Latest acquisitions: Fiction and poetry

Among the new Australian fiction signed this year are books from familiar names, debut works, manuscript prize winners, titles signed at competitive auctions, and a good dose of romantasy.

Fiction

Familiar names

Ultimo has acquired the political thriller Unfinished Business by Miles Franklin Literary Award winner Shankari Chandran. Set in Sri Lanka in 2009, the novel features CIA agent Ellie Harper, sent to the capital, Colombo, to seek justice for the murdered journalist Ameena Fernando. ‘It’s her first time returning to the island after her last mission went tragically awry four years prior, and Ellie has more than one ghost to lay to rest. Amidst the international scheming and jostling for stakes in post-war Sri Lanka, Ellie follows the trail of secrets on a mission to uncover a truth worth killing for,’ said Ultimo, which plans to publish the novel in January 2025. Ultimo has also acquired Hannah Tunnicliffe’s domestic noir novel The Pool, ‘a compelling and thought-provoking read that will leave you questioning every character and their motives,’ according to publisher Brigid Mullane. Ultimo plans to publish The Pool in January 2025.

Atlantic Books Australia, a division of Allen & Unwin, has acquired ANZ rights to the novel Better Days by Claire Zorn, in a deal brokered by Grace Heifetz at Left Bank Literary, for publication in March 2025. Publisher Cate Paterson said of Better Days: ‘Isn’t there a small part of us all that yearns for that exhilarating intensity of first love, where everything seemed possible? Claire Zorn so perfectly encapsulates the pitfalls of fledgling adulthood and the what-ifs of later life, and she accomplishes it with writing that is compassionate, creative, funny and thought-provoking. This novel is a delight.’ A&U has also acquired ANZ rights to Lyrebird, the second adult novel by Jane Caro, in a deal brokered by Jacinta di Mase Management, for publication in April 2025. Said publisher Cate Paterson: ‘What I love about Jane Caro’s writing is that overlaying the thrilling story that keeps you turning the pages is an intelligent examination of feminist issues. You are thoroughly entertained by a gripping plot while delving deeply into social issues that concern us all. The perfect combination.’

A&U has also acquired the adult science fiction novel Massif by Garth Nix, via Fiona Inglis at Curtis Brown Australia. A&U said Massif is an ‘epic science fiction novel set in a universe where the crew of a small ship hitching a ride on a star-faring mountain range must deal with the aftermath of battle and the unwinding of the mystery of these Massifs that have transported humanity to the stars’. Along with the UK (Gollancz) and US (Harper Voyager) publishers, A&U plans to publish Massif in September 2025.

Pantera Press has acquired ANZ rights for Holden Sheppard’s first novel for adults, Two Kings, in a deal brokered by Gaby Naher at Left Bank Literary, for publication in June 2025. Pantera publisher Tom Langshaw said: ‘Holden’s first two novels, for young adults, are widely loved for good reason, combining raw emotion with voice-driven, pacy storytelling. In Two Kings, his talents are on full display. The character of Jack leaps off the page, and his story of a delayed coming-of-age is by turns surprising, heart-wrenching and moving.’

MidnightSun Publishing has acquired world rights to the novel Shift by Irma Gold, via Sarah McKenzie of Sarah McKenzie Literary Management, for publication in March 2025. Publisher Anna Solding said: ‘MidnightSun is proud to once again publish a beautiful and challenging novel by Irma Gold, after the huge success of The Breaking. Gusty and gripping, tender and deeply compassionate, Shift is a compulsively readable story about the messy process of art-making, and the tangle of love and family. It is an unflinching, insightful and immersive novel that takes the reader inside the inner life of one township, beyond the hyperbole of newspaper headlines, to offer bold, big-hearted hope.’

Transit Lounge has acquired world rights to The Haunting of Mr and Mrs Stevenson, a second novel from Belinda Lyons-Lee. Publisher Barry Scott said: ‘We were entranced by this page-turning mystery novel that so convincingly explores the ways in which the more famous and often sickly writer was very much supported by a strong and intelligent woman.’ Transit Lounge plans to publish the novel in July 2025.

Debut authors

Affirm has acquired world rights to Madeleine Cleary’s debut historical novel, The Butterfly Women, for publication in April 2025. Commissioning editor Ruby Ashby-Orr said: ‘This novel is both a fast-paced romp through Gold Rush–era Melbourne and a thoughtful reflection on the kinds of stories that are lost to history. We’re so pleased to be bringing Madeleine’s vivid, brilliantly researched vision of old Melbourne to audiences.’

Echo Publishing has acquired world rights to two historical novels from debut author Kaarina Parker (Ngāpuhi), via Vicki Marsdon at High Spot Literary. Echo managing director Juliet Rogers said of the first novel, Fulvia: ‘Kaarina Parker brings Fulvia vividly to life: a strong woman navigating a world full of treachery and intrigue in Ancient Rome. I couldn’t put it down.’ Following the release of Fulvia in the third quarter of 2025, Echo plans to publish Parker’s second historical novel, To Rule a Ruler, in 2026.

Pantera Press has acquired world rights to An Onslaught of Light, a debut novel by Natasha Rai, for publication in March 2025. Said Pantera editorial director Kate Cuthbert: ‘Natasha has created characters that will capture you with their story, breaking your heart and then healing it in turn … It’s an honour and a pleasure to publish a piece of debut fiction of this calibre.’

