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Rae Giana Rashad’s debut novel THE BLUEPRINT has been longlisted for the prestigious PEN America Open Book Award, which recognises “exceptional book-length works of any genre by an author of colour”.

Published by HarperCollins, THE BLUEPRINT is a speculative novel in the vein of Octavia E Butler and Margaret Atwood. The book is set in an alternate United States, a world of injustice and bondage in which a young Black woman becomes the concubine of a powerful white government official, and must face the dangerous consequences.

The winner of the award will receive $10,000, and will be announced at the awards ceremony on May 8th, in New York. The winner additionally receives a fully-funded artist residency at Civitella Ranieri, located in a 15th century castle in rural Umbria, Italy.

Bloomsbury Archer triumphed in a 9 publisher auction for Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson’s bewitching fantasy duology, GUTTERWITCH.

North American rights were sold in an upper six-figure deal, at auction, to Tiffany Liao at Random House Children’s. UKBC rights were sold to Vicky Leech Mateos, at newly-announced SFF imprint Bloomsbury Archer in a ‘significant’ six-figure deal. German rights were sold in a six-figure pre-empt to Ullstein by Melissa Pimentel at Paper Literary, and translation rights have currently sold in Brazil, Greece, Italy and Poland.

GUTTERWITCH follows Joan, a scullery maid and sworn-servant to a high-born mistress who wishes upon a fallen star to be the greatest witch in the land. Blessed with the wild magic of a star, years later Joan is summoned to a prestigious witching academy, where, alongside fellow outcast Prince Caspar of Fairie, she quickly finds herself at the centre of a dark plot and a new war among witches.

Sweeping, romantic, with a fantastical magic system, GUTTERWITCH is a coming-of-age story about a girl who dared to dream big – and whose power ends up surpassing anything she could have imagined.

Vicky Leech Mateos says: “I knew from the first line that publishing Esmie’s GUTTERWITCH would be a wish come true, and that Bloomsbury had the magic to make her a real star. This book is a gorgeous fantasy, but also a true human story too – a huge talent, Esmie is able to meld fairytale fantasy and romance with real human truths to create a story about coming into your own that took our breath away. We are so excited for this to be the first announced acquisition on our brilliant new
list.”

Catherine Cho says: “I am so proud to represent Esmie, in GUTTERWITCH, she has created an utterly magical world that feels both timeless and modern. These were such hard-fought auctions – people came out with their hearts for this project, and I’m so thrilled that Esmie has found a well-deserved home with Bloomsbury.”

Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson says: “The sheer passion that Bloomsbury has shown for GUTTERWITCH has left me awe-struck. I am beyond proud to be working with Vicky and her brilliant team, at one of the most prestigious publishers of fantasy in the world. I have no doubt my book has found its perfect home. My eternal thanks for the support of my agency, Paper Literary, and the expertise of my wonderful agent, Catherine Cho, who negotiated a truly brilliant match.”

Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson is the inaugural winner of the Future Worlds Prize. Her debut novel, The Principle of Moments, a Sunday Times bestseller, was published in January 2024, garnering a TikTok Book award nomination for Best British and Irish Novel. She regularly interacts with her audience of 25,000+ fantasy readers and writers across social media and sits on the Board of Trustees for a UNESCO City of Literature in the south of England. Her work primarily focuses on those living at the intersection of identities, whether that’s here in our world, or in others. She holds a BA in English Literature and Classical Studies from the University of Exeter.

Walker Books Group has acquired high-stakes, historical YA fantasy The Game of Oaths by exciting new voice in YA, S.C. Bandreddi. World all language rights were acquired by Commissioning Editor Emily McDonnell from Catherine Cho at Paper Literary. 

In a global release, Walker Books UK and Candlewick Press in the US will publish simultaneously in May 2026 with a spectacular joined-up marketing and PR campaign. 

The book is set in a fantastical Belle Époque Paris, where Falan Sunkara is a trapeze artist for Paris’s famous magical circus, Le Cirque des Ombres. Le Cirque is ruled by Jean-Pierre, ringmaster and enchanteur and one of the few magicians in the city legally allowed to use magic for entertainment. But the glamour of the circus is just another illusion. Each year, twelve members must compete in the Game of Oaths, a brutal tournament of deadly games watched by the city’s elite. Only one will survive. Last year, Falan’s sister was one of the unlucky eleven. This year, Falan is out for revenge. 

