UQP sells rights to 'Edenglassie' to Oneworld

Oneworld Publications has acquired Edenglassie, the new novel by multi-award-winning First Nations author Melissa Lucashenko. Juliet Mabey bought World English rights, ex. ANZ, including audio, from Erin Sandiford at University of Queensland Press. It will be published as a superlead title in July 2025 in the UK, with US publication to follow in September.

Already the recipient of eight prizes in Australia, including its richest literary prize, the $100,000 ARA Historical Novel Award, Edenglassie tells the story of two generations of the same Indigenous family, separated by hundreds of years but bound together by the legacy of colonial violence in Australia. When Mulanyin meets the beautiful Nita in Brisbane – or Edenglassie, as the original penal colony was once briefly known – First Nations people still outnumbered colonial settlers. But as unrest tears through the region, Mulanyin’s love for his young bride clashes with his loyalty to a homeland in danger. Two centuries later, we meet activist Winona and the irascible Granny Eddie, bringing Mulanyin and Nita’s story crashing into the present day.

UQP has previously sold Edenglassie in the French language (Synchronique Éditions) and Simplified Chinese Character (The Writers Publishing House Co).

Melissa Lucashenko, described by author Tim Winton as ‘one of our finest storytellers’ is a Goorie (Aboriginal) author of Bundjalung and European heritage. Her first novel was published in 1997 and since then her work has received literary awards including the 2019 Miles Franklin Literary Award and the Queensland Premier’s Award for a work of State Significance. Melissa is a Walkley Award winner for her non-fiction, and a founding member of human rights organisation Sisters Inside. Publication will be supported by an “extensive” author tour, exclusive editions for Waterstones and signed first editions for independent bookshops. The editions published by FSG in the US, McClelland & Stewart in Canada and Te Herenga Waka University Press in New Zealand will all use cover artwork designed by Jon Gray.

Juliet Mabey said:

I’ve been looking for a First Nations author for Oneworld’s slate of international fiction for a long time, and I’m so pleased to have found a voice as fresh, urgent and exciting as Melissa’s. Edenglassie is an unforgettable story about colonial exploitation and the resilience of the Indigenous community that had me gripped from its first page.

Melissa Lucashenko said:

Edenglassie is a novel of fierce and compelling Aboriginal love. It’s also a missive from Aboriginal Country, speaking back to those who tried very hard to engineer our destruction. I wrote this novel of humour, heartbreak and joy to show that we are still here, and we love and live on ancestral lands as we always have. Edenglassie peels back the blankets to reveal Aboriginal lives few outsiders ever witness: the lives of the world's oldest living culture, spanning five generations. I hope British publication will introduce new readers to Australia's hidden Indigenous present, as well as to a hidden history.

UQP’s Publishing Director Madonna Duffy added:

Oneworld’s passionate and engaged response to Edenglassie make them the perfect international English-language home for this unique novel from one of Australia’s greatest contemporary writers.