• House of Anansi Press’ Shivaun Hearne has acquired Canadian rights and Pegasus Books’s Jessica Case has acquired world English rights, excluding Canada, to Jordan Himelfarb‘s INTERREGNUM: Inside the Grueling and Glamorous Battle to Become the Next King of Chess. The non-fiction book follows the world’s top chess grandmasters, in the wake of legend Magnus Carlsen’s abdication of his world title, as they compete for the crown in a gripping two-year battle for supremacy and immortality. Publication is expected for fall 2025. The deals were arranged by Chris Casuccio of Westwood Creative Artists.

• Pegasus Books‘ Jessica Case has acquired World English (excluding Canada) rights to Rachel Phan’s RESTAURANT KID. The non-fiction book is described as a poignant memoir about the uniquely grinding life of restaurant families, the heavy costs of “making it” that immigrants face when they arrive in their new lands, and one daughter’s raw attempts to seek connection with the parents who have always been just out of reach but are now facing the uncertain prospect of retirement. Publication is expected for spring 2025. The deal was arranged by Chris Casuccio of Westwood Creative Artists. 

• Douglas & McIntyre has acquired Canadian rights to Rachel Phan’s RESTAURANT KID. The non-fiction book is described as a poignant memoir about the uniquely grinding life of restaurant families, the heavy costs of “making it” that immigrants face when they arrive in their new lands, and one daughter’s raw attempts to seek connection with the parents who have always been just out of reach but are now facing the uncertain prospect of retirement. Publication is expected for spring 2025. The deal was arranged by Chris Casuccio of Westwood Creative Artists.

• Goose Lane Editions’ Simon Thibault has acquired Canadian rights to Alpha Nkuranga’s memoir BORN TO WALK. The non-fiction book is described as a story of resilience, resistance and a refusal to conform to cultural expectations; a story of the barriers facing young women and girls in Africa, and the way one unlikely hero fought through them to find a life more suitable for a survivor. Publication is expected for Fall 2024. The deal was arranged by Chris Casuccio of Westwood Creative Artists.

• Caitlin Press’ Vici Johnstone has acquired Canadian rights to Debi Goodwin’s RAINS, AT TIMES HEAVY. The novel spans 1950’s Toronto, the 1970’s Hippie Trail in India, and Death Valley in 2014, and explores how tragedy can spiral through generations until someone brave enough takes it on; a story about grief and death that is surprisingly full of life, love and resilience, pitched for fans of Elizabeth Strout, Kristin Hannah and Jodi Picoult. Publication is expected for October 2023. The deal was arranged by Chris Casuccio of Westwood Creative Artists. 

Foreign rights:

• Craig Shreve’s THE AFRICAN SAMURAI to Canelo (UK & Commonwealth excl. Canada), by Meg Wheeler at Westwood Creative Artists for Chris Casuccio.

• Author of the novel THE LIST OF LAST CHANCES Christina Myers‘s HALFWAY HOME: THOUGHTS FROM MIDLIFE, which explores the uncertainty and joys of being a woman in her midlife during a period of rapid social and environmental change, to Shivaun Hearne at House of Anansi, by Emmy Nordstrom Higdon at Westwood Creative Artists.

• Amanda Betts at Knopf Canada has acquired world rights excluding the US to THE ART OF VANISHING by Lynne Kutsukake, the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize author of THE TRANSLATION OF LOVE. Set in 1970s Japan, the novel is an exploration of ambition, betrayal, and love through the story two young art students, whose intense friendship is fractured when they become prey for a bohemian cult. Publication is slated for summer 2024; Hilary McMahon at Westwood Creative Artists negotiated the deal.

Foreign rights:

• Christine Higdon’s GIN, TURPENTINE, PENNYROYAL, RUE to Laguna (Serbia), by Nada Perisic at PLIMA, on behalf of Meg Wheeler at Westwood Creative Artists for Hilary McMahon.

• Jay Ingram’s THE SCIENCE OF WHY 5, to Beijing Green Beans Book Co. Ltd. (China), by Conor Cheng and Jessica Wu at Andrew Nurnberg Associates, edited by Shanshan Huang, on behalf of Meg Wheeler at Westwood Creative Artists for Jackie Kaiser.

• Kathryn Nicolai’s ON THE STREET WHERE YOU LIVE to Gummerus (Finland), by Monique Oosterhof at MO Literary Services, edited by Leenastiina Kakko, on behalf of Meg Wheeler at Westwood Creative Artists for Jackie Kaiser.

