Ozoz Sokoh — the West African food expert and Warri native behind the Kitchen Butterfly blog — has selected Artisan to publish Chop Chop, her guide to the traditional foods of Nigeria. Covering regional styles and historical influences, the book will feature full-color photography and 120 recipes, including jollof rice, smoky-spicy beef suya skewers, egusi soup with greens, sweet-tart hibiscus drinks, and golden-fried puff puff. Canadian rights have been acquired by Appetite and West African rights have been acquired by Narrative Landscape Press.
Danny Childs’s Slow Drinks Sold to Hardie Grant Publishing
In its first deal under the auspices of its new North American publishing operations, Hardie Grant has acquired the rights to publish Slow Drinks: A Field Guide to Foraging and Fermenting Seasonal Sodas, Botanical Cocktails, and Country Wines by ethnobotanist and bartender Danny Childs. A columnist for Edible Jersey and creator of @slowdrinks on Instagram, Childs will produce a guide to growing and foraging seasonal ingredients that can be made into a wide range of unique beverages. Including some 120 recipes and techniques, Slow Drinks will feature both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, with instructions adaptable to regions throughout the Northern Hemisphere.
Norman Zelaya's Short Story Collection Sold to Black Freighter Press
Independent San Francisco publisher Black Freighter Press — headed by Alie Jones and San Francisco poet laureate Tongo Eisen-Martin — has acquired Norman Antonio Zelaya’s forthcoming short story collection Gente, Folks. In this volume, Zelaya, a San Francisco State MFA graduate and special education teacher, will explore the layers of the Nicaraguan American experience among denizens of San Francisco’s historic Mission District.
Bricia Lopez and Javier Cabral’s Follow-up to Oaxaca Sold to Abrams
On the heels of publishing the popular cookbook Oaxaca: Home Cooking from the Heart of Mexico by Bricia Lopez and Javier Cabral, Abrams has acquired the duo’s next collaboration, entitled Asada: The Art of Mexican Grilling. In the forthcoming book, restaurateur Lopez and writer Cabral will celebrate the unique tradition of backyard barbecues found in Mexican American communities in East L.A. and around the nation, equipping readers with more than 100 dishes and drinks to prepare unforgettable spreads at their own festive gatherings.
John Keene Publishes New Poetry Collection
MacArthur and Cave Canem Fellow John Keene’s Punks: New & Selected Poems is available now from independent New York publisher The Song Cave. This landmark collection weaves together historic narratives of loss, lust, and love, giving voice to a cast of characters who address desire, oppression, AIDS, grief, and more, all with incomparable depth and nuance. An indispensable poet, Keene has also garnered accolades for his prose — notably with Counternarratives (New Directions, 2015) — and is a winner of the Windham-Campbell Prize, the Whiting Foundation Prize, the Republic of Consciousness Prize, and the American Book Award. Punks is available for purchase at The Song Cave’s website.
Sean Sherman's Turtle Island Sold at Auction to Clarkson Potter and Penguin Canada
Oglala Lakota chef Sean Sherman has selected Francis Lam at Clarkson Potter to publish Turtle Island: The Foods and Traditions of the Indigenous Peoples of North America, a look at the foodways of the numerous tribes and First Nations of what is now the United States, Mexico, and Canada. The book will feature cooks, farmers, seed savers, and artisans who have kept these traditions alive and are powering a revival of pre-colonial Indigenous food culture. Including some 200 ancestral and modern recipes, Turtle Island represents a collaboration between Sherman, Native food sovereignty scholar Elizabeth Hoover, and food writer Kristin Donnelly. In a separate auction, Penguin Canada acquired the rights to publish the book’s Canadian edition.
Edward McClelland's Abraham Lincoln book sold to Pegasus
Journalist and historian Edward McClelland has reached an agreement with Pegasus to write Chorus of the Union: How Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas Set Aside Their Rivalry to Save the Nation. The book will explore Lincoln’s long contest and eventual alliance with Stephen Douglas, highlighting the role that graceful concession serves in the electoral process, and also challenging the “great man” theory that attends Lincoln’s legend, investigating his complicated views on race and slavery, as well as the outsized role that his Illinois origins played in his rise, the state being (then as now) a microcosm of the nation, and the crucible of the slavery debate.
The Chef's Garden is an “indispensable kitchen resource”
Farmer Lee Jones’ stunning, comprehensive guide to the modern world of common and unusual vegetables—written with fellow Straus Literary author Kristin Donnelly—is available now from Avery, highlighting wisdom and recipes from Jones’ renowned family-run specialty vegetable farm in Ohio.
This week, The New York Times published a glowing review of The Chef’s Garden, in which Florence Fabricant recommends making the book’s recipe for “luscious carrot pot roast”—that is, “if you make only one of them.” The book was also cited in how-to cooking guides by The New York Times’ Melissa Clark and Bon Appétit’s Basically, demonstrating the book’s power to be an “indispensable kitchen resource,” as Cleveland.com calls it.
The Chef’s Garden, with a foreword from José Andrés, is now available in bookstores everywhere.
The Lowering Days published to national acclaim
Since its March 2 publication by Harper, Gregory Brown’s novel set in Maine’s lush Penobscot River valley in the 1980s has received praise from the national press. The Boston Globe called it a “graceful and compassionate debut novel,” while the New York Times commended its “deep understanding of the history of anti-Native oppression in the region.” As the Bangor Daily News put it, The Lowering Days “tells a sweeping story with which many Mainers may be familiar — about family dynamics, about what happens to a town once its main employer closes, about environmental degradation and about the complicated relationship between Indigenous people and white settlers.” And, per Minneapolis’ Star Tribune: “Brown writes a fluid, lyrical prose that escorts us deep into the emotional lives of his characters.”
The Lowering Days is available now in the US, with the HarperCollins UK edition set to follow in April and a French edition from Gallmeister scheduled for fall 2022.
Jonah Straus to appear at Muse & the Marketplace writing conference
This year’s Muse & the Marketplace Virtual Enhanced Writing Residency is scheduled to take place online from April 21–25, 2021. During the conference, Jonah Straus will provide feedback to writers through the Manuscript Mart and host a small-group agent info session. Though both of these are now sold out, he will also host a session titled “A Nice Problem to Have: A Guide to Publishers and How to Compare Them” from 2 to 3:15 pm on Saturday, April 24, available to all attendees. Conference registration is open now.
