Raquel Pelzel at Voracious has acquired James Beard Award-winning chef Yia Vang’s Vinai, the first major cookbook to celebrate Hmong cuisine and culture. Highlighted by the story of his family's journey from the Ban Vinai refugee camp in Thailand to the midwestern United States, and honoring the sacrifices his parents made to enable the launch of his celebrated Minneapolis restaurant, Vang’s cookbook will feature bold recipes rooted in tradition such as Roast Hilltribe Chicken with Tiger Bite Sauce, Grilled Duck Laab, and Hmong Sausage over Purple Rice with Mustard Greens.
Kristen Morita's Matcha Mania Sells to Chronicle
Claire Gilhuly at Chronicle Books has acquired Kristen Morita’s Matcha Mania, a cookbook dedicated to Japanese green tea that will feature more than 60 recipes for drinks, cookies, cakes, mochi, jellies, and other desserts. Highlighting matcha producers, cafes, and tea ceremony masters, Matcha Mania will honor matcha’s deep cultural roots while embracing its modern viral popularity. Slated for publication in fall 2027, it will follow the September 15, 2026 publication of Morita’s forthcoming Mochitsuki, a cookbook also acquired by Gilhuly that covers the history, culture, and tradition of mochi.
UNM Press Publishes Moacyr Scliar Translation
The University of New Mexico Press has published Heath Wing’s English translation of Moacyr Scliar’s The Woman Who Wrote the Bible, published originally in Portuguese as A Mulher que Escreveu a Bíblia in Brazil in 1999 and later in Arabic, Czech, French, Italian, and Spanish. The satirical novel tells the story of one of King Solomon’s seven hundred wives, a neglected woman whose emergent talent results in her authoring the most prominent text in human history. A feminist critique skewering the absurdities of patriarchy, this unique gem joins other notable English translations (including Max and the Cats and The One-Man Army) from the late Scliar, a Brazilian physician and acclaimed author of over a dozen books published in more than twenty countries.
Kyle Paoletta's Out to Pasture Sells to Pantheon
Continuing an editorial relationship started with American Oasis, David Treuer at Pantheon has acquired North American rights to Kyle Paoletta’s Out to Pasture: How Reviving the Wilderness Can Save America from Itself. This history of the American relationship to the natural world will show how the landscapes of Maine, Kansas, and California have been reimagined and altered over the past two centuries. Focusing on overlapping episodes of westward expansion, homesteading, extractive industry, back-to-the-land movements, conservationism, and rewilding, Paoletta will not only explore how people’s attitudes about land have shifted over time, he will also sketch out the possibilities for a future where civilization and nature thrive in harmony.
Sarah DiGregorio's Women in the Time of Monsters Sells to Abrams
Sarah Robbins at Abrams Press has acquired at auction the world English rights for Sarah DiGregorio’s Women in the Time of Monsters: The Incredible True Story of the Ordinary Teachers, Mothers, and Nurses Who Fought Fascism in Vichy France. This historical biography will illuminate the lives of women who resisted the oppressive regime of a patriarchal puppet state in the shadow of Nazi Germany. The book will feature Marie-Louise Giraud, who ran an underground abortion ring and was executed by guillotine; Berty Albrecht, who founded the resistance newspaper Combat; a nurse code-named Marianne, who treated wounded partisans in the Alps; and teacher Madeline Marzin, who organized a Mother's Day protest throwing sardine cans into a hungry crowd.
Luis Cardoso's The Pumpkin Planter Sells to The New Press
Rachel Vega-DeCesario at The New Press has acquired English translation rights for Luis Cardoso’s Portuguese novel O Plantador de Abóboras (Sonata para uma Neblina), or The Pumpkin Planter (Sonata for a Fog). Originally published in Portugal by Abysmo in 2020 (as well as in Brazil by Todavia in 2022; in Colombia, Argentina, and Mexico by Tragaluz in 2022; and Uruguay by Banda Oriental in 2025) this 2021 winner of the Oceanos Prize offers a poetic allegory of the political history of East Timor in the last century. Born in 1958 in Cailaco, Cardoso moved to Portugal and made his debut in 1997 with Crónica de uma travessia, a memoir of growing up in exile from his homeland that was published in English as The Crossing by Granta in 2002.
LP O'Brien’s Cooking up Cocktails Sells to Union Square & Co.
Union Square & Co.’s Nicole Fisher has acquired world English rights for LP O’Brien’s Cooking up Cocktails, a fun and light-hearted guide to crafting next-level cocktails using culinary techniques such as roasting, blending, emulsifying, fermenting, and sous vide. With upwards of 100 recipes plus catchy illustrations and photographs, this book will explain how to whip up amazing drinks with just the tools on hand in a standard kitchen. The winner of the inaugural season of Netflix’s “Drink Masters” and former R&D chef for the famed Silver Lyan cocktail bar in Washington, D.C., O’Brien brings one of the most influential voices in the beverage world today to an exciting and empowering work that will also feature mixologist Carley Noel Hansen and writer Megan Krigbaum.
Janet Rich Edwards Publishes Debut Novel Canticle
Canticle, the debut novel from Janet Rich Edwards, has sparked widespread excitement with its release from Spiegel & Grau this month, earning praise in a lengthy piece by Ron Charles in The Washington Post and from Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, and Foreword Reviews while being named as one of December’s most anticipated books by Goodreads as well as one of People’s Best Books of the month. People also ran an exclusive essay Edwards wrote tracing the origins of her inspiration for Canticle, providing a glimpse at her experience as an author that she also delved into on Literary Hub and Oprah Daily. Set in the Belgian city of Bruges during the 13th century, the novel has been called “compelling, lyrical, and fresh” by Kiran Millwood Hargrave and “a true gem of historical fiction” by Bruce Holsinger.
Sean Sherman’s Turtle Island Receiving International Attention
Authored in collaboration with Kate Nelson and Kristin Donnelly, Sean Sherman’s new book Turtle Island: Foods and Traditions of the Indigenous Peoples of North America has generated widespread and exceptional enthusiasm, generating press coverage in The New York Times, The Guardian, Forbes, the Minnesota Star Tribune, Vogue, and other publications. Sherman was interviewed on “The Daily Show” in promoting a culinary masterpiece that Robin Wall Kimmerer proclaimed “an expression of Indigenous identity and a pathway for reconnection to the land” and Mark Bittman declared “belongs in the kitchen of anyone who’s serious about some of the most important roots of ‘American’ cooking.”
Update, December 3, 2025: Turtle Island has been named one of the 14 best cookbooks of the year by The New York Times.
The Blue Food Cookbook Published by Harvest
This week marks the release of The Blue Food Cookbook: Delicious Seafood Recipes for a Sustainable Future by award-winning chef and TV host Andrew Zimmern and leading sustainable seafood expert and educator Barton Seaver. The two authors worked in collaboration with the PBS docuseries Hope in the Water to present this treasure of culinary wisdom covering fish, shellfish, and plants from the world’s oceans, lakes, and rivers, sharing strategies for how to best buy, prepare, and cook seafood with both technical savvy and a commitment to environmental protection. Featuring a foreword by Shailene Woodley, The Blue Food Cookbook has been lauded by Martha Steward, Eric Ripert, José Andrés, Carla Hall, Dan Buettner, and many others while receiving coverage in publications such as Garden & Gun and Library Journal.
Update, November 7, 2025: Andrew Zimmern appeared on “Good Morning America” to talk about recipes from The Blue Food Cookbook.
