Faber acquires rights to Edinburgh Makar Michael Pedersen’s debut novel

Faber has acquired the rights to Michael Pedersen’s debut novel, Muckle Flugga, in May 2025. Hannah Knowles acquired world rights all languages in a hotly contested auction from Becky Thomas at Lewinsohn Literary Agency, in a two-book deal. 

The synopsis of the book reads: “It’s no ordinary existence on the rugged isle of Muckle Flugga. The elements run riot and the very rocks that shape the place begin to shift under their influence. The only human inhabitants are the lighthouse keeper, known as The Father, and his otherworldly son, Ouse  – just them, and the occasional lodger to keep the wolf from the door. When one such lodger – Firth, a chaotic writer – arrives from Edinburgh, the limits of the world the keeper and his son cling to begin to crumble. A tug of war ensues between Firth and the lighthouse keeper for Ouse’s affections – and his future.”

Scottish poet and author, the writer in residence at the University of Edinburgh and the current Edinburgh Makar (Poet Laureate), Pederson said: “Publishing my debut novel with Faber is a dreamy scenario. Muckle Flugga is a book wrought with landscape and lore, friendship and family, bumps-in-the-night and celestial secrets, part love story, part character drama, part waltz with the world. It’s thrummed inside me for years now. Ouse, Firth, The Father and Figgie, I carry around constantly; as for the ghost of Robert Louis Stevenson, the less said the better. Truly, it’s a joy to be here.”

Knowles said: “To find yourself inside the imagination of Michael Pedersen is to rediscover wonder and awe. His is a rare talent, and to be publishing his debut novel is nothing short of a privilege – and a real treat.”