Canongate to publish graphic novel adaptation of The Midnight Library
Canongate has announced the acquisition of a graphic novel adaptation of Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library, illustrated and adapted by Fred Fordham, to be released in October 2026. Francis Bickmore acquired world rights to Fordham’s adaptation from Jenny Savill at Nurnberg.
The news was announced at the inaugural Matt Haig Summit on Sunday 8th March, which saw Canongate Books host more than 40 of Haig’s international publishers to discuss “lessons learned from publishing his books worldwide” and strategy for the release of The Midnight Train, his new adult novel, out in hardback in May 2026.
Canongate also revealed plans for a special silver paperback edition of The Midnight Library for the UK trade, also containing the first chapter of The Midnight Train. This move follows more than 12 million copies of Haig’s novel having sold worldwide.
Haig said: “I was a fan of Fred Fordham ever since I bought his version of To Kill a Mockingbird. He is a genius. It has been incredible to see him bring Nora and the library to such vivid life, almost precisely as I imagined it. So excited for people to see this version.”
Fordham said: “It’s daunting to adapt a novel as phenomenally popular as The Midnight Library. But Nora’s journey is so cleverly structured and Matt Haig’s storytelling is so clear and vivid that the whole process has been a joy. I’m grateful and touched by Matt’s trust with this. And the same goes for Francis Bickmore and everyone at Canongate. I hope that fans of the novel will find this a faithful and rewarding way to revisit Nora’s story.”
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Bickmore added: “The 2026 Haig summit is an experiment in collaboration and a great opportunity to share the excitement we feel about Matt’s new novel with Matt’s many brilliant international publishers, and collaborate on ideas for making The Midnight Train campaign unmissable.
“What better year to create an entirely new edition of The Midnight Library in graphic novel form with the brilliant Fred Fordham? He is a master craftsman, who has been unbelievably dedicated to the detail of the novel and ingenious in bringing Nora Seed to thrilling visual life. We are so excited for readers, new and old, to fall under its spell.”
Clare Conville, Haig’s agent, said: “The Midnight Library lends itself brilliantly to the graphic novel format and Fred Fordham has done an incredible job here. The beautiful aesthetic that informs his work has brought The Midnight Library to life in the most unexpected ways and opened it up to a whole new generation of readers.”
