Transatlantic
Text | Link
Adult Division News
June 2020
In This Issue
Quick Links
Dear Friends,

These past few months have been difficult as COVID-19 sweeps the world. 

Still, Transatlantic has plenty of great news to share. Brenna English-Loeb has been promoted to Literary Agent, Evan Brown has been promoted to Associate Agent, and Laura Cameron has joined the agency as Associate Agent. 

We are also very excited for our colleague Cody Caetano whose debut memoir, HALF-BADS IN WHITE REGALIA was sold to Hamish Hamilton (in a 7-bid auction!) by Stephanie Sinclair.  

Keep reading below for the rest of our deals from this Spring, and for the fantastic awards our clients have won. In a separate email, we will share our great reviews and new clients. 

All best wishes,

New Deal Announcements
 
ENGLISH LANGUAGE DEALS 

Fiction

After the bankruptcy of Coteau Books, the originating publisher of SEASON OF FURY AND WONDER by Sharon Butala, Freehand Books has acquired English-language rights in Canada for publication in the summer of 2020. SEASON OF FURY AND WONDER is a book of short stories, which delves into the lives of older women. It was a finalist for the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize in 2019. Sharon Butala is the author of twenty books, and the recipient of many awards and honours. Contact Marilyn Biderman.

Libbie Hawker Tessa Woodward of William Morrow has acquired World English rights to The Restoration of All Things by Libbie Grant, a novel based on the true and thoroughly documented-but vigorously suppressed-history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. With strong themes of female empowerment, the fight for women's equality, and the intrusion of religion into politics, Libbie M. Grant is a bestselling author of commercial fiction under the pen name Olivia Hawker. Contact Carolyn Forde.

Jane Isaac's THE TRUTH WILL OUT and A DEATHLY SILENCE, in the DCI Helen Lavery series, to Dana Grimaldi at Harlequin Worldwide Library, by Carolyn Forde, on behalf of Sarah Nicholson at Legend Press (NA).

Stephens Gerard Malone Vagrant Press managing editor Whitney Moran has acquired world rights to THE HISTORY OF RAIN, a new novel by Nova Scotia author Stephens Gerard Malone. The work of historical fiction follows Rain, a veteran of the First World War, who finds himself travelling the world to create magnificent gardens for clients. The nomadic nature of his work is also a way for him to chase his unrequited love, Lily. Publication is expected for fall 2021. Contact Shaun Bradley

Elisabeth de Mariaffi Giller Prize-longlisted author and screenwriter Elisabeth de Mariaffi's THE RETREAT, a chilling literary thriller in the vein of THE HUNTING PARTY and THE SHINING, in which a dancer arrives at a remote mountain retreat hoping for artistic inspiration-only to find it's disaster that strikes when an avalanche traps her among strangers who begin, one by one, to meet unspeakable ends, to Helen O'Hare at Mulholland Books, by Samantha Haywood (World English ex Canada). Rights previously to Iris Tupholme at HarperCollins Canada. TV/Film Jiah Shin at CAA. Contact Stephanie Sinclair for translation rights.

World English Audio rights to Algonquin Anishinaabe writer Karen McBride's CROW WINTER, following a young woman who decides to move home to her First Nation reserve after losing her father, only to discover that the quarry that's lain unsullied for over a century on his property is stirring the old magic that crosses the boundaries between this world and the next, leaving her to unravel a web of deceit with the power to destroy her family and her home on both sides of the Medicine Wheel, sold to Jolise Beaton at Audible by Stephanie Sinclair.

North American English rights to Métis author and educator Chelsea Vowel's BUFFALO IS THE NEW BUFFALO, nine short stories in which the author "imagines otherwise," charting new paths in the past, present, and future, from a Métis perspective, to Arsenal Pulp Press by Stephanie Sinclair.

English language Audio rights to HOLDING STILL FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE by Zoe Whittall, a story about a controlled, even-keeled paramedic whose orderly life begins to unravel when he gets involved in a love triangle at the same time as PTSD starts to bring his sense of self into question. While still living with Amy, a struggling filmmaker from an wealthy family, he falls in love with Billy, an agoraphobic former teen music star, and things get really complicated. A portrait of queer and trans community in the gentrifying neighbourhood of Parkdale. Audio sold to Lorna Henry at Dreamscape Media by Samantha Haywood. TV rights previously optioned by Marble Media. Contract Stephanie Sinclair for translation rights (World ex: Can available).

