John Murray Press pre-empts literary debut by ‘preternaturally gifted new voice’ Tang

Jiaming Tang’s debut novel Cinema Love has been signed by John Murray Press in a pre-emptive deal.

Yassine Belkacemi, editor and publicity director at John Murray, pre-empted UK and Commonwealth rights from Rachel Clements at Abner Stein, on behalf of Kent Wolf at Neon Literary. Rights have also sold in North America at auction and have been pre-empted in Germany and Italy. It will be published by John Murray Press in 2024.

Spanning over three timelines - contemporary New York, late 1980s Chinatown, and post-socialist China—Cinema Love is described by the publisher as “a voice-driven, tender epic, which marks the arrival of a preternaturally gifted new voice in fiction”.

The synopsis continues: “For over 30 years, Old Second and Bao Mei have cobbled together a meagre existence in New York City’s Chinatown. But unlike other couples, these two share an unusual past. In rural Fuzhou, before they emigrated, they frequented The Workers’ Cinema: a theatre where gay men cruised for love.  

“While classic war films played, Old Second, his lover Shun-Er, and their fellow countrymen (many in arranged marriages) found intimacy in the privacy of the Workers’ Cinema’s screening rooms. However, Shun-Er’s passion for Old Second left his wife, Yan Hua, in the cold. In a desperate move to hold onto her husband, Yan Hua set in motion a series of haunting events—propelling her, Old Second, and Bao Mei towards an uncertain future in America.”

Belkacemi said: “I was blown away by Cinema Love. Jiaming Tang has written a propulsive, beautiful, and compelling novel with truly memorable characters. With writing full of tenderness and wisdom, Jiaming is an outstanding talent. John Murray has been built on original and radical writing for the past 250 years so I’m delighted that Jiaming and Cinema Love will continue that tradition and be an exciting part of our future."

Tang is a queer immigrant writer based in Brooklyn and works in editorial at Marysue Rucci Books, an imprint of Scribner. His writing has appeared in such publications as  AGNI,  LitHub,  Joyland Magazine, the Masters Review  and Epiphany Literary Magazine.