Flint Books lands Handrick’s 'vital' debut on same-sex abuse

Flint Books has landed Michael Handrick’s “vital” debut on same-sex abuse.

Jo de Vries, consultant editor for the History Press' new non-fiction imprint, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights for Difference Is Born on the Lips from Abi Fellows and Callen Martin at the Good Literary Agency for publication in September 2022.

Handrick explores stigmas around class, masculinity and sexuality, and looks at the impact this had on his own mental health. He also speaks about his own experience as a victim of same-sex abuse.

Handrick's work has been previously shortlisted for Penguin Random House’s WriteNow awards and Kit de Waal’s Common People anthology. He said: “Growing up on a council estate having a book published was my dream. This book wasn’t the one I ever expected to write, but it’s one that is needed. It contains stories and voices that have gone too long unvoiced and not listened to. This book came from a place of pain in order to help heal and start conversations.”

De Vries added: “I knew we had to publish this from the moment that I read Michael’s proposal – his writing is brave and brilliant. Michael shines a light on why there is a mental health epidemic in the gay community; he has interrogated the trauma that he went through in the hope of ensuring that no other young person has to suffer the same experiences. He also does so in a way that is profoundly moving, gentle, reflective and inspiring.”

Fellows and Martin also commented: “This is a vital book. We can’t secure better rights and prospects for LGBTQ+ people without interrogating where society has failed them in the past. Michael helps us to envisage a safer, fairer world and starts a conversation about how to build it. Callen and I are delighted to have found a home for his work with Flint."