- Reka Simonsen at Atheneum has acquired world rights to the picture book MY CAT DOES BALLET by Robert Heidbreder (Roarchestra) introducing readers to ballet terms and famous dancers through history, as a young dancer compares the antics of his pet with those of his friends, culminating in a “cat”astrophe of a ballet. Matt Schu will illustrate. Publication is set for fall 2023; Hilary McMahon at Westwood Creative Artists represented the author, and Chad W. Beckerman at the CAT Agency represented the illustrator.
- Thomas King’s GREEN GRASS, RUNNING WATER to Jeanne Strømberg and partners at Running Water Productions Ltd., by Michael Levine at Westwood Creative Artists on behalf of Jackie Kaiser.
- Caspian Films Productions Ltd., owned by actor, director and producer Megan Follows, has optioned the film and tv rights to Mary Rubio’s critically acclaimed biography of Lucy Maud Montogomery, THE GIFT OF WINGS. The book chronicles her life from her apparently idyllic childhood in Prince Edward Island and passion-filled adolescence, to her legal fights as a world-famous author, and her shattering experiences with motherhood and as a wife to a deeply troubled man. The deal was arranged by Michael Levine at Westwood Creative Artists on behalf of Jackie Kaiser.
- Allan Levine’s SEEKING THE FABLED CITY, the meticulously researched account of the Jewish experience in Canada, to Winnipeg Jewish Theatre, by Michael Levine at Westwood Creative Artists, on behalf of Hilary McMahon.
- Canadian poet Lydia Kwa‘s ORACLE BONE and THE WALKING BOY, the ancient storytelling tradition referred to as Chuanqi literally means “to transmit the strange,” and the literary speculative Chuanqi Duology is inspired by and subverts Chinese mythologies, literary traditions, and tropes, to Kim Budnick at Tantor Media in a two-book deal, by Emmy Nordstrom Higdon at Westwood Creative Artists (world English).
- Wade Davis’s INTO THE SILENCE, the definitive, epic true story recounting the beginning of the end of the British Empire and the guilt of the survivors of the first world war, among whom was the British adventurer George Mallory who along with Sandy Irvine went on to risk their lives attempting to climb Mount Everest in 1924, carrying that survivor’s guilt and so much more, to Bublico Productions, by Michael Levine at Westwood Creative Artists.
- Connie Hsu at Roaring Brook Press has acquired BUTTERFLY ON THE WIND, a picture book by Adam Pottle and illustrated by Ziyue Chen. A Deaf girl signs the word for “butterfly,” sending it off in a breeze that blows through her town, across the country, and over deep waters, touching the lives of Deaf children around the world. Publication is slated for Fall 2023. Emmy Nordstrom Higdon at Westwood Creative Artists represented the author and Mela Bolinao at MB Artists represented the artist for world rights.
- Winner of the 2021 Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour and author of the #1 National Bestseller INDIANS ON VACATION and OBSIDIAN, Thomas King’s DEEP HOUSE, the sixth book in the award-winning DREADFULWATER series, featuring Cherokee ex-cop Thumps DreadfulWater who finds himself tangled once again in an inexplicable mystery when he unintentionally discovers a body at the bottom of a treacherous canyon and an unexpected visitor walks back into his life, to Iris Tupholme at HarperCollins Canada, for publication January 2022, by Jackie Kaiser at Westwood Creative Artists (Canada English).
- Rohinton Mistry’s A FINE BALANCE to Mondadori (Italy), by Elisa Beretta at The Italian Literary Agency, on behalf of Meg Wheeler of Westwood Creative Artists for Bruce Westwood.
- Don Thompson’s THE CURIOUS ECONOMICS OF LUXURY FASHION to Jiangsu Kuwei Culture Development Co., Ltd. (China, excluding Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan), by Claire Qiao at ANA Beijing, on behalf of Meg Wheeler of Westwood Creative Artists for John Pearce.
- Rohinton Mistry’s TALES FROM FIROZSHA BAAG, FAMILY MATTERS, and SUCH A LONG JOURNEY renewed to S. Fischer Verlag (Germany), by Hannah Nuspliger-Fosh at Liepman, on behalf of Meg Wheeler of Westwood Creative Artists for Bruce Westwood.
- PEN/Hemingway Award finalist and author of THE LOST GIRLS OF CAMP FOREVERMORE, Kim Fu’s LESSER KNOWN MONSTERS OF THE 21ST CENTURY, a poignant, erotic, and darkly comic short story collection, to Alana Wilcox and Crystal Sikma at Coach House Books, for publication in winter 2022, by Jackie Kaiser at Westwood Creative Artists (Canada English). U.S. rights were previously sold to Masie Cochran at Tin House Books.
