Canongate scoops a new volume of David Whyte's Consolations

Canongate has scooped a new volume of David Whyte’s Consolations.

Chief executive Jamie Byng bought world rights (excluding North America and Canada) for Consolations II, a follow-up to the author’s essays exploring "our shared humanity" by looking at 52 words. The deal was negotiated directly with the author and in collaboration with Many Rivers Press, who publish all of Whyte’s poetry and prose in North America. Canongate and Many Rivers Press will publish Consolations II simultaneously in hardback, e-book and audio in November 2024.

"As with the original volume, Consolations II explores the underlying meaning of 52 everyday words and invites readers to think more deeply about language and the choices that influence our lives," the synopsis says. "Running from the seemingly mundane through to the taboo, and on subjects that loom impossibly large, David Whyte offers reflections, solace and meaning through grappling with words ranging from ‘Old’ to ‘Echo’, from ‘Routine’ to ‘Burnout’. Whyte boldly reinterprets them, fully embracing their complexity, never shying away from paradox in his search for deeper meaning."

Whyte commented: "The 52 essays in Consolations II have been something of an intense, almost out of the body experience to write in the brief, almost blurred period of the last six months; but the writing has been spurred on by the humbling demand from many of the quarter of a million readers who bought and shared the first volume: a demand magnified further by the enthusiasm and encouragement of Canongate’s Jamie Byng, whose own life and relationship was transformed by coming across such essays as ‘Friendship’ and ‘Vulnerability’."

Byng added: "Publishing David’s first volume of Consolations has been one of the most quietly satisfying and deeply personal publishing experiences of the last few years. In part this is because it is a brilliant book that has gone through multiple printings, been translated into many languages and generated evangelical responses from readers. But it is also because Consolations is a book that I return to on a very regular basis, making it a constant presence in my life. To be publishing a new volume of David’s nourishing essays is therefore a truly thrilling prospect, and I am certain Consolations II will create even more superfans wanting to spread the word about this remarkable and important writer."