On Toronto’s Lake Ontario waterfront, February 1. Image – Getty iStockphoto: Haitao Ran
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
Coming Friday: Our next international Rights Edition, with our newest Rights Roundup
Scribner Canada’s First Releases in September
In Toronto today (February 22), Simon & Schuster Canada has announced the creation of a Scribner Canada imprint, devised to “highlight unique contemporary authors, celebrate the art of storytelling, and feature works in translation by both Canadian and international authors.”
The new imprint is to be activated in the fall, with Iain Reid’s We Spread set for release on September 27, described as a philosophical thriller involving aging and things “more unsettling.”
Reid’s work has been strong on screen adaptations. His I’m Thinking of Ending Things is a 2020 release (Likely Story producing for Netflix) with Charlie Kaufman’s direction of his own screenplay and Jesse Plemons and Jessie Buckley in the lead. International rights for the book, according to media messaging, have been sold into at least 20 languages and/or territories. And Reid’s Foe, a science-fiction thriller, is listed as being in production at Amazon Studios, with Garth Davis directing Saoirse Ronan, Paul Mescal, and Aaron Pierre.
The forthcoming release, We Spread, reportedly has been picked up by Anonymous Content producing with Minhal Baig (Hala, 2019) attached to adapt and direct.
Before the release of We Spread, Scribner Canada is scheduled to release a work of political nonfiction on September 6, and many in our international readership will be glad to see that S&S’ strong stance on such work is represented in the early plans for Scribner Canada.
The Long Road Home is by Deborah Thompson, the first Black woman to be tenured in the political science department at Montreal’s McGill University. Publishing Perspectives readers know McGill as the seat of the US$75,000 Cundill History Prize.
In its promotional copy about Thompson’s book, the company says, “Thompson follows the roots of Black identities in North America, starting with her own family, [members of which] traveled the ‘underground railroad’ to Shrewsbury, Ontario, and then tracing her journey across America in search of blackness and belonging.”
Kevin Hanson
Talking about the Scribner development, Simon & Schuster Canada president and publisher Kevin Hanson is quoted, saying, “I’ve long admired Scribner US and their venerable list of authors, and I’m excited to launch this new imprint that will complement and support our existing local publishing program, with its numerous bestsellers.
“The creation of Scribner Canada will broaden our publishing reach, bring new voices to readers, and grow our already stellar list of authors.”
More Canadian authors and their works anticipated for Scribner Canada:
- In the Belly of the Congo by Blaise Ndala is described as an English translation of Ndala’s novel Dans le ventre du Congo. It’s a literary novel said to examine the Belgian Congo’s colonial past and current legacy through the lives of two characters connected by family and history; no translator’s name has been provided
- African Samurai by Craig Shreve is described as a literary historical novel based on Yasuke, Japan’s only samurai of African descent
- The Boat in the Backyard by screenwriter and television producer Perry Chafe is described as a coming-of-age story about a boy on an island in Newfoundland
Listed as international titles for Scribner Canada:
- Stolen by Sami Swedish author Ann-Helén Laestadius, a novel reportedly sold into at least 17 languages and/or territories. countries; no translator’s name has been provided
- Men’s Most Secret Memory (La plus secrète mémoire des hommes) by Senegalese novelist Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, winner of the 2021 Prix Goncourt, with world English rights reportedly sold to Other Press; no translator’s name has been provided
More from Publishing Perspectives on Simon & Schuster is here, more on the Canadian market is here, more on international publication rights is here, and more on translation and translators is here.
More from us on the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on international book publishing is here.