Renegade Books wins three-way auction for Jenny Lau's An A–Z of Chinese Food

Renegade Books, an imprint of Dialogue, has triumphed in a three-way auction for An A–Z of Chinese Food (Recipes Not Included) by British Chinese community organiser and food activist, Jenny Lau.

Editorial director Joelle Owusu-Sekyere acquired UK and Commonwealth rights, including audio, from Angelique Tran Van Sang of Felicity Bryan. Christina Demosthenous will be publishing the book, which will be released in hardback, e-book and audiobook on 21st January 2025. 

"An A–Z of Chinese Food (Recipes Not Included) is not a recipe book, but a deliberate ’anti-glossary’ – a delectable edible anthology that serves up Chinese flavour beyond just its taste," the synopsis says. "Jenny Lau always found herself sitting between cultures, connected to both east and west. Hungry to understand herself, she threw herself into researching the Chinese food of her heritage," it adds. "The result is An A–Z of Chinese Food – a surprising, unputdownable and deliciously enriching anthology that uses food to explore who we are and how we relate to the world." 

Demosthenous said: “Publishers call books ‘original’ and ‘one of a kind’ all the time, but it’s not often that a book truly delivers on this. We’re proud to say that An A–Z of Chinese Food (Recipes Not Included) is all of this and more. Not only is this book startingly original and wildly entertaining, but it is just as eye-opening and educational."

Lau added: “An A–Z of Chinese Food (Recipes Not Included) has been a labour of love and an obsessive journey to understand myself, my community and what it means to be Chinese in the diaspora using food as language, especially in a time when human stories are lost within global discourse."