James and Obreht join Anonymous Sex with Borough Press

Marlon James and Téa Obreht are among the authors penning erotic tales for Anonymous Sex, an anthology pre-empted by The Borough Press where the author of each story is kept a secret.

Suzie Dooré, publishing director, bought UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, from Caspian Dennis at Abner Stein, on behalf of Jin Auh at Wylie and Chris Parris-Lamb at Gernert. It will be published in February 2022, alongside Scribner in the US.

Compiled by Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan and Hillary Jordan, 28 literary names including Helen Oyeyemi and Chigozie Obioma will contribute "no-holds-barred" tales to the book. However, although author names will be listed alphabetically, there will be no indication of which story they wrote.

The project was initiated by Tan and Jordan during quarantine, based on an idea they first had several years ago. They explained: “We think this book will be an irresistible gift to readers, to hunt for their favourite authors in the sort of collection in which they’re not usually found, as well as a welcome respite for writers in these dark times.”

Dooré added: “When Caspian first emailed to gauge my interest in Anonymous Sex, I leapt at the chance. Who wouldn’t? With such an intriguing and diverse list of authors, each sharing a no-holds-barred fantasy, I can’t wait to read the stories.”

The full list of contributors features Robert Olen Butler, Catherine Chung, Trent Dalton, Heidi Durrow, Tony Eprile, Louise Erdrich, Jamie Ford, Julia Glass, Peter Godwin, Rebecca Makkai, Valerie Martin, Dina Nayeri, Mary-Louise Parker, Victoria Redel, Jason Reynolds, S J Rozan, Meredith Talusan, Souvankham Thammavongsa, Jeet Thayil, Paul Theroux, Luis Alberto Urrea and Edmund White.