Curtis Brown (Aust) Rights Catalogue Summer 2015/2016

Curtis Brown Australia Summer 2015/2016

Curtis Brown (Aust) Pty Ltd | Literary Agents PO Box 19 | Paddington NSW 2021 | Australia T: [61 2] 9361 6161 E: dana@curtisbrown.com.au | W: www.curtisbrown.com.au 1 Curtis Brown Australia / Rights Newsletter / www.curtisbrown.com.au

Adult Fiction

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Fiction

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448 pp |

November 2015

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NAPOLEON’S LAST ISLAND Tom Keneally Whilst living in exile on St Helena, Napoleon exerted an extraordinary influence on young Betsy Balcombe. How did she get from Napoleon's side to the Australian bush?

Published by: Random House Australia | Paperback Rights available: Film/TV Agent: Fiona Inglis (fiona@curtisbrown.com.au) Description: When Tom Keneally discovered by chance at the National Gallery of Victoria that Betsy Balcombe, a young girl living on St Helena while the Emperor Napoleon was exiled there, had become the Emperor's ‘intimate friend and annoyer', and had then emigrated with her family to Australia, he was impelled to begin another extraordinary novel, exploring the intersection between the ordinary people of the world and those we deem exceptional.

Betsy Balcombe moved as a child with her family to St Helena, ‘that high mid-Atlantic rock of exile'. Ten years later her family befriended, served and were ruined by their relationship with Napoleon. To redeem their fortunes William Balcombe, Betsy's father, betrayed the Emperor and accepted a job as the colonial treasurer of New South Wales, taking his family with him. After enduring a profound tragedy on the voyage out, and never quite recovering from the results of his association with Napoleon, William's life deteriorated; however, his family struggled and survived in Australia.

Tom Keneally won the Booker Prize in 1982 with Schindler's Ark, later made into the Steven Spielberg Academy Award-winning film Schindler's List. His non-fiction includes the memoir Searching For Schindler and Three Famines, an LA Times Book of the Year, and the histories The Commonwealth Of Thieves, The Great Shame and American Scoundrel. His fiction includes Shame and the Captives, The Daughters Of Mars, The Widow And Her Hero (shortlisted for the Prime Minister's Literary Award), An Angel In Australia and Bettany's Book. His novels The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, Gossip from the Forest, and Confederates were all shortlisted for the Booker Prize, while Bring Larks and Heroes and Three Cheers For The Paraclete won the Miles Franklin Award. The People's Train was longlisted for the Miles Franklin Award and shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers Prize, South East Asia division. His upcoming novel The Soldier’s Curse, book one in The Monsarrat Series, was co-written by his daughter Meg Keneally and will be published by Allen & Unwin in 2016.

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Fiction

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464 pp |

November 2015

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A TATTOED HEART Deborah Challinor The best-selling Convict Girls series: Four unlikely women, one enduring friendship‌

Published by: HarperCollins Australia | Paperback Rights available: World excl. ANZ; Film/TV Agent: Clare Forster (claref@curtisbrown.com.au) Description: 1832: Convict girls Friday Woolfe, Sarah Morgan and Harriet Clarke have been serving their sentences in Sydney Town for three years. For much of that time they have lived in fear of sinister and formidable Bella Jackson, who continues to blackmail them for a terrible crime. Each of them has begun to make a life for herself, but when Harrie's adopted child Charlotte is abducted and taken to Newcastle, the girls must risk their very freedom to save her. But is Friday up to the task? Will her desperate battle with her own vices drive her to fail not only herself, but those she loves and all who love her? In this final volume of a saga about four convict girls transported halfway around the world, friends and family reunite but cherished loved ones are lost, and an utterly shocking secret is revealed.