Non-Fiction

Canada English rights to Anishinaabe and Portuguese author Cody Caetano's debut memoir, HALF-BADS IN WHITE REGALIA, a chronicle of a joyful but troubled upbringing shaped by poverty and a vital portrait of life's most pressing experiences, to David Ross at Hamish Hamilton, in a 7-bid auction, by Stephanie Sinclair for Spring 2022.

World rights to THIS ONE WILD LIFE by Angie Abdou sold to Susan Renouf at ECW Press by Samantha Haywood. A personal memoir of self-discovery and parenting in a screen-driven world, THIS ONE WILD LIFE chronicles Angie and her daughter's attempt to hike a peak a week in the summer of 2019. The story follows their personal dramas and preoccupations while exploring shyness, child-rearing, confidence in girls, approaches to youth sport & fitness, the importance of outdoor activity, effects of screen time, prevalence of social media, the role of movement in creativity, the connection between nature and spirituality, the effects of tourism on communities, obsession with gear leading to excess consumerism, and approaches to talking about climate change with children.

World rights to environmental author Arno Kopecky's essay collection NOTES ON A PARADOX, a piercing examination of the parallel rise in human prosperity and ecological collapse. Sold to Jen Knoch, Senior Editor at ECW Press, by Stephanie Sinclair for Winter 2021.

Jennifer Croll at Greystone Books has acquired World English Rights to award-winning journalist Angela Sterritt's UNBROKEN, a brave and riveting narrative nonfiction debut in the vein of Seven Fallen Feathers by Tanya Talaga and Highway of Tears by Jessica McDiarmid and From the Ashes by Jesse Thistle. Based on Sterritt's own experiences, research, and interviews with family members, former officers, and advocates, UNBROKEN follows Angela's story as young mixed heritage Gitxsan woman surviving abuse and violence growing up on the streets in Vancouver, while simultaneously exploring and reporting on the larger story of Canada's vulnerable Indigenous women and girls, many of whom are missing or have been murdered. The deal was arranged by Samantha Haywood.

World English Audio rights to THE NORTH-WEST IS OUR MOTHER by Jean Teillet, great-grandniece of Louis Riel, a popular history of the Métis Nation in Canada from the late 1790s to the present, sold to Jolise Beaton, Audible by Samantha Haywood. World rights previously sold to Patrick Crean Editions at HarperCollins Canada. 

World rights to trainer and expert Amanda Thebe's MENOPOCALYPSE: How I Learned to Thrive During Menopause and How You Can Too, an ultimate guide to everything you wanted to know but were afraid to ask about menopause, to Rob Sanders at Greystone Books, by Samantha Haywood.

Marq deVilliers Ken Whyte of Sutherland House Books has acquired world rights to THE LONGBOW, THE SCHOONER, THE VIOLIN, by Marq de Villiers. This new nonfiction narrative explores the human history of wood and forestry through three particular inventions: the longbow, the schooner, and the violin. De Villiers is the Governor General's Award-winning author of Water and seventeen other books, including most recently, Hell and Damnation: A Sinner's Guide to Eternal Torment. Contact Shaun Bradley

World English Audio rights to one of Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women Samra Zafar's A GOOD WIFE -- one of the Washington Post's top books of 2019 and a continuous national bestseller in Canada -- the story of how at fifteen, Samra Zafar had big dreams of going to university and forging her own path, but had her dreams snatched away from her with almost no warning, and was suddenly married to a stranger at seventeen and left Pakistan for Canada. Somehow, she found the strength not only to build a new future but to walk away from her past, ignoring the pleas of her family and risking cultural isolation by divorcing her husband; and now speaking up to break the silence on abuse to empower women globally - sold to Jolise Beaton, Audible by Samantha Haywood in association with Stephanie Sinclair. World rights available ex Canada, HarperCollins; Slovak, Ikar; Czech, Euromedia; and India, Penguin Random House India. Film/TV rights sold to Pier 21 Films.
Translation Deals