This novel is a thrilling exploration of power – those born into it and those who must grasp it for themselves – but is ultimately about found family and love.

S.C. Bandreddi said: “I’m so thrilled to be working with the teams at Walker Books and Candlewick Press; from our first meeting, Emily and Lindsay have shown endless enthusiasm for The Game of Oaths, coupled with an insightful editorial vision that I knew would bring this story to its highest potential. I’m incredibly grateful to them, as well as to my fantastic agent, Catherine Cho at Paper Literary, for believing in this dark, vengeful tale and in me.”

Emily McDonnell, Fiction Commissioning Editor added: “S. C. Bandreddi is a standout new talent in YA fiction, and I couldn’t be happier to be bringing The Game of Oaths to the Walker list. Soumya has taken familiar elements that we all love, such as a circus setting and Battle Royale-esque contest, but has put her own spin on these by transporting us to a world where racial inequality and power imbalances have been made even more extreme by the laws around magic. I was enthralled by the picture she paints of Belle Époque Paris, where beauty and brutality go hand in hand. The strength of the plotting means this book keeps you in its grip right until the very end, and readers won’t be able to look away from Falan’s quest for revenge.” 

Lindsay Warren, Assistant Editor at Candlewick Press says: “With twists and turns, beauty and ferocity, The Game of Oaths pulled me in from my very first read, and I’m thrilled to be able to publish this in the US alongside Walker UK. This is a wonderfully high-concept story, yet there are so many layers to Falan and her quest for revenge and freedom – not just survival – in a city filled with the spoils of colonial empire. It’s been an absolute joy to work with Soumya on this book, and I can’t wait for readers to experience the spectacle for themselves.”

S. C. Bandreddi is a writer who hails from Northern California, where she grew up scribbling stories deep into the night and hasn’t stopped since. When she’s not writing, she’s usually puzzling, gaming or at an arcade trying to win as many plushies as she can. The Game of Oaths is her debut novel.

Rosanna Pike’s instant Sunday Times Bestseller A LITTLE TRICKERIE has been shortlisted for the Winston Graham Prize for Historical Fiction.

The winner will be announced on June 11th, at the Cornwall Museum and Art Gallery. The prize was the result of a bequest by Poldark author Winston Graham, with the intention of honouring ‘an historical novel with a powerful sense of place’ set within the bounds of the United Kingdom.

A LITTLE TRICKERIE is set in a richly reimagined Tudor England, and follows a rambunctious orphan vagabond and her friends as they plan an audacious trick to escape the shackles of an unjust society. The book has also been longlisted for this year’s Women’s Prize.

Congratulations, Rosanna!

We are so excited to welcome Kiya to Paper! 

From Kiya:

Hi everyone! I’m Kiya, and I’m so excited to be joining Paper Literary as an Associate Agent. I’m going to be building my own roster of clients whilst also supporting Catherine and Katie on the agency’s brilliant list.

I worked at Mushens Entertainment for nearly five years, working with a range of Sunday Times and New York Times bestsellers, and started to sign my own authors in 2023. My journey in publishing began, however, during the pandemic, responding to full manuscript submissions from the slush pile. Aside from finding this completely fascinating (I would weigh in on a thriller in the morning and read a weepy love story that afternoon – as my job!) it was also the best training ground I could’ve asked for as an agent, and I think that the sheer possibility of that process is what got me hooked on this career.

Having worked at a ‘younger’ agency, there’s an awareness that you’re more transparently reliant on the submissions box to build your list, rather than inheriting clients from more senior agents as their workload grows, or relying on backlist or estates. So you’re in that inbox, and you’re hungry for debuts – anything that comes in could be your next big book, a brand author or a bestseller or a prize winner in the making. I find it so exciting, and can’t wait to see what submissions I get at Paper.

I read very widely, and often in different genres concurrently; my brain enjoys switching between editing a romance novel to reading a fantasy submission, to finishing off a YA book or some narrative non-fiction in my spare time. I am keen to represent books across the spectrum of the literary to the commercial, but am forever drawn to sharply observed interpersonal dynamics, a strong hook (for me that might be plot, but can also include voice – I’m a big Otessa Moshfegh fan!) and authentic representation of untold perspectives. Above all, I enjoy books that feel singular – like you are the only person who could’ve written it. I have a particular soft spot for LBGTQI+ narratives and stories which grapple with sticky questions of girlhood and growing up.