Also available in the Convict Girls series:

Praise for Deborah Challinor: 'Challinor is a good storyteller; her characters have depth and her historical backdrops are well researched, seamlessly joining fact and fiction and creating a convincing, atmospheric yarn' Bookseller + Publisher ‘Seamlessly fuses historical fact and engrossing fiction' Queensland Times Deborah Challinor has a PhD in history and is the author of nine bestselling novels. Her latest series, Convict Girls, begins with Behind the Sun, Girl of Shadows, and The Silk Thief. These four novels are set in 1830s Sydney, and is inspired by her ancestors - one of whom was a member of the First Fleet and another who was transported on the Floating Brothel. She lives in New Zealand with her husband.

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Fiction

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400 pp |

December 2015

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THE KILL SWITCH James Phelan Walker has 48 hours, and the countdown has begun...

Published by: Hachette | Paperback Rights available: Film/TV, Translation, English Language excl. ANZ Agent: Pippa Masson (pippa@curtisbrown.com.au) Description: The world is under cyber-attack. The secretive terror outfit of linked lone-wolf operatives, known as Zodiac, has activated another terrorist cell.

Chaos will be unleashed at six-hour intervals, with each event more catastrophic than the last, culminating in a devastating global catastrophe within 48 hours.

The options for the hackers are endless: bring down California's telecom system; remote detonate explosives at an army base in Virginia; cause Amtrak's signals to fail; collapse air traffic control in US airspace. Consequences are unthinkable. The US President has the power to enact the Internet Freedom Act - the 'Kill Switch'. Turning off the Net will stop the attacks, and give the CIA and the Pentagon time to track down those responsible. But it's not that simple. Fourteen people with the key to restart the Internet are missing. The US will plummet into pandemonium if electronic communications cease. The rest of the world will follow. Jed Walker, ex CIA-operative, has thwarted Zodiac twice before. But, this time, nothing will prepare him for what he uncovers.

Praise for James Phelan: “Phelan has mastered the art of action-packed international espionage fiction. Fans of Clancy, Ludlum, Deighton, etc. will find themselves quickly sucked in.” The Age James Phelan is a Melbourne-based writer. He has studied and taught writing at a post graduate level, and has been a novelist since the age of 25. His first book was the author interview collection Literati: Australian Contemporary Literary Figures Discuss Fear, Frustrations and Fame (John Wiley & Sons, 2005). His ‘Lachlan Fox’ thriller novels are Fox Hunt (Hachette, 2006), Patriot Act (2007), Blood Oil (2008), Liquid Gold (2009), and Red Ice (2010). His ‘Alone’ trilogy of Young Adult post-apocalyptic novels are titled Chasers (Hachette, 2010), Survivor (2011), and Quarantine (2011).

James has written for a variety of newspapers and magazines, having worked at The Age from 20002006, and has contributed to short story anthologies and serialised novels, including: Picture This (Penguin, 2010), Watchlist (Audible/Vanguard, 2010), and the Get Reading! anthology (2011).

His latest novels are a thriller series introducing a new character, Jed Walker: The Spy and The Hunted (Hachette, 2013 and 2015), and a 13-book Young Adult series The Last Thirteen (Scholastic).

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Fiction

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400pp |

January 2016

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THE GRASS IS GREENER Loretta Hill The grass always seems greener on the other side…. until you get there.

Published by: Random House Australia| Paperback Rights available: Film/TV Agent: Clare Forster (claref@curtisbrown.com.au) Description:

Best friends, Bronwyn Stevenson and Claudia Franklin studied law together at university and have always envied each other for the life they have led since graduation.

When one of Bronwyn’s clients leaves her stranded with his dog, Elsa the pregnant bullmastiff, the girls hatch a crazy plan to swap places. Bronwyn wants Claudia’s life so badly and Claudia couldn’t dream of anything better than working for Becker and Stevenson.

Nothing could be easier or more riddled with problems. Neither the Stevensons nor the Franklins are happy with they’re new protégés. And both girls come up against road blocks as they try to be the person they always thought they were but never had the chance to be.

Falling in love was not part of the plan either. But the men who most oppose them will turn into their strongest allies… with a little help.

This book is about best friends, family and believing in yourself. It’s about fighting for what you want against all odds. Achieving your dreams is never easy.