Fiction

Turkish rights to Karma Brown's RECIPE FOR A PERFECT WIFE, to Garaj Kitaplar by Kalem Agency; and Russian rights to Eksmo by The Van Lear Agency. Rights previously sold to Verso in Brazil, Kargozor in Bulgaria, Viking in Canada, Beta in the Czech Republic, Bertlesmann in Germany, D'APlaneta in Italy, Knigolove in Ukraine, Legend in UK/Commonwealth), Dutton in the US, Legend in UK/Commonwealth). Contact Carolyn Forde for more information. 

Clifford Jackman's THE BRAVER THING, to Editions Paulsen (France), by Marjorie Burbaud at Anna Jarota Agency, on behalf of Carolyn Forde
Roz Nay
Roz Nay's psychological thriller HURRY HOME (Simon & Schuster, July 2020) has sold in the following territories: Crooked Lane, US; France, Hugo; Netherlands, Xander; and Russia, Polyandria. Contact Carolyn Forde.

Azerbaijani rights to FIND YOU IN THE DARK by Naben Ruthnum, writing as Nathan Ripley, to Teas Press by Stephanie Sinclair and Samantha Haywood in association with Kalem Agency.

Non-Fiction

Dutch rights to MY YEAR OF LIVING SPIRITUALLY by Anne Bokma to Uitgeverij Ten Have by Marianne Schönbach Literary Agency on behalf of Amy Tompkins.

Darrel McLeod's MAMASKATCH: A CREE COMING OF AGE, to Traumfanger (Germany), for publication in fall 2020, by Hanna Vielberg at The Liepman Agency, on behalf of Carolyn Forde.




Page Two

All rights sold by Stephanie Sinclair 

Complex Chinese rights to WORKING OUT LOUD  by John Stepper  to Azoth, at auction, by Stephanie Sinclair with The Grayhawk Agency, German rights to Vahlen Verlag, at auction, by Liepman AG Literary Agency. World rights available ex: World English, Page Two.

Korean rights to THE EMPATHY EDGE  by Maria Ross  to Forestbooks by Stephanie Sinclair in association with Danny Hong Agency. World rights available ex: World English, Page Two.

Slovenian rights to  REST, PLAY, GROW  by Dr. Deborah MacNamara
 to Primus, Romanian rights to Editura Univers by Stephanie Sinclair. World rights available ex: World English, Page Two; Korea, Hanmunhwa; Simplified Chinese, Dipper; Danish, Blue Pearl; Italian; French; German; Russian; Spanish; Estonian; Audio, Audible.

Russian rights to THE ALGORITHMIC LEADER  by Mike Walsh  to EKSMO by Stephanie Sinclair in association with Van Lear Agency. World rights available ex: World English, Page Two; German, Franz Vahlen; Korean, Alpha Media; Simplified Chinese, China Machine; Polish, Poznańskie; Japanese, Nikkei.

Russian rights to THE ADVICE TRAP  by Michael Bungay Stanier  to EKSMO by Stephanie Sinclair in association with Van Lear Agency, Simplified Chinese rights to Grand China by The Grayhawk Agency. World rights available ex: World English, Page Two; Spanish, Arpa & Alfil; German, Valen Verlag; Korean, Hong C Communication; Mongolian, Education Development Center for Youth.

Russian rights to STICKY BRANDING  by Jeremy Miller  to EKSMO by Stephanie Sinclair in association with the Van Lear Agency. World rights available ex: World English, Page Two.

Russian rights to BRAND NEW NAME  by Jeremy Miller  to EKSMO by Stephanie Sinclair in association with Van Lear Agency, Vietnamese rights to MZBook by The Grayhawk Agency, Japanese rights to Direct Publishing by Japan UNI Agency, Korean rights to UX Review by Danny Hong Agency. World rights available ex: World English, Page Two.

