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Four buys at Granta

05.10.12 | Benedicte Page

Laura Barber, editorial director at Granta and Portobello, has made three acquisitions just ahead of the Frankfurt Book Fair, with a fourth buy made by commissioning editor Max Porter.

Debut author Callan Wink's novel Bear Tooth tells of two brothers on a risky bear-poaching expedition in Yellowstone National Park. UK and Commonwealth rights in the book and a collection of short stories were acquired for Granta in a "strong pre-emptive offer" from Random House.

Barber also acquired world English language rights in Charlie Chaplin's Last Dance by Italian writer Fabio Stassi in a pre-empt from Sellerio. The novel, about the final years of the silent film star, will be published as a Portobello title in spring 2014. French rights have been pre-empted at Denoel, with further sales expected at Frankfurt.

Meanwhile Barber bought UK and Commonwealth rights from the Wylie Agency to The Briefcase by Hiromi Kawakami, a debut set in modern Japan about a woman in her late 30s who begins a romance with her former teacher. The novel will be a Portobello title in summer 2023. US rights are with Counterpoint.

Porter bought world rights to Everything is Happening: Journey into a Painting by Michael Jacobs from David Miller at Rogers, Coleridge and White. The book is described as an investigative and personal journey into the Velasquez painting, 'Las Meninas'. Porter called the book "a surprising and beautiful work of non-fiction by a natural storyteller returning to his art-historical roots." The book will be a Granta title in 2014.

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