Praise for The Girl in the Yellow Vest: "A real page-turner… Be careful though – this book is addictive and you may lose a day or two of your life." - West Australian Loretta Hill was born in Perth, Western Australia. After graduating in Civil Engineering and another in Commerce she was hired by a major West Australian engineering company and worked for a number of years on outback projects. She drew upon her experiences of larrikins, red dust and steel-capped boots for her best-selling novels The Girl in the Steel-Capped Boots, The Girl in the Hard Hat, The Girl in the Yellow Vest and The Maxwell Sisters. Her new book is The Grass is Greener. Her rom-com novellas are One Little White Lie and Operation: Valentine.

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Fiction |

242 pp | October 2015

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THE ELF-KING’S LADY Bernadette Rowley In the midst of a war between elves and men, two unlikely companions find love. But in this battle of ages, can they defy the very blood that courses through their veins?

Publisher: Momentum |eBook Rights available: Film/TV, Audio Agent: Clare Forster (claref@curtisbrown.com.au) Description: The human kingdom of Thorius is

once again under threat from the dark elven menace. General Kain Jazara has sworn to protect Thorius from all danger, magical or otherwise – but first he must rescue the highborn family of alluring healer Lady Alique Zorba.

Thrown together in their quest to save Alique’s family, and eventually themselves, from the merciless elven clan, the pragmatic General and the impulsive Lady Alique discover an undeniable passion. But when Kain’s world is torn apart by a personal revelation, he turns his back on both Alique and his homeland.

Can Kain find a path back to love and victory in time? Or will he allow revelations from his family’s mysterious past to destroy his relationship, his happiness, and his kingdom?

Perfect for fans of Nalini Singh and C.L. Wilson.

Bernadette Rowley is an author of fantasy romance who grew up on rural properties on the Sunshine Coast. Her teenage years were spent training her beloved horses, reading the fantasy stories of Tolkien, Brooks and Eddings and dreaming of becoming a vet. She graduated with a Bachelor of Veterinary Science First Class Honours in 1987 and bought her own practice at Bli Bli 2 ½ years later. After the sale of the practice, Bernadette, her husband and their three small …

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Fiction

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296pp |

January 2004

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THE GIRL MOST LIKELY Rebecca Sparrow When you were 17, what did you think your life would be like when you hit 27?

Published by: UQP| Paperback Rights available: Film/TV, Audio Agent: Tara Wynne (tara@curtisbrown.com.au) Description: At 17, Rachel Hill was the girl most likely to succeed.

At 27, with an Honours degree and a career as a travel writer, she wonders if marriage is the only thing missing from this perfect trifecta.

But one disastrous life decision changes everything.

Suddenly she is living back at home in her childhood bedroom – a room still celebrating 1987. She’s also working as a nanny for a surly six-year-old, proofreading erotic fiction and crucifying movie themes on the piano.

With Su-su-sudio in the cassette deck, Rachel tumbles head first into a ‘quarter-life’ crisis.

As she revisits her idea of perfection, she finds that happiness is living the life you want to live, rather than the one you’re expected to.

Praise for The Girl Most Likely: ‘Irresistibly funny …’ The Daily Telegraph ‘You’ll enjoy every page of this fresh and funny first novel.’ Woman’s Day ‘Laugh-out-loud hilarious.’ B Magazine ‘Rebecca Sparrow deserves a big round of applause for this impossible to put down, quirky story with terrific characters and laughs aplenty.’ NW Magazine

Rebecca Sparrow has earned a living selling touch lamps, working as a nanny, a travel writer, a television publicist, a marketing executive, a magazine editor and a secret shopper (once). She is an ambassador of War Child Australia, an agency dedicated to giving aid to children affected by war, and The Pyjama Foundation which sends ‘reading angels’ into the homes of foster children. Rebecca’s first novel, The Girl Most Likely, was published in 2004. Her second novel, The Year Nick McGowan Came To Stay was published in 2006 and debuted as a stage play in 2007. Her third novel Joel & Cat Set The Story Straight was co-written with Nick Earls and published in July 2007.