Ukrainian rights to BRAND NEW NAME  by Jeremy Miller  to ArtHuss by Stephanie Sinclair

Russian rights to EXACTLY WHAT TO SAY  by Phil M. Jones  to EKSMO by Stephanie Sinclair in association with Van Lear Agency. World rights available ex: World English, Page Two; Japanese, Pan Rolling; Simplified Chinese, China Youth; Complex Chinese, Domain; Korean, The Wings of Thinking; Turkish, Sola Yayinlari; Romanian, California Fitness; Arabic, Jarir Bookstore; Spanish, Urano; French, 1min30; Polish, MT Biznes; Greek, Klidarithmos.

Korean rights to SELL THE WAY YOU BUY  by David Priemer  to Freelec by Stephanie Sinclair in association with Danny Hong Agency, Simplified Chinese rights, in a pre-empt, to Beijing Xiron Books by The Grayhawk Agency, World rights available ex: World English, Page Two.

Russian rights to BITS, BYTES AND BARRELS  by Geoffrey Cann  and Rachael Goydan  to Eksmo by Stephanie Sinclair in association with Van Lear Agency. World rights available ex: World English, Page Two.

Portuguese rights to THE 1-PAGE MARKETING PLAN  by Allan Dib  to Self by Stephanie Sinclair in association with The Foreign Office. World rights available ex: French, Pearson; Russian, Byblos; Complex Chinese (Taiwan), Prophet Press; Mongolian, Datacom; Italian, Hoepli; Vietnamese, Alpha Books; Polish, Helion; Korean; Simplified Chinese (China), Grand China; Japanese, Direct; Arabic, Jabal Amman; Czech, Grada; Slovak, Vydavatelstvo Motyl; Hebrew, Oram; Estonian, Aripaev.


Film and Television Deals

TV and digital rights to bestselling author Kate Hilton's BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME, for readers of Karen Joy Fowler, a brilliant generational dramedy tracing one family's eventful year tackling the realities of midlife-aging parents, raging teens, crumbling marriages and bodies and hearts-all in the pursuit of happiness (or something like it), acquired by Untitled Entertainment, rights repped by Samantha Haywood. Publishing rights in Australia and New Zealand previously sold to Allen & Unwin Australia, and Canadian rights with HarperCollins Canada.

Film/TV rights to BEWARE THAT GIRL by Teresa Toten, a psychological drama in the vein of We Were Liars, set against the backdrop of New York City, compellingly delves into the dysfunctional yet mesmerizing world of the mega-wealthy elite, optioned by Vicarious Entertainment by Mary Pender at United Talent Agency on behalf of Samantha Haywood.

Drawn & Quarterly Deals
Turkish rights to SABRINA by Nick Drnaso to Epsilon by Kalem Agency and Russian rights to Jellyfish Jam by Van Lear Agency in association with Stephanie Sinclair and Samantha Haywood on behalf of Drawn & Quarterly.
 
Brazilian rights to THE LONELINESS OF THE LONG-DISTANCE CARTOONIST by Adrian Tomine to Nemo Autêntica by The Foreign Office in association with Stephanie Sinclair and Samantha Haywood on behalf of Drawn & Quarterly.
I Never Liked You
Italian rights to I NEVER LIKED YOU by Chester Brown to Rizzoli by Stephanie Sinclair and Samantha Haywood on behalf of Drawn & Quarterly.

German rights to OFF SEASON by James Sturm to Reprodukt by Stephanie Sinclair and Samantha Haywood on behalf of Drawn & Quarterly.

Portuguese rights to IT'S A GOOD LIFE, IF YOU DON'T WEAKEN by Seth to Levoir by The Foreign Office in association with Stephanie Sinclair and Samantha Haywood on behalf of Drawn & Quarterly.

Turkish rights to WOMAN WORLD by Aminder Dhaliwal to Yabancı by Kalem Agency in association with Stephanie Sinclair and Samantha Haywood on behalf of Drawn & Quarterly.

German rights to LOUIS RIEL: A Comic-Strip Biography by Chester Brown to Bahoe Books by Stephanie Sinclair and Samantha Haywood on behalf of Drawn and Quarterly.


Awards and Citations 

Priyanka Naik was the first winner of Quibi's new cooking competition show, DISHMANTLED, and was interviewed on CNN. Contact Andrea Cascardi for more.