I was a teenager in the golden age of YA – the dystopian boom – so I was very much raised on a diet of accessible genre fiction. My taste was definitely shaped by my childhood obsession with A Series of Unfortunate Events and The Hunger Games, so as an adult, anything that harkens back to that mix of darkness and escapism is usually a winner for me. I’m hoping to see sweeping novels with a genre edge – be it romance, magic, horror, or the speculative – and ambitious, fun, hooky fantasy/romantasy with strong world-building and centrality of character, for both adult and young adult readers.

I would love to find conversation-starting books with an irresistible voice – bonus points if they’re funny, or tapping into the zeitgeist. I am also fervently on the hunt for an upmarket character-focused historical novel which doesn’t just teach us something new, but shakes our understanding of the world, in the vein of Colson Whitehead, THE SAFEKEEP, or THE ARTIST. I have always loved theatre, film, and tv, and find that my favourite books often chime with an element of the theatrical or cinematic, displaying an incisiveness of dialogue, setting, or character.

As an Associate Agent, what I offer authors is enthusiasm, strategy, and time – I’m very lucky to have been continuously surrounded by very generous mentors and colleagues in my career, and enjoy being very hands-on editorially. I want to build strategic, long-lasting careers, pushing for international and film/tv deals as well as finding you the perfect publishing home in the UK/US.

I can’t wait to get started, so please do send your books my way!

We are delighted to welcome Kiya Evans to Paper, where she will be an Associate Agent after five years at Mushens Entertainment.

Evans started with Mushens Entertainment as an intern in 2020 and joined as a permanent staff member as Juliet Mushens’ assistant in early 2021. She was promoted to Associate Agent in 2023.

She has worked closely on a list of Sunday Times and New York Times’ bestsellers, including Richard Osman, Jessie Burton, Abigail Dean, and Saara El-Arifi. She has also begun building her own list of clients, including Annie Summerlee, whose debut romantasy THE BOOK OF BLOOD AND ROSES sold in major pre-empts in both the UK and US, as well as in multiple international territories, and will be published in January 2026.

Evans will be supporting agents Catherine Cho and Katie Greenstreet on the Paper Literary list, and continue to build her own roster of clients. She’s particularly looking for zeitgeisty, high-concept, conversation-starting fiction, upmarket novels with a genre edge – be it love, magic, or horror – and ambitious, hooky fantasy/romantasy with strong world-building and centrality of character. She’ll also be looking selectively for YA and non-fiction.

Evans said: “I have grown immeasurably in my nearly five years working at Mushens Entertainment, and have learned so much since that very first internship in the summer of 2020. Working with Juliet on her brilliant list has been a true masterclass in agenting, and I will miss my exceptional colleagues and the agency’s talented authors very much.

I have admired Catherine, Katie, and Melissa’s work for a long time, and cannot wait to get stuck in with their list, continue to build my own, and embark on the next step in my career at Paper Literary. I feel very lucky.” 

Cho said: “We are delighted to welcome Kiya to Paper, we know that with her ambition and her commitment to her authors, she will be a wonderful addition to our team, and we are excited for this next chapter. 

Mushens said: “I’ve loved working with Kiya over the last five years and watching her develop and grow her taste and acumen – we will miss her dearly but I’m delighted by this exciting new opportunity for her.”

Welcome, Kiya!

We are delighted to announce that Rosanna Pike’s A LITTLE TRICKERIE has been longlisted for the Women’s Prize for fiction!

An instant Sunday Times’ bestseller, A LITTLE TRICKERIE is Rosanna Pike’s debut and was published by Penguin’s Fig Tree in 2024.

Born a vagabond, Tibb Ingleby has never had a roof of her own. But her mother has taught her that if you’re not too bound by the Big Man’s rules, there are many ways a woman can find shelter in this world. Now her ma is dead in a trick gone wrong and young Tibb is orphaned and alone.

As she wends her way across the fields and forests of medieval England, Tibb will discover there are people who will care for her, as well as those who mean her harm. And there are a great many others who are prepared to believe just about anything.