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Fiction

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140-150pp |

May - September 2016

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WISDOM TREE Nick Earls A series of five novellas from one of Australia’s much loved award winning authors.

Published by: Inkerman and Blunt| Hardback Rights available: Film/TV Agent: Pippa Masson (pippa@curtisbrown.com.au) Description: Wisdom Tree: five pocketsized, richly intelligent novellas by the internationally renowned Nick Earls. Subtly linked, Wisdom Tree explores how humans relate to one another—what makes a family, what makes us human. Each book satisfies, while drawing readers toward a big ‘a-ah’ in the closing moments of novella #5.

Superbly written, Wisdom Tree is the accessible form for twenty-first century time poor, screen devoted readers. It declares the novella’s coming of age and proves it is no longer an in-betweener, but the prescient literary form of our time.

Nick Earls is the author of novels including The Fix, Zigzag Street, Bachelor Kisses, The True Story of Butterfish, Perfect Skin, and Analogue Men and the collection of short stories Welcome to Normal. His latest work is a series of novellas Wisdom Tree, to be published by Inkerman & Blunt in 2016. Nick’s work has been published internationally in English and in translation. He lives in Brisbane.

GOTHAM Rights available: Film/TV Publication date: May 2016 Description: Jeff Foster is in New York to interview Na$ti Boi, a nineteen-year-old rapper on the rise. They meet after hours at Bloomingdale’s, where Na$ti is with his manager – and cousin – Smokey, on a shopping spree.

Jeff is forty, from Australia, a Ramones fan and a rock journo as long as Na$ti’s been alive. Na$ti has all the brashness and bravado that comes with the territory, but his credit card gets declined. And one particular purchase might be more than it seems ...

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VENICE Rights available: Film/TV Publication date: June 2016 Description: Ryan is staying with his sister, Natalie, after losing his engineering job building mining camps. He’s looking for work, but not making much progress. She’s an artist, and in the running to be Australia’s next representative at the Venice Biennale. The decision could come any day. Her husband, Phil, is a dentist, whose thriving practice sees him putting in long hours. Harrison, their son, is four, and used to spending time with his LeapPad tablet as company. Ryan wants to be useful and ends up taking Harrison on a road trip to gather materials for Family #5, Natalie’s work in progress. After the twists and turns of this unusual journey, they return home to news about Venice.

VANCOUVER Rights available: Film/TV Publication date: July 2016 Description: Paul Coates is flying to Vancouver for a writers’ festival, but also to meet a giant from his past. In the plane, he recalls his father’s attempts in the 1970s to set up an American football league in Australia. For a year while Paul’s father chased this dream, Knut lived in a flat under the family house, doing a writing degree by correspondence in his spare time, sending pieces to the New Yorker and Paris Review. Now, decades later, Paul is in North America but it’s October 2001, the worst possible time to promote a book in North America. Paul’s September novel is destined to sink, and he can’t help but think back to his meeting in the Flat-Iron Building in New York the year before, and wonder if his career peaked that day, without him knowing it.

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JUNEAU Rights available: Film/TV Publication date: August 2016 Description: Tim is on an Alaskan cruise with his partner, children and taciturn ageing father, Ken. He’s approaching fifty himself, as shut-down as his father and still looking for a way forward after taking a package in his mining services company’s second round of retrenchments (he managed the first round, though not well).

When the ship docks in Juneau, a range of shore excursions are on offer, and Tim’s partner, Lauren, and kids, Sam and Hannah, are going to visit a huskie training camp. Tim learns things from his father that he’s never heard before and perhaps also, surprisingly, learns something from him about opening up and living in the present.

NOHO Rights available: Film/TV Publication date: September 2016 Description: Charlie is eleven and never meant to be in Los Angeles, but his sister, Cassidy, is doing everything she can to break into the film business – not easy when you’re twelve and from Australia, and thousands of other people are already there doing the same thing and determined to be amazing. The recent visit of his friend Sam should have helped, but it got complicated and only made Charlie feel further from home. Through Charlie we glimpse the world of the Hollywood wannabe and its outrageous pressures and desperate hopes, as Cassidy drives herself through meeting after meeting and their mother pushes herself through each unrewarding day. Meanwhile, Charlie finds his own version of LA, getting to know the neighbourhood around the Oakwood and the Wisdom Tree Trail through the hills behind it.