Congratulations to Amy Spurway, whose debut novel, CROW, has been shortlisted for: The Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour and The Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize for Literary Fiction. Jesse Thistle was also shortlisted for the Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize for FROM THE ASHES.

Congratulations to Zalika Reid-Benta, whose story collection FRYING PLANTAIN has been shortlisted for the Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize for Literary Fiction, and the Trillium Book Award! Contact Amy Tompkins for more.

The Writers' Union of Canada has included two Transatlantic authors on its shortlist of nominees for the twenty-third annual Danuta Gleed Literary Award. Congratulations to Zalika Reid-Benta for FRYING PLANTAIN and Terry Doyle for DIG.

CROW WINTER by Karen McBride, FRYING PLANTAIN by Zalika Reid-Benta, and A MIND SPREAD OUT ON THE GROUND by Alicia Elliott have been shortlisted for the 2020 Evergreen Award!

THE NORTH-WEST IS OUR MOTHER by Jean Teillet is nominated for the 2020 Manitoba Archives Manitoba Day Award!

Jean Teillet, author of THE NORTH-WEST IS OUR MOTHER: THE STORY OF LOUIS RIEL'S PEOPLE, THE MÉTIS NATION, won the prestigious Carol Shields Book Prize. For Jean Teillet, contact Samantha Haywood; for Chelsea Vowel, contact Stephanie Sinclair; and for Katherena Vermette, contact Marilyn Biderman.

Chelsea VowelKatherena Vermette, and Jean Teillet recently won 2020 Manitoba Book Awards. THIS PLACE: 150 YEARS RETOLD, a collection of stories and illustrations about Indigenous experiences in Canada since Confederation, to which Chelsea Vowel and Katherena Vermette contributed, won the top prize, The McNally Robinson Book of the Year. THIS PLACE also took the Mary Scorer Award for best book by a Manitoba publisher. 

Six Transatlantic clients have been shortlisted for the 2020 Doug Wright Award for Best Book! Founded in 2005, the award casts light on the wide range of cartoonists and comic artists working across Canada, and is awarded annually to the author of the best Canadian work and the most promising talent published in English in the cartooning medium. The 2020 Doug Wright Awards will be broadcast online on Saturday, May 9th, at 8 p.m.

Chelsea VowelAlicia Elliott and Katherena Vermette were shortlisted for their work on THIS PLACE: 150 YEARS RETOLD (Highwater Press). Chelsea is represented by Stephanie Sinclair, Alicia is represented by both Samantha Haywood and Stephanie Sinclair, and Katherena is represented by Marilyn Biderman
Kris Bertin  and  Alexander Forbes  were nominated for  THE CURSED HERMIT  (Conundrum Press). Kris and Alexander are represented by Samantha Haywood Sarah Leavitt  was shortlisted for AGNES MURDERESS (Freehand Books). Sarah is represented by Samantha Haywood.

Congratulations to Christy-Ann Conlin, whose short-story collection, WATERMARK, is nominated for the Danuta Gleed Literary Award, an award for short fiction. Congrats, Christy-Ann!

Congrats to Jess Taylor on becoming a finalist for a LAMBDA Award for her short-story collection, JUST PERVS, in the category of Bisexual Fiction.

The legendary Julie Andrews chose Kai Cheng Thom's picture book, FROM THE STARS IN THE SKY TO THE FISH IN THE SEA, for her podcast storytime for children, Julie's Library

More kudos for Kai Cheng Thom! Her book of essays, I HOPE WE CHOOSE LOVE: A TRANS GIRL'S NOTES FROM THE END OF THE WORLD, has won the American Library Association Stonewall Book Award Honor Book, and the Publishing Triangle Award for Trans and Gender-Variant Literature. Kai is represented by Marilyn Biderman and Léonicka Valcius

WE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN HERE by Samra Habib was a finalist for the Publishing Triangle Award's Judy Grahn Award for Lesbian Nonfiction.

Simone Dalton has won the $10K RBC Taylor Emerging Writer Award!

