Granta lands Ben Mauk's 'powerful' fugitives debut in 4-way auction

Granta has acquired a "powerful" non-fiction debut about the nature of being a fugitive by American journalist Ben Mauk following a four-way bidding war.

Deputy publishing director Laura Barber acquired UK and Commonwealth rights in The Fugitive World from Devon Mazzone at FSG, following an auction of four publishers, for publication in winter 2023. 

Mauk, whose writing has appeared in the New Yorker, Harper’s, the LRB and Granta Magazine. "The Fugitive World takes us on a journey from the South China Sea to the Caucuses, reporting among nomads, refugees, and other 'fugitive' peoples in flight from the state, investigating what it means to attempt to live freely in an age of high-tech surveillance and resurgent authoritarianism." 

Barber said: "This book promises to be both an epic, adventure-filled travel narrative that takes us inside some of the least accessible communities in the world, and a clear-sighted, eloquent, and timely critique of state control. Ben Mauk’s writing is some of the most exhilarating I have read and the ideas he explores some of the most thought-provoking: we’re really thrilled to welcome him to the Granta list."