Canongate acquires 'masterpiece' from Ozeki

Canongate is to publish Ruth Ozeki's latest novel, The Book of Form and Emptiness. 

Jamie Byng, c.e.o. of Canongate, acquired world rights (excluding North America, Brazil, France, Israel and ANZ) in the new novel, described as the tale of the relationship between a boy and a book, after negotiating a deal with Caspian Dennis at Abner Stein, acting on behalf of the Friedrich Agency. 

Canongate will publish in September, alongside Viking in America, Penguin Random House in Canada and Text Publishing in Australia.

Ozeki’s previous novel was A Tale for the Time Being, which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2013. It sold in 31 territories and has been translated into 28 languages. She is also the author of My Year of Meats and All Over Creation, as well as a short memoir, The Face. Ozeki has sold 68,666 copies in total, for £557,472, through Nielsen BookScan's TCM in the UK.

Commenting on the acquisition, Byng said: "It’s been eight years since we published Ruth Ozeki’s Booker-shortlisted masterpiece, A Tale for the Time Being, and so we have been wondering for many years what she might do next. The Book of Form and Emptiness is what, and it was truly worth the wait. It is another masterpiece, a novel that confirms Ruth as one of the most original and dazzling writers of fiction working today. We could not be more excited about helping bring it into the world, and are confident we can make it a huge hit."

Ozeki added:  "I'm overjoyed to be working once again with Canongate and Viking, Penguin to bring The Book of Form and Emptiness into the world. This maybe be an odd/obvious thing to say about book publishers, but these people truly love books! They care about making beautiful books and then getting them into the right readers’ hands. And since The Book of Form and Emptiness is a story about the vital relationship between a boy and a book, there's no one else I'd rather trust it to."