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Dialogue Books has pre-empted a “kaleidoscopic” debut novel from Juli Min.
Literary editorial director Hannah Chukwu acquired UK and Commonwealth rights to Shanghailanders from Sue Armstrong at the C&W Agency. US rights have been sold to Joey McGarvey at Spiegel & Grau from Stephanie Delman at Trellis Literary Management, and deals have already been confirmed in Norway, Japan and Spain. It will be a superlead literary debut for 2024.
The synopsis says: “Moving backwards in time from 2040 to 2014, Shanghailanders beautifully unfurls the story of the Yang family against the background of an ever-evolving Shanghai. Rotating perspectives through each member of the family as well as those who live in their orbit, the novel shows how secrets both separate and unite a family, irrevocably affecting the lives they touch. Shanghailanders is more than an illuminating rendering of family; it also paints a kaleidoscopic portrait of Shanghai itself. From the roads taken by a driver swerving past self-driving cars of the future, to the intimate apartments where the family make bids to connect — the speed, the technology and the history of this old, futuristic city shine through the novel to form the foundations of this exceptional debut.”
Min is the editor in chief of the Shanghai Literary Review, an annual literary magazine published in co-operation with Duke University. Her writing has been published in the New York Times, Real Life, Hazlitt and elsewhere. She has been awarded a Swatch Art Peace Hotel residency for 2023.
Chukwu said: “Shanghailanders is one of the most confident, sleek, unique debuts I have ever read. Juli is a fearless writer, whose work feels wholly original. Her writing is so intimate, so stylistically and formally beautiful – I am honoured that Shanghailanders is my flagship acquisition for Dialogue Books. Juli is a powerful new voice in fiction, and all of us at Dialogue are unbelievably proud and excited to bring her work to readers.”
Min added: “Shanghailanders has found homes on both sides of the Atlantic with absolute dream teams: women-led, smart, and pushing the boundaries on what publishing can do. I couldn’t have dreamed up a better, more uniquely positioned team in the UK than Dialogue Books, by way of Trellis and the visionary Sue Armstrong at C&W. I can’t wait to work with Hannah Chukwu and her colleagues to introduce readers to this strange book about womanhood, sisterhood, love, and Shanghai.”