UQP acquires accomplished debut from actor and playwright George Kemp

UQP is delighted to announce that we’ve acquired the debut novel of playwright and actor George Kemp, which is set over one day almost exclusively in a regional McDonald’s as bushfires approach. Soft Serve opens with three twenty-something friends meeting up, as they do each year, on the anniversary of their best friend’s death at the workplace of his grief-stricken mother, Pat. What none of them can know is that, on this particular day, everything is about to change: in their relationships to each other; in their understanding of their pasts and their futures; and in how they define themselves. Soft Serve is a novel about friendship, grief and loss, and coming to terms with who you are or want to be, despite the confines of a small town.

UQP has acquired world rights and will publish in February 2026.

Author George Kemp says:

I am absolutely over the moon to be bringingSoft Serve into the world, guided by the wisdom of the inimitable Aviva Tuffield and the UQP team. They have allowed me to delve deeply into the funny-sad unpredictability of life in this book – the snakes and ladders of grief and early queer love, and the gnawing longing for something more, somewhere else. All while the world seems to be (or actually is) on fire. This book is for anyone who has snuck in a small six-nugget meal on their way home after work, after a bad day, after a funeral. UQP has championed and celebrated this story every step of the way and I feel very lucky to be in such wonderful company.

Publisher Aviva Tuffield says:

I immediately fell in love with Soft Serve and with how, despite its limited timeframe and small-town setting, it encompasses so much about the human condition. It’s a novel about how we long for what we’ve lost or don’t have. It’s about exceeding the expectations that are often imposed upon us, by who and where we come from. And it’s about being brave to come out as your true self, in all ways. As George told me early on, with his playwright hat on: “It’s drive-thru Chekhov but a little bit gayer.” What more could a reader ask for!

About George Kemp

George Kemp is an emerging writer based on Gadigal land in Sydney. He was selected to be part of The Faber Academy in 2023–2024, during which he completed the first draft of Soft Serve. He is a graduate of Charles Sturt University and has a Master’s from Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, London. George won the Australian Theatre for Young People Foundation Commission Award 2020 for his play Shack (published by Playlab). Since the premiere production in 2022, Shack has been performed frequently around the country and internationally. Shack will be included on the new 2026 NSW Drama Curriculum and is in the early stages of development for television.

George is also an experienced and passionate educator, having worked for Bell Shakespeare and NIDA. He is currently Resident Artist at Australian Theatre for Young People, and in 2023 was a playwright mentor at ATYP’s flagship writing program National Studio. He also previously had a successful career as an actor across Australia and England, in productions including Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead and Cyrano de Bergerac (Sydney Theatre Company), Longing (Hampstead Theatre) and national and international tours of The Play that Goes Wrong and Peter Pan Goes Wrong.

For more information or media enquiries contact jean.smith@uqp.com.au