HarperCollins acquires Hayden Green’s YA verse novel in two-book deal
HarperCollins Children’s Books has acquired world rights to YA verse novel Not Black Enough by Hayden Green in a two-book deal negotiated by Sarah McKenzie of Sarah McKenzie Literary Management after an “enthusiastic 4-way auction”.
Drawn from the author’s life, the debut explores “Aboriginal identity, race, masculinity and survival” and “asks who gets to belong, and who gets to decide”, said the publisher.
Green is “a proud Aboriginal man from the Darug and Gundungurra Mobs [who] has worked extensively in community, mentoring and advocacy roles supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people navigating education, employment and wellbeing systems”. His writing is grounded in lived experience, “particularly around identity, cultural visibility, burnout, and survival within institutions not designed for Aboriginal people”.
Green said, “Seeing my first book about to be published is still hard to believe. I don’t come from a writing background, and if you’d told me a few years ago that I’d be working with HarperCollins on a story inspired by my own experiences, I wouldn’t have believed you. Not Black Enough comes from experiences I’ve carried with me for a long time. It’s about what happens when you’re constantly measured against other people’s expectations of who you should be and where you should belong. While the story draws on my own experiences as an Aboriginal man, the questions it asks about identity, belonging and acceptance are ones many people face.”
Children’s and YA publisher Lisa Berryman said, “Not Black Enough affected me profoundly and there was no way I could have stopped reading the manuscript once I had read the amazingly compelling opening. Hayden is an extraordinarily talented writer with a distinctive voice that is so raw and authentic, and his natural talent for verse allows the story to flow with feeling and depth. Not Black Enough is a book we are so proud to be publishing and look forward to sharing with many readers, both young and old.”
HarperCollins Children’s Books plans to publish Not Black Enough in August 2027.
Category: Local news Rights and acquisitions