- World rights to Governor-General’s Literary Award finalist Alison Hughes’s MORE OR LESS have been acquired by Andrea Spooner at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, with publication slated for winter 2024. The picture book uses variations of just five words to celebrate living more sustainably, simply and generously, reinforcing that by having “less”, something “more” meaningful can be gained. Hilary McMahon at Westwood Creative Artists represents Hughes, and Steven Malk at Writers House negotiated for Caldecott Honor recipient Oge More to illustrate.
- Iris Tupholme at HarperCollins Canada has acquired Canadian rights to MINDFUL OF MURDER by Stephen Leacock Medal winner and Edgar-award nominee Susan Juby (The Woefield Poultry Collective). The comedic murder mystery features high-end domestic service, unusual spiritual pursuits, the Death Positive movement, and the best organized investigator you’ve ever met. Publication is planned for spring 2022; Hilary McMahon of Westwood Creative Artists represented the author.
- Esteemed architect Jack Diamond’s memoir CONTEXT AND CONTENT, about his life from growing up in South Africa and his early experiences with anti-Semitism to designing iconic buildings around the globe, to Scott Fraser at Dundurn Press, for publication in Spring 2022, by Michael Levine at Westwood Creative Artists.
- Former police officer and current crime reporter for CP24 Steve Ryan’s THE GHOSTS THAT HAUNT ME, about homicide cases he investigated as a detective and how they still affect him, to Scott Fraser at Dundurn Press, for publication in Spring 2023, by Michael Levine at Westwood Creative Artists.
Foreign deals:
- Bobbi French’s THE LAST CHANCE OF FRANCES DELANEY to Kinneret (Israel), by Geula Geurts at Deborah Harris Agency, on behalf of Meg Wheeler of Westwood Creative Artists for Hilary McMahon.
- Yann Martel’s LIFE OF PI renewed to Presenca (Portugal), by Jordi Ribolleda, on behalf of Meg Wheeler of Westwood Creative Artists for Jackie Kaiser.
- Jermey Matthews at The MIT Press has pre-empted World English (excluding Canada and India) rights to Wilfrid Laurier physics professor Shohini Ghose’s (IN)VISIBLE, telling the stories of over twenty frequently unseen, unheralded and under-rewarded women physicists from around the world who transformed science and society despite often wearing a cloak of invisibility throughout their careers. Publication is expected in Spring 2023. The deal was arranged by John Pearce of Westwood Creative Artists. Canadian rights earlier to Random House Canada, also in a pre-empt. Indian rights to Jaico by Meg Wheeler at Westwood Creative Artists.
- Oneworld’s Jenny Parrott has acquired World rights to books 7, 8 and 9 in Steve Burrows’ BIRDER MURDER MYSTERY series. The novels feature Detective Chief Inspector Dominic Jejeune, who divides his time between bird watching and policework as he uses his bird-related knowledge to solve crimes. Book 7 is scheduled to publish in spring 2022. The deal was arranged by Meg Wheeler at Westwood Creative Artists.
- Neal Porter at Holiday House/Neal Porter Books has acquired world rights to BANANA DREAM by Iraqi-Canadian Hasan Namir (The Name I Call Myself), with Zainab Faidhi to illustrate. The picture book is inspired by Namir’s own childhood enduring sanctions in Iraq, and explores a child’s coming to terms with his unusual name against a story of scarcity and want. Publication is planned for summer 2023; Hilary McMahon of Westwood Creative Artists represented the author and the illustrator represented herself.
- Author-illustrator of THE OUTLAW and THE RANGER Nancy Vo’s BOOBIES, a lighthearted journey into the world of boobies – the blue-footed avian sort and the more familiar kind that each of us has on our own bodies, to Karen Li at Groundwood Books, for publication in Fall 2022, by Jackie Kaiser at Westwood Creative Artists (World).
- Author of HARDY ROSES: THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE FOR HIGH LATITUDES AND ALTITUDES, Bob Osborne’s new book, HARDY APPLES, to Julie Takasaki at Firefly Books, for publication in Spring 2022, by Jackie Kaiser at Westwood Creative Artists (World). HARDY APPLES is a photographic guide to apple-growing in harsher climates with photography by Beth Powning.
- New York Times bestselling author of THE COLONY OF UNREQUITED DREAMS Wayne Johnston‘s JENNIE’S BOY MY MISFIT CHILDHOOD IN NEWFOUNDLAND, the story of a tragicomic childhood in a part of Newfoundland whose way of life is fast disappearing, to Anne Collins at Knopf Canada, for publication in Fall 2022, by Jackie Kaiser at Westwood Creative Artists (Canada English).
