Daunt snaffles 'heartwarming' dog anthology

Daunt Books has signed Dog Hearted: Essays on Our Fierce and Familiar Companions, an anthology "rich with joy and delight" edited by Rowan Hisayo Buchanan and Jessica J Lee.

Publisher Marigold Atkey, with Dredhëza Maloku as editor, acquired world English rights from Lucy Luck at C&W and David Godwin at David Godwin Associates. The book will publish in April 2023.

The essays see each author explore their relationship with dogs. "Carl Phillips asks how wildness is tamed and indeed, if it can be; Esmé Weijun Wang finds moments of stillness in the simple act of observing her dog; Cal Flyn befriends a sled dog in Finland," the synopsis reads. Other contributors include Chris Pearson, Jessica Pan, Buchanan, Sharlene Teo, Alice Hiller, Lee, Nell Stevens and Eley Williams, Nina Mingya Powles, Ned Beauman and Evie Wyld.

"This is a heart-warming anthology," Maloku said. "Celebrating one of our most beloved animals, it is of course rich with joy and delight, but there is also real depth, poignancy and surprisingly dark humour here. That is due in no small part to the thought and care with which Rowan and Jessica have compiled this list of contributors, who we feel are some of the most exciting writers out there today. We are very lucky to be working with them."

Rowan added: "Our mission in putting together this collection was that the essays, like dogs, should be sometimes toothy, sometimes bloody, and sometimes gentle. The writers use dogs to explore wildness, family, death, birth, technology and mental health. We hope you enjoy reading their contributions as much as we did."

Lee said: "One of the perks of being writers with dogs is that we had a good excuse to take walks together through the winter. It was then – watching our dogs chase, roll and grumble among the other hounds of London parks – that our longing to hear from other authors took shape. Each author we thought of, and each dog, was so different from the others."