Pre-empts and auctions

Simon & Schuster (S&S) has acquired ANZ rights to I Want Everything, a debut novel by Dominic Amerena, in a pre-emptive offer, via agent Grace Heifetz at Left Bank Literary. The novel, which is Jane Palfreyman’s first fiction acquisition as publishing director of Summit Books, is a ‘novel of desire and deception, authorship and authenticity, and the costs of creative ambition’, said S&S. In the book, ‘the storied career of reclusive cult author Brenda Shales remains one of Australia’s last unsolved literary mysteries’. The book will be published in mid-2025, and has also been signed by Ella Fox-Martens and Sophie Missing at Scribner UK, via John Ash at CAA.

Penguin Random House (PRH) Australia has acquired ANZ rights to The Mortons by Scott Westerfeld and Justine Larbalestier in a two-book deal at auction, via Jill Grinberg Literary Management. The Mortons was pitched to the publisher as ‘The Secret History meets The Sopranos meets Saltburn, a dark psychological epic following a modern-day, old-money crime family for whom homicide is heritage’. ‘The consequences of their twisted intergenerational dramas emerge as the family contends with ever-shifting alliances, power, loyalty, kinship, and love.’ At the auction, US rights for the title went to Jeramie Orton at Pamela Dorman Books and UK rights to Rosa Schierenberg at Viking. PRH plans to publish The Mortons in early 2026.

Manuscript prize origins

Rachel Morton’s debut novel, The Sun Was Electric Light, won the 2024 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an unpublished manuscript, under the title ‘Panajachel’. University of Queensland Press (UQP) has acquired world rights to the novel for publication in April 2025. UQP publisher Aviva Tuffield said, ‘The Sun Was Electric Light is for lovers of the fiction of Helen Garner, Jessica Au, Rachel Cusk and Deborah Levy.’

A finalist in the 2024 ASA/HQ Fiction Prize, Second Skin is Arianne James’s debut gothic novel. HarperCollins imprint HQ has acquired ANZ rights to the title, via Abigail Nathan at Alex Adsett Literary. The novel ‘weaves historical fiction with folklore and Tasmanian gothic, examining the lives of three women with an insatiable longing for the ocean’. The agent describes the novel as ‘a tale of madness and miracles, secrets and sins, myth and reality, and the tenacity and resilience of women in the face of impossible choices’. HQ plans to publish Second Skin in early 2026.

Romantasy

S&S has acquired ANZ rights to a two-book romantasy series by BookTok influencer Stacey McEwan, via an exclusive submission from Amy Collins at Talcott Notch Literary. The first book in the duology, A Forbidden Alchemy, combines the author’s ‘love for magic systems, period dramas and WWI history’, said S&S, which plans to publish A Forbidden Alchemy in July 2025.

PRH Australia has acquired rights to a romantasy duology from Tasmanian debut author Sophie Clark, as part of a global PRH co-publishing deal with Knopf in the US and Penguin in the UK, in a pre-empt brokered by Christabel McKinley at David Higham Associates on behalf of Josh Adams at Adams Literary. The first book in the duology—Cruel Is the Light—features an enemies-to-lovers romance, which is set in an alternate version of Europe beset by a conflict between demons and humans. PRH plans to publish Cruel Is the Light in January 2025.

Pantera has acquired world rights to The Rule by Bronwyn Eley in a two-book deal. The Rule is a fantasy novel following Zinha, a member of the underground assassin guild Baleful, who is sent on her first solo mission to the rival kingdom of Maetora. Said Cuthbert: ‘With its immersive setting, fully realised characters, and dramatic conflict, The Rule is the kind of book that consumed me, keeping me up reading way past my bedtime.’ Pantera plans to publish The Rule in 2025.

Poetry

UQP has acquired world rights to The Nightmare Sequence (Omar Sakr, illustrated by Safdar Ahmed), a collection of poetry responding to the ongoing situation in Gaza, for publication in April 2025. UQP publisher Aviva Tuffield said Sakr is ‘one of those ridiculously talented writers whose skills encompass poetry, fiction and nonfiction’. Tuffield said The Nightmare Sequence proves that poetry ‘often has the ability to connect in more visceral ways with readers than prose: its concision is its power and poignancy’.

UWA Publishing has acquired world rights to Shey Marque’s second collection of poetry, The Hum Hearers, for publication in 2025. The collection was shortlisted for the 2023 Dorothy Hewett Award, with the award judges saying the poems ‘detonate like muffled explosions’. ‘Generational trauma is counterbalanced by hidden wells of resilience and subterranean solidarities,’ said the judges. ‘The poems, written in sprung prose, offer the counter-memories of women held together by the cycles of life that fall upon them with quiet devastation.’

UWA Publishing has also acquired world rights to Essence, Thuy On’s third collection of poetry, for publication in 2025. On said the collection is titled Essence ‘because essentially that’s what poetry is about, stripping away the extraneous to get to the core, in order to distil moments of beauty and chaos into permanence’.

Pictured (L–R): Shankari Chandran and Hannah Tunnicliffe.

Category: Think Australian rights