SRL Publishing signs first translation deal for Garzaro's novel

SRL Publishing has signed its first translation deal for Leonardo Garzaro’s The Guardian of Names, originally published in Brazil as O guardião de nome with Rua do Sabão.

Creative director Stuart Debar acquired English language rights in the UK from Garzaro, also an editor, at Rua do Sabão. The novel will be published in the UK in April 2024.

The Guardian of Names was called "one of the best novels of 2022" by Suplemento Literario Pernambuco and looks at "one of the first human activities: naming". The novel follows three generations of the same family with elements of magical realism. It is about "people and their names, family relationships, patriarchy and the power that comes from a name".

Rua do Sabão also signed Portuguese rights to Evan Baldock’s Sleeping from SRL, an "explosive British thriller" due to be published in Brazil in July 2024, in a deal with Debar.

Debar commented: "I had met the publisher in Abu Dhabi, where we exhibited in the Abu Dhabi Book Fair, where we aim to set up a strong long-term working relationship between the two publishers. Leonardo has had his works translated into English, Spanish, Arabic and Turkish, and has had short stories published in the award-winning American magazine Literal Latin Voices. It was due to the success of the Abu Dhabi Book Fair we managed to sign agreements with foreign rights agencies covering 15 territories including the Middle East, North Africa and Latin America."