We’re VERY excited to share that Najwa Zebian’s second collection of poetry, The Nectar of Pain, will be available October 2, 2018! And we’re not the only one’s who are excited – it’s in Indigo’s Most Anticipated Books section and CBC Book’s list of 15 Canadian Collections of Poetry to Watch out for this Fall.
In her new book, Zebian – a Lebanese-Canadian poet and speaker, and the author of Mind Platter – explores her journey of turning pain into nectar.
Richard Wagamese’s novel, Starlight, received a moving and thoughtful review in the Toronto Star. His body of work is praised for having, “a rare open-heartedness that never wanes into sentimentality and a generosity of spirit that is unafraid to confront the worst humanity has to offer.” The review says of Wagamese’s final work, “The prose is both musical and hard-edged, bending to match the rhythms of life… A captivating and ultimately uplifting read, and the last we’ll enjoy from one of our best writers.”
David Chariandy’s long-awaited second novel Brother has been shortlisted for the 2018 Toronto Book Awards. Brother, winner of the 2017 Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize and the 2018 Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, explores questions of masculinity, family, race, and identity as they are played out in a Scarborough housing complex during the sweltering heat and simmering violence of the summer of 1991.
This is the 44th year of the Toronto Book Awards.
We’re delighted that Christine Higdon’s The Very Marrow of Our Bones earned a spot on Canadian Living’s The Best Books to Add to Your Summer Reading List. Prior to making this “ultimate summer reading list” Kirkus Review called it, “An ambitious debut novel that will make you cry, cringe, and laugh.”
WCA is delighted to announce that award-winning and acclaimed middle-grade author Charis Cotter has joined the agency, to be represented by Hilary McMahon. Forthcoming from Charis this fall is The Ghost Road, published by Tundra Books. The striking art has just been chosen to grace the cover of Booklist’s SF/Fantasy & Horror spotlight issue, and the novel received an advance starred review from Kirkus, where it was proclaimed “a complex and engrossing story.”
We are thrilled for the three WCA authors on the 2018 Heritage Toronto Award for Historical Writing list of nominees!
The Whisky King by Trevor Cole
Steal Away Home by Karolyn Smardz Frost
Lightfoot by Nicholas Jennings
The winner will be announced on October 29th, 2018 at an awards ceremony.
Professor and poet Madhur Anand’s THE ASYMMETRIC HEART, an intergenerational memoir which weaves stories of her family’s move from pre-Partition Punjab to Canada with the physical manifestations of separation and symmetry, to Haley Cullingham at Strange Light, for publication in spring 2020, by Hilary McMahon at Westwood Creative Artists (world English).
Author Jamil Jivani talks to Nam Kiwanuka on “The Agenda” about his cancer diagnosis, which he learned of on the cusp of publishing his first book, Why Young Men. Jivani’s debut book, in which he argues for a sea change in the way we look at young men, and for how they see themselves, has been longlisted for the 2018 Toronto Book Awards.
For the full interview, click here.
We’re very proud of WCA’s Carolyn Forde, one of the only two Canadian agents to participate in a 25-member delegation that met with publishers in Munich and Berlin as part of a trade mission planned in advance of the 2020 Frankfurt Book Fair. Now we’re working hard to help our authors’ books travel too! To learn more about the trip, click here.
World English rights to Hannah Mary McKinnon’s domestic suspense novel THE OTHER SISTER have sold to MIRA. The deal was arranged by Carolyn Forde of Westwood Creative Artists. Publication is planned for 2020.
Spanish rights to Darrel Bricker and John Ibbitson’s EMPTY PLANET, about the decline of the world’s population, have been acquired by Ediciones B. Deals have also been concluded in China, Japan, Korea, the US and the UK. The Spanish sale was arranged by the Sandra Bruna Literary Agency and Carolyn Forde of Westwood Creative Artists on behalf of John Pearce of Westwood Creative Artists.
Italian rights to Karma Brown’s next novel, the domestic noir RECIPE FOR A PERFECT WIFE, have been acquired by DeAPlaneta. The deal was arranged by The Italian Agency on behalf of Carolyn Forde at Westwood Creative Artists. Viking will publish in Canada and Dutton in the US, with publication set for 2020.
