Summer 2007
More congratulations to Paul Torday whose novel Salmon Fishing in the Yemen has been picked as a summer read for the Richard & Judy Book Club. He has also been awarded the Bollinger P G Wodehouse Award for Comic Writing.
Calum’s Road by Roger Hutchinson (Birlinn) was shortlisted for the Ondaatje Prize, and Allan Guthrie was shortlisted for the Theakston’s Old Peculiar Crime novel of the Year. In Russia, the translation of Des Dillon’s Six Black Candles has been awarded the Lion and the Unicorn Award.
Fifteen writers we represent who are taking part in this year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival. For programme information http://www.edbookfest.co.uk.
Recent agency deals include
Falling by Jeff Randall to Mainstream, to be published spring 2008. It’s misery noir with a twist and begins with a powerful description of him falling from an Edinburgh tenement. Jeff is a contemporary of Irvine Welsh and his description of the underbelly of Edinburgh life is reminiscent of TRAINSPOTTING.
The Sky’s The Limit: Vicky Jack and her Quest to Climb the Seven Summits by Anna Magnusson will be published by Black & White in September 2007. It’s the inspiring story of an ordinary woman who pushed herself to extraordinary heights, becoming the first Scottish woman to climb the world’s seven highest mountains, and the oldest British woman to climb Everest.
An Unlikely Partnership by Mark Whitaker has been bought by Random House sports imprint Yellow Jersey Press. Histories of British athletics are silent about him but Peter Gavuzzi (1905-1981) was probably the greatest long-distance runner the country has ever produced. The book will tell of his lifelong friendship with another athlete – Arthur Newton – almost twice his age. In 1928 and 1929 they took part in two of the most extraordinary and notorious races ever held – the transcontinental runs across America. In the second race, after covering more than 3,500 miles, Gavuzzi lost by little more than two minutes. He never received his prize money from a crooked promoter.
Simon Thorogood at Transworld has bought world rights in two historical novels by Doug Jackson, in a pre-emptive six-figure deal. The first novel, Caligula, is a gripping and thoroughly researched re-imagining of the life and court of the most decadent, debauched and cruel of the Roman Emperors. The book, to be published next year, is envisaged as the first in a long-running series.
Seaweed and Eat It by Fiona Houston and Xa Milne is the hunter-gatherer and ‘foodie’ answer to “Dangerous Book for Boys”. It is part natural history guide, part cook book, part gardening, part family adventure guide, part folklore: it will be a nostalgic reconnection to the rhythm of the seasons. It has been bought by Virgin Books who will publish in 2008.
Posted on Jul 02, 2007 - 12:39 AM