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Canongate nabs two new books by Women’s Prize winner Ozeki
Canongate has inked a deal for a collection of short stories and a new novel from the Booker Prize shortlistee and 2022 Women’s Prize for Fiction winner Ruth Ozeki.
Publisher and commercial director Jenny Fry acquired UK and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada, Australia and New Zealand) and all translation territories barring France, Brazil and Israel. The deal was brokered by Caspian Dennis at Abner Stein, on behalf of Molly Friedrich and Lucy Carson at the Friedrich Agency. Canongate has published Ozeki in the UK since 2013.
US rights for two books have been acquired by Ibrahim Ahmad at Viking—also Ozeki’s long-term publishing partner—while Deborah Sun de la Cruz acquired for Penguin Random House Canada, both from the Friedrich Agency. Australia and New Zealand rights have been acquired by Michael Heyward at Text, with Abner Stein again acting for the Friedrich Agency.
The Typing Lady: Short Fictions, the first of the newly acquired books, is described as "a playful, ominous and sometimes surreal" collection of stories exploring "the intricacies of identity, time and interconnectedness". It will be released in 2025.
The novel,To Live for Now, follows in 2027 and is set amid the feminist and activist movement of Japan’s Taishō era, which according to synopsis creates "a vivid tapestry of love, loss and political radicalism in a country on the brink of war".
Ozeki is a novelist, filmmaker and Zen Buddhist priest. She is the author of four novels, including the Women’s Prize-winner The Book of Form and Emptiness and 2013’s A Tale for the Time Being, which was Booker-shortlisted and has been translated into 28 languages. Her non-fiction includes the short memoir Timecode of a Face.
Fry said: "I have such huge admiration and affection for Ruth Ozeki, as an author and as a human being. Company-wise, we are all overjoyed to see this long-standing and happy partnership continue."
Ozeki commented: "I am delighted that my next two books will have a home at Canongate and grateful for its faith and support over the years. Canongate makes publishing a joy!"
Friedrich added: "Canongate has always published Ruth’s novels with such fervent passion. We are all thrilled to continue this magical collaboration with its stellar team."