And so, when the opportunity presents itself to escape the shackles society has placed on them, Tibb and her new friends conjure an audacious plan: her greatest trickerie yet. But before they know it, their hoax takes on a life of its own, drawing crowds – and vengeful enemies – to their door…

A Little Trickerie is blazingly original, disarmingly funny and deeply moving. Portraying a side of Tudor England rarely seen, it’s a tale of belief and superstition, kinship and courage, with a ragtag cast of characters and an unforgettable and distinctly unangelic heroine.

Wishing a very happy publication day to Christine Murphy! Notes on Surviving the Fire publishes today from Knopf in the US. Described by the LATimes as “bitingly funny and deeply funny – a furious, fast-paced, emotionally resonant and memorable novel”

When Sarah’s only friend in her graduate program is found dead of an alleged heroin overdose, Sarah is forced back into the orbit of the man in their department who assaulted her. A hurtling ride of a novel—darkly funny and propulsive.

At a Ph.D. program in Southern California, Sarah and her best friend, Nathan, spend their time working on their theses, getting high, and keeping track of the poor air quality due to nearby forest fires. No one believes Sarah when she reports a fellow student for raping her at a party—“He’s such a good guy!”—and the Title IX office simply files away the information, just like the police. Nathan is the only person who cares. When Sarah finds Nathan dead of an overdose from a drug he’s always avoided, she knows something isn’t right. She starts investigating his death as a murder, and as the pieces fall into place, she notices a disturbing pattern in other student deaths on campus. As a girl, Sarah grew up in the forests of Maine, following her father on hunts, learning how to stalk prey and kill, but only when necessary. Now, she must confront a different type of killing—and decide if it can be justified. Notes on Surviving the Fire is a story about vengeance, the insidious nature of rape culture, and ultimately, a woman’s journey to come back to herself.

 Praise

Wishing a very happy paperback publication day to Rae Giana Rashad! The Blueprint publishes today in paperback. A 2024 Goodreads’ Choice finalist, The Blueprint is a stunning book set in an alternate future.

In the vein of Octavia E. Butler and Margaret Atwood, a harrowing novel set in an alternate United States—a world of injustice and bondage in which a young Black woman becomes the concubine of a powerful white government official and must face the dangerous consequences.

Solenne Bonet lives in Texas where choice no longer exists. An algorithm determines a Black woman’s occupation, spouse, and residence. Solenne finds solace in penning the biography of Henriette, an ancestor who’d been an enslaved concubine to a wealthy planter in 1800s Louisiana. But history repeats itself when Solenne, lonely and naïve, finds herself entangled with Bastien Martin, a high-ranking government official. Solenne finds the psychological bond unbearable, so she considers alternatives. With Henriette as her guide, she must decide whether and how to leave behind all she knows.

Inspired by the lives of enslaved concubines to U.S. politicians and planters, The Blueprint unfolds over dual timelines to explore bodily autonomy, hypocrisy, and power imbalances through the lens of the nation’s most unprotected: a Black girl.

Described by Ashley Audrain, New York Times’ bestselling author of The Push: 

“The Blueprint is an astounding work, an unflinching portrait of misogyny and racism in a speculative world terrifyingly close to our own. Rae Giana Rashad chronicles the generational ghosts of womanhood, and how we understand ourselves through the stories of those we come from, in a way I’ve never read before. A remarkable new talent, and a timeless literary voice.”

We are delighted to announce a North American deal for Natasha Siegel’s Leander and the Lantern, which was acquired by Ariana Sinclair at William Morrow in a six-figure deal. Bloomsbury have the UK rights.

Leander and the Lantern is a historical romantic fantasy about an Auction where participants bid with secrets. Set over three days in a sprawling Rococo chateau in
Revolutionary France, it combines the bewildering house and haunting mysteries of Piranesi, the 18th -century setting and classical influences of Pandora, the magical romance of The Night Circus, and the cross-under ‘Spirited Away’ appeal of The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea.

Natasha Siegel is a writer of historical fiction, fantasy, and romance. She was born and raised in London, where she grew up in a Danish-Jewish family surrounded by stories.

Her upcoming novel, As Many Souls as Stars will publish in November 2025 from Bloomsbury and William Morrow.