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Non-fiction

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Non-fiction |

242 pp | October 2015

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SLEEPY MAGIC Danielle Wright A magical step-by-step night-time ritual for calm, connected and conscious children.

Publisher: Black Inc. |Hardback Rights available: Film/TV, Audio Agent: Pippa Masson (pippa@curtisbrown.com.au) Description: Do you want to become a ‘toddler whisperer’ at bedtime, putting an end to the challenge of settling and sleeping?

Or, are your children a bit older and you are seeking a deeper, more rewarding bond?

Are you searching for a way to give your children a strong sense of well-being, confidence and inner harmony?

Sleepy Magic is a gift to banish those sleepless nights, strengthen your relationship, while nurturing stillness and self-worth in your children. Sleepy Magic will give you tools to help your kids become calm, connected and conscious children.

Praise for Sleepy Magic: ‘We can all take a leaf out of this book and learn how to de-stress and create a calm space.’ – Daily Telegraph Danielle Wright is a mother of two young boys and author of Sleepy Magic. She ran a successful advertising agency for 12 years, and after deciding to move on, found her passion for art, writing, and having a more loving, joyful, calm and forgiving state of mind. Through her own transformation, Sleepy Magic is now an integral part of her family’s life.

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Young Adult Fiction

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Middle-grade |

242 pp | October 2015

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SING A REBEL SONG Pamela Rushby The latest novel from Australia’s award winning middle-grade historical fiction writer.

Publisher: Scholastic |Paperback Rights available: Film/TV, Audio Agent: Pippa Masson (pippa@curtisbrown.com.au) Description: It’s 1891 and one of the most

dramatic events in Australia’s history is taking place in western Queensland: the Shearers’ Strike. The closest Australia ever came to outright civil war, when workers rebelled against the employment conditions laid down by landowners.

Twelve-year-old Maggie McAllister and her family are caught up in the struggle between unionists, the landowners and the government.

Torchlight protest marches and violent confrontations in the streets, woolsheds and property fired, the arrest of union leaders at gunpoint. Maggie plays a part in no small way herself. But her friends do not see things the same way, and for Maggie, singing a rebel song may have heartbreaking consequences.

Pamela Rushby has written over eighty children’s books, and has also worked in screenwriting, film production, advertising and journalism. She is passionately interested in children’s books and television, ancient history and Middle Eastern food. Millions of Mummies, a YA novel, was published by John Wiley and When The Hipchicks Go to War, which won the Ethel Turner Prize for Young Adult Fiction at NSW Premiers Awards 2010, was published by Hachette Australia. HarperCollins published The Horses Didn’t Come Home, in 2012, and The Ratcatcher’s Daughter in 2014.

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Children’s Fiction

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Children’s Picture Book |

238 pp | October 2015

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THE CLEO STORIES: A FRIEND AND A PET Libby Gleeson, illustrated

by Freya Blackwood Meet Cleo, a little girl with a big imagination.

Publisher: Allen & Unwin |Hardback Rights available: Film/TV Agent: Pippa Masson (pippa@curtisbrown.com.au) Description: In this delightful companion to

The Cleo Stories: The Necklace and the Present, Cleo comes up with ingenious ways to make a new friend and find a pet.

Cleo's best friend is away, her parents are busy, and there's nothing to do but count raindrops - or tidy her room. Just when she thinks she'll never cheer up, Cleo has an idea. In the next story, Cleo longs for a pet but her mum and dad say no. Perhaps the answer is hidden somewhere unexpected.

Two more endearing stories about Cleo, the little girl with a big imagination who always finds a way to have fun, from the creators of The Cleo Stories: The Necklace and the Present.

