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Canongate has acquired writer and performer Travis Alabanza's None of the Above: Reflections on Life Beyond the Binary.
Hannah Knowles, editorial director, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, from Philippa Sitters at David Godwin Associates. Audible has acquired exclusive UK and Commonwealth audio rights for simultaneous release with the print and e-book editions. None of the Above will publish on 4th August 2022 in demy hardback.
In the "extraordinary" book, Alabanza unpacks seven phrases they have had directed at them concerning their gender identity. "These phrases have stayed with them over the years," the synopsis reads. "Some are deceptively innocuous, some deliberately loaded or offensive, some celebratory; sentences that have impacted them for better and for worse; sentences that speak to the broader issues raised by a world that insists that gender must be a binary.
"Through these seven phrases, which include some of their most personal transformative experiences as a Black mixed-race, working-class, non-binary trans person, Travis Alabanza turns a mirror back on society, giving us reason to question the very framework in which we live and the ways we treat each other."
Alabanza was a recipient of the artist in residency programme at Tate Galleries, and toured their debut show "Burgerz" internationally. More recently, they created theatre show "Overflow". They have performed in venues such as the V&A, Tate, ICA, Roundhouse and Barbican. Their work has been featured by the Guardian, Vice, gal-dem, BBC and other platforms.
They said: "I have always been motivated by a desire to archive what it means to be gender non-conforming in this country – beyond sensationalism – in the hope that others will relate to the questions I ask of myself. That is why I had to write None of the Above. I am so thrilled to be working with Hannah and the whole team at Canongate; I have read many books of theirs that have challenged, engaged and stuck with me and I am so excited for None of the Above to be joining the family."
Knowles said: "Travis’ writing is, simply put, extraordinary. There is a clarity, honesty and incisiveness to their thinking and expression that demands the reader’s attention and engagement – forcing us to re-examine what society deems “normal” and to look within ourselves to understand why any deviation from that is so vilified."