Chatto & Windus wins auction for Deborah Rogers Award winner Saranya Murthi’s debut

Chatto & Windus has acquired the 2025 Deborah Rogers Award winner Saranya Murthi’s debut novel Ratri at auction.

Kaiya Shang acquired UK & Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada) from Matthew Marland at RCW, with North American rights taken by Marie Pantojan and Azraf Khan at Random House, also at auction, following attempted pre-empts in both territories. Italian rights were sold in a pre-empt on the eve of LBF to Elisabetta Sgarbi at La nave di Teseo by Tristan Kendrick at RCW.

Ratri is a literary psychological horror novel and coming-of-age story set in Kerala.

Shang said: “We could not be more excited by Saranya Murthi’s extraordinarily vivid, immersive and transporting voice. She’s done something so clever and unusual, carefully braiding body horror elements into a literary coming-of-age novel, which creates such a distinct and original debut – one we can’t wait for everyone to discover.”

Murthi said: ‘It’s an incredible honour to join the powerhouse list at Chatto & Windus and to have Kaiya as my editor. I feel invigorated and inspired by Kaiya’s editorial vision and am so excited to be working with her as well as with the equally brilliant Marie and Azraf at Random House. I’m so looking forward to bringing Ratri into the world and am thrilled that I will be doing so guided by such wonderful editors, and at imprints that have published some of my literary heroes, Shirley Jackson and Margaret Atwood to name just two.”

Murthi, 30, is a writer and audiovisual artist from Kerala, India. She has an MA in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University and holds a BA in Contemporary Art Practices from Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design & Technology in Bangalore.