- Allan Levine’s DETAILS ARE UNPRINTABLE, chronicling the murder of a high society New York woman by her closeted husband, and the elements that culminated in this tragic event, to Three Film and Television Inc., by Michael Levine of Westwood Creative Artists for Hilary McMahon.
- Rohinton Mistry’s FAMILY MATTERS and SUCH A LONG JOURNEY to Gyldendal (Denmark), by Monique Oosterhoof at MO Literary Agency, on behalf of Meg Wheeler of Westwood Creative Artists for Bruce Westwood.
- Kim Fu’s THE LOST GIRLS OF CAMP FOREVERMORE to Heliotrope (France), by Megan Husain of Anna Jarota Agency, on behalf of Meg Wheeler of Westwood Creative Agency for Jackie Kaiser.
- Alice Kuiper’s ICE QUEST to Fiction Express (United Kingdom), by Meg Wheeler of Westwood Creative Artists for Jackie Kaiser.
- Eric Nicol’s DICKENS OF THE MOUNTED, a comic novel consisting of fiction letters by Charles Dickens’ son Francis, about his twelve years in Canada, to AWEN Entertainment, by Michael Levine at Westwood Creative Artists.
- Josef Skvorecky’s THE ENGINEER OF HUMAN SOULS, renewed to Fundacja Instytut Reportazu (Poland), by Tomasz Berezinski at Graal Agency, on behalf of Meg Wheeler at Westwood Creative Artists for Bruce Westwood.
- Rohinton Mistry’s SUCH A LONG JOURNEY, to AST/Neclassics (Russia), by Natalia Sanina at Synopsis Literary Agency, on behalf of Meg Wheeler at Westwood Creative Artists for Bruce Westwood.
- Yann Martel’s LIFE OF PI, to Dar Kalemat (Arabic), by Meg Wheeler at Westwood Creative Artists for Jackie Kaiser.
- Film and television rights to Tomson Highway’s PERMANENT ASTONISHMENT (Doubleday Canada), a joyful celebration of the author’s birthplace—the border between Manitoba and what is now Nunavut – with a sharp analysis of how the sly humour of Cree culture and the shape-shifting qualities of the language itself enabled the Cree people to survive conquest, to White Pine Pictures. The deal was negotiated by Michael Levine on behalf of Jackie Kaiser of Westwood Creative Artists.
- Sam Cooper’s WILFUL BLINDNESS, an in-depth look into Chinese organized crime infiltration into Canada over the past 25 years, to Collective Pictures Inc., by Michael Levine of Westwood Creative Artists.
- Jim Gifford at HarperCollins Canada has acquired world rights in a pre-empt to Andrew Stobo Sniderman and Douglas Sanderson (Amo Binashii)‘s VALLEY OF THE BIRDTAIL, about the 140-year relationship between two neighbouring communities and what it tells us about racism and reconciliation. The deal was arranged by Michael Levine at Westwood Creative Artists.
- BC poet Jordan Scott has signed a new two-book, world rights deal with Neal Porter at Holiday House/NealPorter Books. WORMS FOR BABA’S GARDEN , illustrated by Greenaway Medalist Sydney Smith (represented by Emily van Beek at Folio Jr./Folio Literary Management) is the second picture book collaboration by Scott and Smith after the acclaimed I TALK LIKE A RIVER, and follows a child’s loving observations of his grandmother and the thriving garden beside her home. Publication is planned for spring 2023. ANGELA’S GLACIER will be illustrated by Diana Sudyka and explores the way a child draws strength and tranquility from an ancient icefield. Publication is planned for fall 2023; Andrea Morrison at Writers House represented the illustrator. Hilary McMahon of Westwood Creative Artists represented Scott in the deal.
- Anne Collins at Random House Canada has acquired Canadian English-language rights to Wilfrid Laurier Physics Professor Shohini Ghose’s (IN)VISIBLE, telling the stories of over twenty frequently unseen, unheralded and under-rewarded women physicists from around the world who transformed science and society despite often wearing a cloak of invisibility throughout their careers. Publication is expected in Spring 2023. The deal was arranged by John Pearce of Westwood Creative Artists.
- Jennifer Lambert from HarperCollins Canada has acquired North American rights to Bobbi French’s COME HOME, FRANCES DELANEY on exclusive submission from Hilary McMahon at Westwood Creative Artists. The debut novel is a three-tissue read for fans of Jojo Moyes and Rachel Joyce, about a woman who is finally empowered to overcome her past and claim the life she deserves, which includes how and where it will end, for publication in spring 2022.
