Indigo Press acquires four for 2019

The Indigo Press, the publishing arm of the MILD Group, will publish titles by Ahmad Danny Ramadan, Lucia Osborne-Crowley, Richard Seymour and Parker Bilal in 2019. 

Syrian-Canadian author Ahmad Danny Ramadan will make his UK debut in March with The Clothesline Swing, which is described as “an epic story of two lovers anchored to the memory of a dying Syria” and was inspired by One Thousand and One Nights. Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada English language) and Wwrld translation rights (excluding French and Hebrew) were acquired from Nightwood Editions, Canada.

Parker Bilal’s The Divinities: Drake & Crane Book 1, the first in a London-set crime series featuring Detective Inspector Calil Drake and Dr Rayhana Crane, will come in May; world rights (all languages) were acquired from Euan Thorneycroft at A M Heath.

Following in September is I Choose Elena by Lucia Osborne-Crowley, a long-form essay about trauma, recovery and the true cost of sexual violence. World rights, all languages, were acquired direct from the author. Also in September will come Richard Seymour’s The Twittering Machine - about how the internet has led to paranoia, anxiety and malice - with world rights in all languages acquired from Karolina Sutton at Curtis Brown.

Publishing director Ellah Wakatama Allfrey [pictured] said: “Our 2019 books reflect the ambition of The Indigo Press to publish work that interrogates some of the most urgent issues of our time. Our writers come from vastly different countries but the books are united in their exploration of subjects of universal importance. Through literary fiction, crime, and non-fiction, it’s a list that I hope will encourage us all to think about the subjects these writers have focused on with such passion – the rights of individuals to express their sexuality free of persecution or the threat of violence; the rise of women’s voices in pursuit of justice; the challenges of living in a digital age and the toll polarisation and religious fundamentalism takes on our humanity.”

Indigo Press is part of the MILD portfolio of book businesses, which includes international rights specialists The Marsh Agency, independent bookshop Dulwich Books, and a live events series, including two annual literary festivals LiveLit.

The first titles, including These Bones Will Rise Again by Panashe Chigumadzi and Wonder Valley by Ivy Pochoda, were launched earlier this year.