UQP acquires new novel from George Kemp and sells North American rights to 'Soft Serve'

UQP is delighted to announce that North American rights to George Kemp’s debut novel, Soft Serve, have been sold to Europa Editions. The deal was brokered by Erin Sandiford, UQP’s Rights & Contracts Manager. Soft Serve, published in February this year, is set over one day almost exclusively in a regional McDonald’s as bushfires approach. It’s a novel about friendship, grief and loss, and coming to terms with who you are – or want to be – even within the confines of a small town.

Edoardo Andreoni, Editor at Europa Editions says:

George Kemp writes with such assurance and clarity that I almost couldn’t believe Soft Serve was a debut novel. But what won me over was the story’s heart: at once funny, moving, and urgent, this is a book about the essential importance of friendship and community in the aftermath of grief, and in a mad, burning, fragile world. It’s also one of the most heartbreaking and true-to-life portrayals of queer longing I’ve read in a long while.

Rights & Contracts Manager Erin Sandiford says:

Some books find exactly the right home overseas, and Soft Serve couldn’t possibly have found a better one than Europa Editions – this has been one of those dream rights matches from the outset. I am delighted to be taking this success story with me to Frankfurt in a few weeks’ time. Europa’s reputation in translation markets is second to none, and I expect to see translation territory sales as a result of this deal.

In addition to selling North American rights to Soft Serve, UQP has also acquired world rights to George’s second novel, The Herd, which is scheduled for release in early 2028. The Herd examines how events unfold after bird flu is discovered at a rural ostrich farm. When the government dictates that the birds must be culled, a standoff ensues between the authorities, the farm owners and a group of ragtag activists. The Herd investigates our current time in which finding a cause is akin to finding an identity, and trust in the experts doesn’t fly anymore. Told through eight points of view, this punchy and poetic novel asks: if everyone is yelling and nobody is listening, how do we make ourselves heard?

Author George Kemp says:

I am both thrilled and deeply thankful that the legendary Europa Editions will champion Soft Serve and place it in the hands of North American readers. I am excited to follow its journey across the seas and to showcase Australian fiction internationally. I am also very much looking forward to working with UQP again on The Herd. Many writers have told me that one should take a big swing with book number two, so how fortunate to have the bold, energetic and razor-sharp expertise of Aviva Tuffield and the UQP team as my collaborators.

Publisher Aviva Tuffield says;

The Herd is an intriguing and timely work – one that has become even more relevant in recent weeks – which uses an incidence of bird flu as a prism through which to examine contemporary society and its ills. Kemp’s polyvocal novel considers how easily facts are distorted, fear and rumour become truth, and self-interest conquers all, but with such nuance, warmth and empathy for his characters – including an ostrich named Savannah – that readers can’t help but fall in love with this book.

About George Kemp

George Kemp is a writer based on Gadigal land in Sydney whose critically acclaimed debut novel, Soft Serve, was published in February 2026. 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 is 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 and mentor. He is currently Producer, New Writing & Artist Development at Australian Theatre for Young People. 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), and national and international tours of The Play that Goes Wrong and Peter Pan Goes Wrong.

For more information, contact Jean Smith on jean.smith@uqp.com.au