Latest acquisitions: Nonfiction

First Nations reportage, moving memoir, cooking, sport and Drag Queens Down Under—read all about Australian publishers’ recent nonfiction acquisitions.

S&S imprint Scribner Australia has acquired ANZ and UK rights to Kumanjayi: Death and Indifference by First Nations journalist Jack Latimore, in a deal via Melanie Ostell at Melanie Ostell Literary, for publication in the first half of 2025. Latimore said: ‘Kumanjayi tells the stories of the abuse, deaths, and indifference experienced by young Blackfullas in contact with police and the state.’

Upswell has acquired world rights to Jessica White’s collection Silence Is My Habitat: Ecobiological Essays, for publication in August 2025. Upswell publisher Terri-ann White said the book of essays ‘contains multiple dimensions’, with ‘a focus on deafness, [on] working in the archive, being an uninvited guest on Noongar boodjar while researching Georgiana Molloy (the subject of her next book), on one’s own energy and on slowing down, and on the death of her mother’.

Affirm Press has acquired world rights to Drag Queens Down Under, an anthology curated by Art Simone, for publication in November 2024. Affirm commercial publisher Kelly Doust said: ‘The queens in this collection are fabulous in every way, and we could not have a better editor than Art to showcase the best of Australian drag in all its myriad forms with her unique brand of wit, grit and style.’

Memoir

Hachette Australia has acquired ANZ rights to Geraldine Brooks’ memoir Memorial Days for publication in late January 2025. Described by the publisher as a ‘heartrending and beautiful memoir of sudden loss and a journey toward peace’, Memorial Days engages with the author’s experience of ‘immediate and many’ demands in the face of grief, ‘when her partner of more than three decades, Tony Horwitz—just sixty years old and, to her knowledge, vigorous and healthy—collapsed and died on a street in Washington, DC’. Hachette has aslo acquired world rights to The Voice Inside, a memoir by the singer John Farnham, for publication in November. Written in partnership with Poppy Stockell, director of 2023 Farnham biopic Finding the Voice, the book will chart Farnham’s ‘very personal and public journey … with his inimitable humour, insight, and humility’, according to the publisher.

Simon & Schuster Australia (S&S) has acquired UK and Commonwealth rights to Antonia Murphy’s forthcoming memoir, Madam, at auction via Alice Tasman and Cole Hildebrand at Jean V Naggar Literary Agency. The publisher described Madam as a ‘darkly comedic and poignant memoir about Antonia’s experience opening and running an ethical escort agency in New Zealand, where sex work is fully decriminalised’. The publisher has also acquired world rights to the memoir The Promise by Arnold Dix, for publication in February 2025. ‘Arnold Dix’s story is incredibly inspirational,’ said S&S nonfiction publisher Emma Nolan. ‘His acts of kindness demonstrate that with compassion, teamwork and a genuine spirit of generosity, even the most seemingly impossible outcomes can be achieved.’

Affirm Press has acquired world rights to the memoir The Profound Benefits of a Stint in Prison, ‘a sometimes-confronting, more-often-hilarious, insider’s view to life inside’ by Australian stand-up comedian Andrew Hamilton, to be published in the second half of 2024.

HarperCollins has acquired world rights to Jacinta Nampijinpa Price’s memoir Matters of the Heart, written with Sue Smethurst, which is due to be published in February 2025. HarperCollins publisher Mary Rennie said it was ‘a privilege to be publishing the memoir of such an important public figure as Jacinta Nampijinpa Price’.

Cooking

Murdoch Books has acquired rights to chef and restaurateur Ben Shewry’s memoir Uses for Obsession, which is described as an ‘intimate, searing, and hopeful memoir that reframes our thinking about restaurants, cooking, hospitality, leadership, and humanity’, for publication in October 2024. Murdoch has also acquired world rights to the first solo cookbook by Helen Goh, Baking and the Meaning of Life, for publication in September 2025. Murdoch publishing director Jane Morrow said: ‘I’ve admired Helen’s baking and her gentle, careful recipe writing for an embarrassing number of years. She is both impressively skilful and wonderful to work with, so it’s a dream come true to help make her book the must-have baking book of 2025.’

Affirm Press has acquired world rights to Cooking with Fire by the founder of Adelaide restaurant Africola, chef Duncan Welgemoed, for publication in October. Affirm commercial publisher Kelly Doust said: ‘Duncan has rightly earned the title of one of the best chefs in the country with Africola. This BBQ book shares his most accessible recipes yet, with Africola’s signature flavours and combinations—expect the unexpected, from Piña Colada cake to the best rubs for flavouring half a cow, all made possible by the iconic Aussie barbie.’

Hardie Grant Books has acquired world rights to Christian Petracca’s On Trac Cookbook, by the Australian Rules star, for publication in August 2025. ‘So many of Christian’s followers have discovered, through him, that making delicious food to keep you strong is just not that difficult,’ said Hardie Grant Books publishing director Pam Brewster.

Sport

Affirm Press has acquired ANZ rights to Australian cricketer and commentator Brad Hodge’s nonfiction book Top Knocks, via TLA. Affirm publishing director Martin Hughes described Top Knocks as ‘catnip for cricket fans, and the countdown to the greatest innings will surely spark passionate debate this Christmas’. The book will be published in October 2024.

HarperCollins has acquired world rights to National Rugby League coach Ivan Cleary’s leadership story, brokered by head of nonfiction publishing Helen Littleton with Nick Fordham of The Fordham Company. The publisher said Cleary’s book, Not Everything Counts But Everything Matters, will ‘reveal all on leading, mentoring and unifying diverse and singular talent to the pinnacle of team performance.’

Pictured (L–R): Jack Latimore and Jessica White.

Category: Think Australian rights