Fig Tree triumphs in three-way auction for Lennon's 'exhilarating' debut

Fig Tree has netted an “exhilarating and fiercely original” début novel by Ferdia Lennon in a three-way auction.

Helen Garnons-Williams, publishing director, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights to Glorious Exploits from literary agent Rebecca Carter. US rights were acquired by Caroline Zancan at Henry Holt & Co in a pre-empt from Chris Clemans at Janklow & Nesbit. German rights were pre-empted by Rowohlt and the novel has been acquired by Buchet Chastel (France), NN Editore (Italy), and Impedimenta (Spain) 

Fig Tree will publish Glorious Exploits as a lead hardback in February 2024. 

Set in ancient Sicily during the Peloponnesian War, Glorious Exploits is the story of Lampo and Gelon, two unemployed potters who decide to stage a performance of Euripides’ "Medea" in the quarry outside Syracuse where thousands of Athenian prisoners have been left to the elements and who form an unlikely, bedraggled cast. 

But as the performance draws near and the audacity of their enterprise dawns on them, it becomes difficult to distinguish between enemies and friends. And Lampo, whose ambitions have never stretched beyond having enough coin for the next jug of wine, finds his aspirations elevated, his heart entangled and his courage tested in ways he could never have imagined. 

Lennon’s fiction has appeared in publications such as the Irish Times, and the Stinging Fly and his stories have been nominated for prizes, including the Hennessy Emerging Writer Award and the Galley Beggar Short Story Prize. In 2019 and 2021, he was awarded literature bursaries from Arts Council Ireland.  

Garnons-Williams said: “Reading Ferdia’s novel for the first time felt like a jolt of electricity. It’s an extraordinary achievement and we are incredibly excited to be publishing it at Fig Tree. His writing is bold and beautifully crafted, darkly funny, thrilling, and profoundly affecting. Glorious Exploits is an unforgettable novel about brotherhood and war, beauty and violence and about our collective urge to tell stories and make art even in the direst of circumstances and the darkest of times." 

Lennon added: “I have been working away at this book for a long time and I am beyond thrilled that it has found such a great home with Fig Tree and Henry Holt, both incredible publishers. I feel immensely fortunate to have two fantastic editors in Helen Garnons-Williams and Caroline Zancan, who are a joy to work with.” 

Carter said: “As soon as I read Ferdia Lennon’s short story in the 2014 anthology of UEA Creative Writing students’ work I knew I had encountered a writer of exceptional talent. It has been an honour and a pleasure to be a first reader of a novel he has honed to perfection over many years and to have the opportunity to be the agent making sure it gets into as many readers’ hands as possible.”