• Yann Martel’s LIFE OF PI to DarkSide Books (Brazil), by JP and Laura Riff at Riff Agency, edited by Raquel Mortiz, on behalf of Meg Wheeler at Westwood Creative Artists for Jackie Kaiser.

• Leanne Toshiko Simpson’s NEVER BEEN BETTER to Rowohlt (Germany), in a pre-empt by Leonie Kress at Liepman, edited by Ditta Friedrich, on behalf of Meg Wheeler at Westwood Creative Artists for Jackie Kaiser.

Foreign rights:

• Michael Ignatieff’s FIRE AND ASHES renewed to Taurus / Penguin Spain (World Spanish), by Lucas Herran and Sandra Bruna at Sandra Bruna Agency, on behalf of Meg Wheeler at Westwood Creative Artists for Michael Levine.

• Rohinton Mistry’s A FINE BALANCE renewed to Aschehoug (Norway), by Monqiue Oosterhof at MO Literary Agency, on behalf of Meg Wheeler at Westwood Creative Artists for Bruce Westwood.

• Michael Ignatieff’s ON CONSOLATION to Wydawnictwo Nieoczywiste (Poland), by Tomasz Berezinski at Graal, on behalf of Meg Wheeler at Westwood Creative Artists for Michael Levine.

• Cheuk Kwan’s HAVE YOU EATEN YET to Locus Publishing Company (Taiwan), by Whitney Hsu at ANA Taiwan, on behalf of Meg Wheeler at Westwood Creative Artists for Chris Casuccio.

• Shyam Selvadurai’s FUNNY BOY, CINNAMON GARDENS and THE HUNGRY GHOSTS to Sarasavi (Sri Lanka), by Meg Wheeler at Westwood Creative Artists for Bruce Westwood.

• Josef Skvorecky’s THE MIRACLE GAME to Cankarjeva Založba (Slovenia), by Nada and Vuk Perisic at PLIMA, on behalf of Meg Wheeler at Westwood Creative Artists.

• Author of YA thriller THE GIRLS FROM HUSH CABIN, Marie Hoy-Kenny‘s PLANTS ARE NOT BORING!, the author’s picture book debut, about a girl who wants a pet and gets stuck with a plant, only to discover this plant has more personality than she bargained for, illustrated by Mike Deas, to Sarah Howden at Orca Book Publishers, by Emmy Nordstrom Higdon at Westwood Creative Artists (world).

• Mawenzi House has acquired World rights to Monia Mazigh‘s GENDERED ISLAMAPHOBIA, a passionate book about the author’s struggles as a hijab-wearing Muslim woman, who was born and raised in a Muslim country, but has spent most of her adult years in Quebec, Canada as an immigrant. Mazigh describes her multiple identities and her multiple struggles against Islamophobia as it applies to women, who consistently get stereotyped as silent and dominated by their men. The deal was arranged by Michael Levine at Westwood Creative Artists for publication in Spring 2023.

• Random House Canada executive editor Anne Collins has acquired Canadian English rights to THE CURE FOR DROWNING by Loghan Paylor. The historical novel debut is described as a boundary-pushing love story centering queer and non-binary characters that follows Kit McNair, the child of immigrant Irish farmers in rural Ontario whose life is touched by magic and who never seems to fit in, and Rebekah Kromer, the elegant daughter of the local German doctor who moves to town just before the outbreak of the Second World War and who sees Kit for exactly who they are, as they fall in love, are separated by war, and find themselves again in the post-war world. The deal was arranged by Meg Wheeler at Westwood Creative Artists.

• Linh S. Nguyen‘s NO PLACE LIKE HOME, a portal fantasy about an 11-year-old recent immigrant to Canada from Vietnam who falls into the pages of her latest read and learns she is a budding witch, to Meghan Maria McCullough at Inkyard Press, in a nice deal, for publication in fall 2023, on behalf of Emmy Nordstrom Higdon at Westwood Creative Artists.

• Laura Dosky at Penguin Canada has acquired World rights to Dr. Erin Boynton and Eric Wong’s book THE INJURY GUIDE, from Michael Levine at Westwood Creative Artists. The book offers readers the basic science needed to understand their bodily injuries, and practical advice to treat those injuries and maintain their activity as they age, for publication in Spring 2025.
  
