You are viewing your 1 free article this month. Login to read more articles.
Canongate has bought the memoir of US singer, actor and activist Harry Belafonte.
Senior editor Tif Loehnis bought UK and Commonwealth rights in My Song, recently published by Knopf in New York, from Sheila Crowley at Curtis Brown on behalf of Esther Newberg at ICM. Canongate will publish in June 2012.
My Song, written with Vanity Fair contributing editor Michael Schnayson, is described as "an inspiring story of perfomance and protest", from a singer who was "on the front lines of practically every progressive political battle in modern memory", as well as an associate of stellar figures from Tony Curtis and Marlon Brando to Martin Luther King [pictured], Eleanor Roosevelt, Bob Dylan and Nelson Mandela.
The book's UK publication will coincide with theatrical release of "Sing Your Song", a biographical documentary of Belafonte already longlisted for Best Documentary Oscar.
Loehnis called the book "a brilliantly crafted account which perfectly captures the fire and lilt in his voice and grips you from beginning to end", saying that Belafonte had "lived enough for 10 lives".
Belafonte will visit the UK in June, appearing at the Hay Festival and on the South Bank.
Photo credit: Harry Belafonte