We are very excited to share that Katie Zdybel's short story "The Critics" was chosen as the winner in the Emerging Writer category of Exile's Carter V Cooper Short Fiction Competition, as selected by Joyce Carol Oates. Katie is represented by Stephanie Sinclair. Her collection of short stories is forthcoming.

LEGACY: Trauma, Story, and Indigenous Healing by Suzanne Methot (ECW Press) has won an Ippy Award, tying for Gold in the category of Current Events II: Social Issues/Humanitarian. Launched in 1996, the awards are designed to bring increased recognition to the deserving but often unsung titles published by independent authors and publishers. See the full list of winners here.

IN THE KEY OF NIRA GHANI by Natasha Deen, NDN COPING MECHANISMS by Billy-Ray Belcourt and SEASON OF FURY AND WONDER by Sharon Butala are 2020 Alberta Literary Awards Finalists!

NDN COPING MECHANISMS by Billy-Ray Belcourt (House of Anansi Press) is a finalist for the Stephan G. Stephansson Award for Poetry and has been chosen for the The 2020 Robert Kroetsch City of Edmonton Book Prize Shortlist!

Sharon Butala is a finalist for the W.O. Mitchell Book Prize, sponsored by the Writers' Guild of Alberta, for her short-story collection, SEASON OF FURY AND WONDER. She is also nominated for the George Bugnet Fiction prize given by the Writers Guild of Alberta. Congrats, Sharon!

OPEN HOUSE has debuted at #8 on the Globe and Toronto Star national bestseller lists!

DEAD MOM WALKING by Rachel Matlow appeared at #8 on the Toronto Star bestsellers list and #10 at the Globe & Mail the first week of April.

STILL HERE by Amy Stuart and ALONE: A LOVE STORY by Michelle Parise on Indigo's Most Anticipated Books of 2020!

 Season 3 of ALONE: A LOVE STORY won SILVER in the International Radio Program Competition!

DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME: ONE FAMILY'S (MIS)ADVENTURES AROUND THE WORLD by Daria Salamon and Rob Krause, cover and interior design by Jamis Paulson, published by Turnstone Press, is shortlisted for the Mary Scorer Award for Best Book by a Manitoba Publisher! 

THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU by Lauren Carter, published by Freehand Books has won the Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction!

Lauren Carter has won the John Hirsch Award for Most Promising Manitoba Writer!

Kevin Donovan for THE BILLIONAIRE MURDERS and Marissa Stapley for THE LAST RESORT and Melodie Campbell for THE B-TEAM: The Case of the Angry First Wife, are all finalists for different categories of the Arthur Ellis Crime Writing Award.

Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, Rachel Giese, Eternity Martis, Emily Urquhart, Liz Harmer, Trina Moyles, Joshua Whitehead, and Trevor Cole are nominated for the 2020 National Magazine Awards!

Shelley Wood, author of THE QUINTLAND SISTERS (World rights available ex: English in North America, William Morrow; French in Canada, Hurtubise) was featured on The Jenny McCarthy Show on Sirius XM radio to talk about the famous history behind Shelley's outstanding novel. You can check out the clip here!


Michael Bungay Stanier, author of THE ADVICE TRAP and THE COACHING HABIT
(Page Two) recently gave a TEDx talk at the University of Nevada all about how to tame the Advice Monster in each of us. In just 4 days the online video was viewed over 36,000 times! You can watch it here

Kelly S. Thompson, author of GIRLS NEED NOT APPLY (McClelland & Stewart) has published a probing and insightful article in the 
Literary Review of Canada, asking "Was the world ready for a book like this?" Read it here. And Kelly's book was recommended by Veterans Affairs Canada in a recent post, here.

Sarah Kurchak celebrated the release of her memoir, I OVERCAME MY AUTISM AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS LOUSY ANXIETY DISORDER (Douglas & McIntyre), with multiple media hits! Sarah participated in a Q&A with 49th Shelf on Launchpad, and an excerpt was published in the Toronto Star. Sarah was interviewed on CBC Radio's Day 6, Global TV The Morning Show, CTV Your Morning and on the Strombo Show "The Self-Isolation Issue."

Transatlantic Agency | 416 488 9214 | www.transatlanticagency.com