Serpent's Tail dishes up Tandoh essay collection

Just days after the publication of Ruby Tandoh's Cook As You Are, Serpent's Tail has snapped up a collection of essays from the former "Great British Bake Off" finalist. 

Wild Appetites explores what happens when physical hunger collides with culture, identity and morality. The synopsis explains: "From the childhood formation of our tastes to the appetites that fuelled colonialism, Ruby Tandoh explores where our strange, deeply human appetites come from—and how they influence the world around us. 

"Drawing on a broad range of themes, fields and sources, Wild Appetites is a collection of interconnected essays weaving a path from the pits of our bellies to our hungry mouths and the farthest reaches of our natural world; a sweeping exploration of our deepest gut feelings, the tales we tell about them and the life-changing power—and promise—of a rumbling stomach."

World rights in all languages were acquired from Stuart Cooper at Stuart Cooper Agency by publishing director Cecily Gayford. Publication is slated for summer 2023.

Tandoh is a food writer who has written for, among others, the New Yorker, the Guardian, Taste, Vittles and VICE. A finalist on the 2013 "Great British Bake Off", she has published Eat Up (Serpent's Tail), a book about the pleasure of eating, as well as three cookery books.

The author said: "I'm unbelievably excited to be working on Wild Appetites with Serpent's Tail. This book feels like a natural next step: after years spent celebrating the power of appetite, I knew I had to dive deep into what appetite actually is, why we want the things we want and, ultimately, how our appetites shape the world."

Commenting on the acquisition, Gayford added: "I couldn’t be more thrilled to be publishing Wild Appetites, or more proud to have Ruby on our list. No one illuminates the deep currents that shape our relationship with food with more wit, passion and insight than she does, and this is a subject that feels like the perfect fit for her talents."