• Crooked Lane’s Marcia Markland has acquired World rights to Nolan Chase’s A LONESOME PLACE FOR DYING. The novel is described as a regional mystery in the tradition of LONGMIRE and JESSE STONE, in which Ethan Brand, the newly appointed chief of police of a small border town in Washington State, investigates the murder of a young woman connected to a cross-border smuggling ring, while also handling anonymous threats from someone who knows Ethan’s secrets—and wants him dead. Publication is expected for spring 2024. The deal was arranged by Chris Casuccio of Westwood Creative Artists.

• Lee Wade at Random House Studio has bought at auction Jamal Saeed (MY ROAD FROM DAMASCUS) and Jordan Scott (I TALK LIKE A RIVER)’s MY SISTER THE APPLE TREE in a two-book deal, illustrated by Zahra Marwan, a picture book about a child who, upon realizing that he must leave everything behind when war tears through his homeland, finds a way to take his beloved apple tree with him.  This poignant and poetic story explores loss, belonging, and the memory of home that people carry, inspired by Saeed’s experience. Publication is slated for Spring 2025; Chris Casuccio at Westwood Creative Artists represented Saeed and Hilary McMahon at Westwood Creative Artists represented Scott, and Anne Moore Armstrong at The Bright Agency represented the illustrator.

• 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.