WCA Deal Report for November 26, 2021

By November 26, 2021Deals
  • CineVedas Inc. has optioned the film to M.G. Vassanji’s NO NEW LAND. The deal was arranged by Michael Levine at Westwood Creative Artists on behalf of Bruce Westwood.
  • Award-winning author (THE ANSWER TO EVERYTHING) Elyse Friedman’s THE OPPORTUNIST, about three adult siblings who devise a plan to get rid of their wealthy father’s much younger fiancée who they view as a threat to the family fortune, in a pre-emptive two-book deal to Patrick Crean at HarperCollins Canada and Nicole Brebner at MIRA (U.S.) for publication in December 2022, by Jackie Kaiser at Westwood Creative Artists (World). 
  • Award-winning artist and educator Diane Borsato’s MUSHROOMING: A MODERN GUIDE, a beautiful, modern guide to more than 100 common and charismatic mushroom species found across the northern hemisphere, proposing mushrooming as a compelling cultural practice that can teach us to see what is often unseen and to experience the world with greater intimacy and intelligence, with illustrations by Kelsey Oseid, to Anna Comfort O’Keeffe at Douglas & McIntyre, for publication in Fall 2022, by Jackie Kaiser at Westwood Creative Artists for the author (North American English & French).
  • Elizabeth Philips at Thistledown Press has acquired Canadian rights to Giller-prize nominee for THE ISLAND WALKERS John Bemrose’s novel THE RIVER TWICE, exploring the traumatic effect of WWI on the home front, when a returning soldier, stricken with psychic wounds, confides his stories of the front to his sister-in-law, Grace, emotionally isolating his wife.  Publication is slated for spring 2022; Hilary McMahon of Westwood Creative Artists represented the author.
  • Tara Walker, Lynne Missen, Liz Kribs and Peter Phillips at Tundra Books have jointly acquired six new books by bestselling Indigenous author David A. Robertson. The deal includes Book Five in THE MISEWA SAGA, a middle grade fantasy series (THE BARREN GROUNDS, THE GREAT BEAR) that has just been optioned by ABC Signature; two new picture books; a graphic novel; and the first two books in a brand-new chapter book series, LAUREN GOES EXPLORIN’, about a 10-year-old Indigenous girl whose tight knit family and optimistic, adventurous spirit empower her to solve everyday mysteries and overcome her own obstacles in the process. The deal was arranged by Jackie Kaiser at Westwood Creative Artists.