Libby Gleeson has published over 40 popular, highly acclaimed books for children and teenagers, been shortlisted for 17 CBCA Awards, and won five. Libby has been a teacher and lecturer and contributes regularly to national conferences. She chaired the Australian Society of Authors from 1999-2001, and in 2007 was awarded membership to the Order of Australia. She won the 2011 Dromkeen Medal, awarded for contributions to children's literature.

Freya Blackwood grew up in Orange, NSW. The daughter of a painter and an architect, she began drawing at a young age. She has collaborated with many wonderful authors, including Libby Gleeson, Margaret Wild, Jan Ormerod, Roddy Doyle and Nick Bland. In 2010, Freya won the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal for Harry and Hopper, and her books have been honoured in the Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Awards many times.

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Recently Delivered FICTION BARBED WIRE AND CHERRY BLOSSOMS Anita Heiss Genre: Historical fiction Description: An against all odds historical love story set in WW 2 Cowra, central NSW about a Japanese Prisoner of War (Hiroshi) who escapes from the POW compound and is taken in by a member of the local Aboriginal Mission (Banjo Williams). His eldest daughter Mary and Hiroshi fall for one another over the year that he is with them but her father and the Acts of Protection and Assimilation stand in the way of any future happiness...

Due to be published by: Simon & Schuster| October 2016 Rights Held: Film/TV, Audio Agent: Tara Wynne (tara@curtisbrown.com.au)

THE FENCE Meredith JaffĂŠ Genre: Suburban Noir Description: Gwen and her friends have lived in the same houses on the same street all their married lives, so when her neighbour Babs dies and her son decides to sell the family home, Gwen wonders what sort of people will move in next door. Frankie's marriage has been rocky since she discovered her husband cheating on her. She hopes a move to the suburbs away from temptation is a way to keep her househusband on a tight leash but when she puts up a fence between the two properties the dynamic of the street and the inhabitants' lives change, culminating in a tragic turn of events...

Due to be published by: Pan Macmillan| October 2016 Rights Held: Film/TV, Audio Agent: Tara Wynne (tara@curtisbrown.com.au)

THE CYANIDE GAME Richard Beasley Genre: Thriller Description: The debut in a new series of Peter Tanner legal thrillers. From drug dealers and crooked property developers to the highest end corporate corruption, Peter is like a dog with a bone. As he pursues those that had a dear friend unjustly incarcerated he unearths cover up after cover up putting his own and others' lives in danger, he will not let up until he finds the perpetrator/s and has them brought to justice. An engaging novel with big contemporary issues.

Due to be published by: Simon & Schuster| August 2016 Rights Held: Film/TV, Audio Agent: Tara Wynne (tara@curtisbrown.com.au) 18 Curtis Brown Australia / Rights Newsletter / www.curtisbrown.com.au

NON-FICTION TEHRAN TO TEAGARDENS Kooshyar Karimi Genre: Memoir Description: Kooshyar's memoir of his and his family's treacherous journey from Tehran, Iran to Sydney, Australia as political refugees.

Due to be published by: Penguin | December 2016 Rights Held: Film/TV Agent: Pippa Masson (pippa@curtisbrown.com.au)

TALKING TO MY COUNTRY Stan Grant Genre: Non-fiction Description: Talking To My Country is that rare and special book that talks to every Australian about their country - what it is, and what it could be. It is not just about race, or about indigenous people but all of us, our shared identity. Direct, honest and forthright, Stan is talking to us all. He might not have all the answers but he wants us to keep on asking the question: how can we be better?

Due to be published by: HarperCollins | February 2016 Rights Held: Film/TV Agent: Tara Wynne (tara@curtisbrown.com.au)

ERROR AUSTRALIS: An Approximate History of the World’s Greatest Country Ben Pobjie Genre: Non-fiction Description: A satirical history of Australia, written in the humorous and jaunty style of the author's reality television recaps.

Due to be published by: Affirm | August 2016 Rights Held: Film/TV, Audio, World excl. ANZ Agent: Pippa Masson (pippa@curtisbrown.com.au)

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