• Nick Garrison from Penguin Canada has acquired world rights to Shefa Siegel’s THE ORIGIN OF AVARICE: A JOURNEY OF GREED, GOLD, AND LOVE IN A TIME OF SCARCITY from Michael Levine at Westwood Creative Artists. The book, an erudite, humorous, and even romantic journey, finds the origins of our modern environmental crisis in the co-evolution of mining and greed. Through an entertaining mix of travel and memoir, Shefa Siegel traces a three-thousand year story of mining and greed that has resulted in one of humanity’s great crises, the scarcity of essential minerals. The book is due for publication in Spring 2024.
  
• Greystone Books has acquired world rights to award-winning writer and poet Jordan Scott’s I STUTTER, I LIE. The provisionally titled nonfiction book is described as combining creative nonfiction, autobiography, poetry, and critical inquiry to make connections among stuttering, power, and the perception of truth and lies. Publication is expected for fall 2024. The deal was arranged by Hilary McMahon at Westwood Creative Artists.

And the following foreign rights deals:

• Don Thompson’s ORANGE BALLOON DOG renewed to Atticus-Azbooka (Russia), by Synopsis Agency, on behalf of Meg Wheeler at Westwood Creative Artists for John Pearce.
  
• John Ralston Saul’s THE UNCONSCIOUS CIVILIZATION renewed to Shanghai Sanhui Culture and Press Ltd. (China), by Claire Cai at Big Apple China, on behalf of Meg Wheeler at Westwood Creative Artists for Michael Levine.
  
• Yann Martel’s LIFE OF PI renewed to Crown Publishing (Taiwan), by Whitney Hsu at Andrew Nurnberg Taiwan, on behalf of Meg Wheeler at Westwood Creative Artists for Jackie Kaiser.
  
• Yann Martel’s LIFE OF PI to Mazmundama (Kazakhstan), by Tatjana Zoldnere at ANA Baltic, on behalf of Meg Wheeler at Westwood Creative Artists for Jackie Kaiser.
  
• Michael Ignatieff’s ISAIAH BERLIN renewed to Yilin Press (China), by Conor Cheng and Jackie Huang at ANA Beijing, on behalf of Meg Wheeler at Westwood Creative Artists for Michael Levine.
  
• Josef Skvorecky’s THE MIRACLE GAME renewed to Gallimard (France), by Marie-France Heinic at Anna Jarota Agency, on behalf of Meg Wheeler at Westwood Creative Artists.

Film/TV:

• Film and TV rights to Shyam Selvadurai’s CINNAMON GARDENS, which is set in 1920 Colonial Sri Lanka in the elite neighbourhood of Cinnamon Gardens, and explores the lives of two Tamil families, has been optioned by Ian Benson’s Blue Bear Film and Television, and award-winning actor and writer Nimmi Harasgam. The deal was arranged by Michael Levine at Westwood Creative Artists on behalf of Bruce Westwood.

• Douglas & McIntyre’s Anna Comfort O’Keeffe has acquired North American English rights to Jennilee Austria-Bonifacio’s REUNITING WITH STRANGERS: A NOVEL TOLD IN STORIES. The debut collection is told through linked perspectives from the Filipino-Canadian diaspora and follows families who have separated and reunited through the caregiver program, exploring themes of estrangement, displacement, healing, and belonging. Publication is slated for Fall 2023. The deal was arranged by Hilary McMahon and Bridgette Kam at Westwood Creative Artists.

Foreign rights:

• Sandra Gulland’s THE JOSEPHINE TRILOGY to Saga-Egmont (Denmark), by Monique Oosterhof at MO Literary Services, on behalf of Meg Wheeler at Westwood Creative Artists for Jackie Kaiser.

• Yann Martel’s LIFE OF PI, BEATRICE & VIRGIL, and THE FACTS BEHIND THE HELSINKI ROCCAMATIOS renewed to S. Fischer Verlag (Germany), by Hannah Nuspliger-Fosh at Liepman, on behalf of Meg Wheeler at Westwood Creative Artists for Jackie Kaiser.

• Craig Shreve’s THE AFRICAN SAMURAI to Anubis Publishing (Greece), by John Moukakos at JLM Literary Agency, on behalf of Meg Wheeler at Westwood Creative Artists for Chris Casuccio.

• Craig Shreve’s THE AFRICAN SAMURAI To Porto (Portugal), by Sandra Bruna at Sandra Bruna Literary Agency, on behalf of Meg Wheeler at Westwood Creative Artists for Chris Casuccio.

• Craig Shreve’s THE AFRICAN SAMURAI to İthaki Yayıncılık (Turkey), by Atilla Izgi Turgut at Ackali Agency, on behalf of Meg Wheeler at Westwood Creative Artists for Chris Casuccio.