UQP sells ‘Too Much Lip’ to HarperVia

The University of Queensland Press (UQP) has sold world English-language rights (ex ANZ) to Melissa Lucashenko’s Too Much Lip to HarperCollins international imprint HarperVia.

HarperOne Group president and publisher Judith Curr acquired rights after meeting with UQP rights manager Kate McCormack during the 2019 Australia Council New York Publishers Program.

‘We’ve always thought that HarperVia would make the perfect international English language home for Too Much Lip,’ said UQP publishing director Madonna Duffy. ‘So, we were delighted that an offer was made soon after this trip.’

HarperCollins launched HarperVia in 2019 as an imprint ‘ focused on acquiring international titles for World English publication’ and ‘with an eye for books that celebrate the universal desire for discovery, understanding and connection through exceptional storytelling’.

Curr said, ‘The honesty and humor with which Melissa Lucashenko portrays a First Nations family’s struggle makes Too Much Lip as much a joy to read as it is an illumination of First Nations peoples’ experiences in Australia. It’s such an important read, but also a rollicking fun ride.’

Lucashenko won the 2019 Miles Franklin Literary Award for Too Much Lip, and the novel was also shortlisted for both the Queensland and Prime Minister’s Literary Awards last year. The novel follows ‘wise-cracking Kerry Salter’ who, after an armed robbery gone awry, returns to her hometown to say farewell to her dying Pop. But Kerry soon finds herself fighting to save her family’s land, burial grounds, history and connection to home.

Of the international rights sale, Lucashenko said, ‘I’m really looking forward to seeing how my kick-arse bunch of blackfellas from Durrongo go over with the Yanks and the Pommies. You never know, they might shake things up over there! Never a dull moment with the Salters around …’

HarperVia will publish Too Much Lip in the US and in the UK on 3 November 2020.

Category: Local news