Rohinton Mistry’s A FINE BALANCE to Guomai Culture & Media (simplified Chinese, arranged by Andrew Nurnberg Associates Beijing), to Artkonekt Publishing (Macedonian, arranged by PLIMA Literary Agency), and to Saikatham Books (Malayalam) with Meg Wheeler of Westwood Creative Artists on behalf of Bruce Westwood.

Scholastic have renewed their license for English-language educational simplification rights to Yann Martel’s LIFE OF PI. The deal was arranged by Meg Wheeler of Westwood Creative Artists on behalf of Jackie Kaiser.

Wydawnictwo Albatros have renewed their license for Polish rights to Yann Martel’s LIFE OF PI.  The deal was arranged by Graal Literary Agency with Meg Wheeler of Westwood Creative Artists on behalf of Jackie Kaiser.

Arabic rights to Alice Kuipers’s LIFE ON THE REFRIGERATOR DOOR to Al Arabi and Malayalam rights to Saikatham Books. The deal was arranged by Meg Wheeler of Westwood Creative Artists on behalf of Jackie Kaiser.

Kathryn Lane of Dundurn Press has acquired North American English rights to blogger Nellwyn Lampert’s EVERY BOY I EVER KISSED, a candid memoir that explores how surprisingly difficult it was for the liberated millennial to lose her virginity. Hilary McMahon of Westwood Creative Artists negotiated with deal, with publication slated for fall 2019.

We’re thrilled for WCA author’s Bill Gaston, Elizabeth Hay, and Darrel J. McLeod, on making the 18th RBC Taylor Prize shortlist.

From the Jury:

Just Let Me Look at You by Bill Gaston
“This is a quiet, meditative and tender-hearted exploration of childhood injury and its legacy across generations.”

All Things Consoled by Elizabeth Hay 
“Tender, witty and brutally honest, the book tears open the cloak of shared secrecy to bare the dynamics of a family — the fears, sibling rivalries, joys, disappointments and grievances that have lain unacknowledged through the decades.”

Mamaskatch by Darrel J. McLeod
“A torturously-beautiful memoir of growing up in a world of violence and family trauma. McLeod’s writing is lyrical and offers a powerful examination of contemporary issues, from sexual self-identification to the scars of residential school to the contemporary search for reconciliation.

You can meet the finalists at a free 90-minute Round Table Discussion with the shortlisted authors at the Harbourfront Centre, hosted by Toronto Star Books Editor, Deborah Dundas, on Thursday February 28, 2018 at 7pm presented by the Toronto International Festival of Authors; and the Ben McNally Authors Brunch on Sunday March 3rd, at the Omni King Edward Hotel in downtown Toronto (for tickets, please contact Ben McNally Books at (416) 361-0032 or visit benmcnallybooks.com).

We’re delighted for David Chariandy, one of ten writers longlisted for the 2019 PEN Open Book Award. His long-awaited second novel Brother explores questions of masculinity, family, race, and identity. Finalists will be announced in January.

We’re delighted to share that four out of the ten authors on the 18th RBC Taylor Prize longlist are represented by Westwood Creative Artists! We would like to wish a warm congratulations to these deserving authors.

From the Jury:

Just Let Me Look at You by Bill Gaston
“This is a quiet, meditative and tender-hearted exploration of childhood injury and its legacy across generations.”

All Things Consoled by Elizabeth Hay 
“Tender, witty and brutally honest, the book tears open the cloak of shared secrecy to bare the dynamics of a family — the fears, sibling rivalries, joys, disappointments and grievances that have lain unacknowledged through the decades.”

Seeking The Fabled City by Allan Levine
“A tour de force both as a definitive history and a fascinating read. Levine tells a compelling story that is, in its own way, a most significant and valued history of Canada. ”

Mamaskatch by Darrel J. McLeod
“A torturously-beautiful memoir of growing up in a world of violence and family trauma. McLeod’s writing is lyrical and offers a powerful examination of contemporary issues, from sexual self-identification to the scars of residential school to the contemporary search for reconciliation.

Congratulations to author Anne Renaud, winner of the 2018 QWF Prize for Children’s and Young Adult Literature, for Mr. Crum’s Potato Predicament, illustrated by Felicita Sala.

Every year, the Quebec Writers’ Federation shines the spotlight on the best English-language writers to emerge from Quebec.

Westwood Creative Artists, a busy literary agency located in the Annex, has an immediate job opening.  Providing assistance to two agents, the ideal candidate will be a highly organized self-starter, team player and problem solver with the passion and patience for detail.  Responsibilities include negotiating contracts, corresponding with authors and publishers, managing submission and contacts databases, preparing information for rights guides and reading and evaluating manuscripts. Must be able to work with a high level of productivity and independence in a vibrant open-concept office.  A university or college degree as well as a publishing certificate would be an asset, as would previous work or internship experience in the industry. Proficiency with MS Word and Excel are assumed; clear and efficient communication skills are essential. Interest in a broad range of fiction and non-fiction would be valuable.

Interested candidates should submit a resume and cover letter by email to Hilary McMahon at hilary@wcaltd.com. We look forward to considering a diverse range of applicants, however only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.  We would appreciate receiving applications by November 26, 2018, but will extend the posting to make sure we can find an individual who can grow within the agency over the long term.

Christopher Dewdney’s 18 Miles: The Epic Drama of Our Atmosphere and Its Weather received a lovely starred review in Publishers Weekly. PW says of Dewdney’s most recent book, “With wit and a humbling sense of wonder, this is a book that can be shared and appreciated by a wide audience who now religiously check their phones for daily forecasts.”

Congratulations to Jordan Scott winner of the 2018 Latner Writers’ Trust Poetry Prize! His works include Silt, Blert, and Night & Ox. The Prize is given to a mid-career poet in recognition of a remarkable body of work, and in anticipation of future contributions to Canadian poetry.

“And I could live my life this way / in strokes of / worktree / glowtops / orange trails / leftover hair / a body’s / sonic fictions. Jordan Scott savours and vies not solely with the materiality of language, but language’s subjective materiality. For Scott, each context and uttering body manifests an original materiality: the precision of nature, anatomy, the names of friends, the contours of British Columbia or Poland, the daily ritualized cycles of parenthood and the cosmos. His associations, insinuations, discoveries, tensions, and mysterious propulsive force—these manifestations of his consciousness—are wondrous. I could live / drawing curtains / looking out / of sorewater / transcendentals / down to / morning / again to / bind me in / joyride dress / tie me to / lightveins.” —2018 Jury Citation (Wayde Compton, Sylvia Legris, and Moez Surani)

We are so thrilled for Elizabeth Hay, winner of the 2018 Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction. The Jury (Michael Harris, Donna Bailey Nurse, and Joel Yanofsky) said of her memoir All Things Consoled:

“Elizabeth Hay’s loving, exacting memoir, All Things Consoled, details the decline of her elderly parents with unflinching tenderness. The path she and her family travel is crooked and long, filled with hospital beds and doctors’ visits, foggy minds, and shuffling confusion. But Hay’s prose elevates this ordinary rite of passage — the death of one’s parents — to something rare and poetic. All Things Consoled becomes, itself, a consolation for anyone despairing at the loose ends that parents leave behind. Page-after-page this is a masterclass in observation — a lesson in how meaning can emerge from grief.”