Barr moves to Canongate in a two-book deal

Author, journalist and Royal Society of Literature fellow Damian Barr is moving to Canongate in a two-book deal. 

Editor-at-large Ellah Wakatama acquired UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, to a novel that will be published in 2025 and a memoir scheduled for 2027, from Clare Conville at Conville & Walsh.

Barr’s 2013 memoir, Maggie & Me (Bloomsbury), was a Sunday Times Memoir of the Year and saw him named Stonewall Writer of the Year. His debut novel, You Will Be Safe Here (Bloomsbury), was shortlisted for six major awards and named a Book of the Year by the Observer, Guardian, Financial Times and Daily Mail.

Wakatama said: "Damian is a writer whose work presents a rare combination of serious endeavour, a gentle touch and powerful humanity, both in his fiction and non-fiction. His range and ambition are undiminished in the two books we are set to publish and I am overjoyed he has decided to join Canongate.

"I can promise existing fans that they will find much that is familiar in the forthcoming publications – his meticulous crafting, his unswerving gaze – as well as characters and stories that feel immediate and essential. We also are excited at the potential of this new novel and memoir to bring Damian’s work to an even wider international audience."

Barr added: "My shelves are full of beloved Canongate books. They are one of the very brightest indie publishers because they bring their character and care to every part of the process from editorial to sales, marketing and publicity. I’m looking forward to working with them all on my next novel and my next memoir. This feels like a homecoming."