Sceptre signs poet Webb’s non-fiction debut on modern masculinity

Sceptre has netted poet Ralf Webb’s non-fiction debut Strange Relations: Masculinity, Bisexuality and Four Mid-century Writers.

Senior commissioning editor Charlotte Humphery acquired UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, from Seren Adams at United Agents. Strange Relations, described as a “powerful argument for why masculinity is in crisis, when and where that crisis began, and how we as a society might begin to find our way out of it” will publish in spring 2024. 

The publisher’s synopsis reads: "In San Francisco, 1960, James Baldwin spoke to John Cheever about what he saw as a ‘failure of the masculine sensibility’. Strange Relations examines how Baldwin came to this assessment and what may be amiss in modern masculinity. Building on Walt Whitman’s philosophy of the love between men, the book considers the work and lives of Tennessee Williams, Carson McCullers, Cheever and Baldwin. All four writers wrestled in their art, as well as in their sexual and platonic relationships, with the expectations of masculinity, the pull of queer life and the tensions between the two. 

"With a curious, intelligent and sensitive gaze, drawing on previously unpublished archival material, Ralf Webb sheds new light on each writer, the synopsis continues. The cumulative effect is a powerful argument for why masculinity is in crisis, when and where that crisis began, and how we as a society might begin to find our way out of it."

Webb’s debut collection of poems Rotten Days in Late Summer was published by Penguin in 2021 and was shortlisted for the Felix Dennis Prize for Best First Collection. Webb’s poetry and critical writing has appeared in the London Review of Books, Fantastic Man, Poetry Review, and the Guardian. He currently manages a creative writing mentorship programme in collaboration with Folio and First Story, which supports school-age writers from low-income backgrounds. In 2022 he was a writer in residence at the Jan Michalski Foundation in Switzerland. 

He said: “It is immensely exciting to work on Strange Relations with Charlotte at Sceptre. The writers and artists in focus each forged their own unique pathway through the perilous psychic and interpersonal terrain of ‘masculinity’, and I believe their stories and insights are of huge importance today. It’s a book I’ve long wanted to write, and I’m thrilled it has found the perfect home.”

Humphery said: “Ralf brings a poet’s sensibility to a fascinating group of artists and a vitally important subject. Strange Relations is exquisitely written and carefully considered and I’m thrilled to be working with Ralf on his first book of non-fiction. He’s a real literary talent across genres and he shines new light on his subjects.”