal to publishers overseas.”

“The Servants is radical, tongue-in-cheek account of slavery and servitude that deliberately overlooks a classist and Eurocentric view of history. The Servants is poised to resonate with global readers by tapping into a growing, widespread reckoning with Britain’s imperial and slavery histories, told through a strikingly original, humane reimagining of colonial Australia and trans-Indian Ocean slavery.

Morrissey is a Melbourne writer of Kalkadoon descent. He was the winner of the 2020 Indigenous Writers Mentorship and runner-up for the Nakata Brophy Prize in 2018. In 2024, he was named a Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Novelist. Morrissey’s debut story collection, Firelight, won an Aurealis Award and a Queensland Literary Award. Bird Deity is his first novel.

Inter Alia is a novelisation of Miller’s latest play, performed by Rosamund Pike at the National Theatre in London and screened globally for NT Live in 2025. “It’s an incredibly powerful work exploring modern motherhood, the patriarchy and the injustices of the legal system through the lens of Jessica Parks, a successful Crown Court Judge who is juggling her demanding career with family life. The UK’s Telegraph described the play as a ‘gut-wrenching spin on [Netflix’s] Adolescence’, and London Theatre described it as ‘a scorching drama … deeply compassionate towards the people at its heart’.”

The play will have its Broadway debut in October 2026.

Cottrell said, “We have already licensed UK and Commonwealth rights to Cornerstone (PRH) and German rights to Kjona. We expect interest from the author’s other option publishers and those who are new to her work.”

Agent Martin Shaw said, “What We Left Behind is a really moving tale: an evocation of a lower-class childhood, and how its filaments linger on to this day in a myriad of ways, both positive and negative. This is a major debut from an author with – I predict – an outstanding career ahead of her.”

In Kay Kerr’s adult fiction debut, Might Cry Later, Nora Byrne returns to her family home after a difficult year that has left her burnt out, newly diagnosed as autistic and unsure what the future holds. As Christmas approaches, old tensions and unresolved relationships resurface, forcing Nora to reassess her past and reconsider what a meaningful life might look like.

Pan Macmillan Australia publisher Alex Lloyd said the publishing team was immediately struck by the emotional resonance of Kerr’s writing. “This book is for anyone who feels like they don’t fit in, even in their own family. Nora’s voice has a universality that all readers will connect with,” he said, adding that “Kay’s writing is beautiful, and her characters feel so real. I can picture every scene, and I get lost in it (in the best way)”.

When Nellika Werner is trapped beneath a fallen branch deep in the bush during one of her daily walks, she is forced into a reckoning with the life she has built and the expectations she once placed on motherhood. As she waits for rescue, memories surface of the promises she made to her children and the painful realisation that some wounds — and some hopes — cannot be repaired.

Acquiring publisher Jane Palfreyman described the novel as “brilliant, moving and heart-expanding,” saying she was “floored” by Tampke’s talent and the emotional depth of the story. “It was one of those rare reading experiences that feels as though the book was written just for you,” she said.

Timms’s debut thriller, The Lineup, is set against the backdrop of Byron Bay. The story follows Bo Curren, a former champion surfer now washed up, suffering from PTSD and unable to even set foot in the ocean. One day, while watching the 24-hour surf webcam he still avidly follows, he witnesses a murder on a deserted beach. Dismissed by the police, he is forced to dive back into the hostile and sometimes violent world of competitive surfing to catch the killer.

Penguin Random House Australia acquired ANZ rights to The Lineup in a two-book deal. A German offer has been received in advance of LBF, and the book is in development for TV at Universal Studio Group.

In the story, Fred Scully, his wife, and his 7-year-old daughter, Billie, have been travelling together in Europe for 2 years. Agent Jenny Darling said, “They bought a cottage in Ireland where they plan to settle, and which Scully has renovated by hand. On the day Jennifer and Billie are due back in Ireland after selling their house in Australia, only Billie arrives, traumatised and speechless, unable to tell her father what has happened or why her mother put her on the plane alone. The story follows Scully and Billie as they frantically retrace their steps throughout Europe, trying to find Jennifer and work out why she left them.”

“The Measure of Earl Grey is perhaps her finest work to date: twisty, dark and addictive,” said McKenzie. “Wolhuter cleverly recruits her readers into misjudgement. We form opinions early about where danger sits – and then realise how much we’ve relied on shorthand and assumptions. This isn’t a thriller about a single bad act – it’s about tone, whispers, pattern-making and the way a neighbourhood collectively decides what to be afraid of.”

Swan is a USA Today, BookTok and Amazon bestselling author. Having rights sold to over 15 territories for Swan’s previous series, The Miles High Club, Hazard said, “readers across the globe will fall in love with this new series, which includes tropes of protective hero, opposites attract, and second chance.”

“Elisa loves reading, and her bookshelf overflows with all the storybooks that she’s read. One day, she tries to borrow several books from the school library, only to realise she cannot carry them home in her bag. However, her new neighbour, Ben, also shares her love for reading. As their friendship blossoms, can Ben help Elisa with her quest to read more books?”