2015
Fall Rights Catalog
www.2seasagency.com
2 Seas Agency Rights Catalog Fall 2015
Index LATEST RIGHTS DEALS..................................................................................................................................................4 CLIENTS AND CO-AGENTS.............................................................................................................................................5 FRENCH PUBLISHERS.....................................................................................................................................................6 Allary Editions......................................................................................................................................................................7 I Don’t Want Passion (Diane Brasseur)....................................................................................................................................7 Madame de Staël. The Woman Napoleon Feared (Laurence de Cambronne)...................................................................7 The Man Who Brought the General Down (Christine Clerc)...............................................................................................8 Avoiding Tolls (Jérôme Colin)..................................................................................................................................................8 How to Bore People with Your Travel Stories (Matthias Debureaux).................................................................................9 Alexandre Grothendieck. A Life (Philippe Douroux)............................................................................................................9 Heir to the Empire (Serge Hayat)...........................................................................................................................................10 What Binds Us. Why We Still Don’t Understand the Internet (Alexandre Lacroix)......................................................10 Burnout (Pascal Louvrier).......................................................................................................................................................11 Final Words. What Influential People Said Just Before They Died (Philippe Nassif).....................................................11 The Arab of the Future vol. 2 (Riad Sattouf)........................................................................................................................12 Editions de la Martinière Littérature........................................................................................................................12 Debt Heads (Christophe Alévêque & Vincent Glenn)..........................................................................................................12 The First of Their Century (Christophe Bigot).....................................................................................................................13 The Crime Bible (Stéphane Bourgoin)...................................................................................................................................13 With God En Route (Cardinal Roger Etchegaray)...............................................................................................................14 The Predators’ Ball (Dominique Maisons)...........................................................................................................................14 Wounded Wolves (Christophe Molmy)..................................................................................................................................15 Extra (Dominique Pascaud)....................................................................................................................................................15 Martine is on Gleeden® (Martine S.)...................................................................................................................................16 Empresses of Fashion (Yseult Williams)..............................................................................................................................16 Hachette Romans...............................................................................................................................................................17 Rudi’s Choice (Françoise Dargent).........................................................................................................................................17 Anna and Her Ghost vol. 2 (Franck Krebs)...........................................................................................................................17 6 Friends in 9th Grade (Sophie Laroche).............................................................................................................................18 One-Eyed Teddy (Yann Rambaud)........................................................................................................................................18 The Epic Saga of Hercules (Jacques Cassabois)...................................................................................................................19 Le Livre de Poche...............................................................................................................................................................19 The Smell of Cut Grass (Nicolas Delesalle)...........................................................................................................................19 I Like You (Jacques Expert)...................................................................................................................................................20 Mala Vida (Marc Fernandez).................................................................................................................................................20 Maison du dictionnaire......................................................................................................................21 Gods in Crisis (Meliss)............................................................................................................................................................21 ENGLISH LANGUAGE AGENTS, PUBLISHERS AND AUTHORS...................................................................22 ONE/Pushkin Press..........................................................................................................................................................23 The Minor Outsider (Ted McDermott).................................................................................................................................23 April Eberhardt Literary................................................................................................................................................23 Flame Tree Road (Shona Patel)..............................................................................................................................................23 The California Wife (Kristen Harnisch)...............................................................................................................................24 Twelve Thousand Mornings (Mary Driver Thiel)...............................................................................................................24 Choose Yourself Media...................................................................................................................................................25 The Rich Employee (James Altucher and Claudia Azula Altucher).................................................................................25 Become an Idea Machine: Because Ideas Are the Currency of the 21st Century (Claudia Azula Altucher)...............25
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2 Seas Agency Rights Catalog Fall 2015
Index
Create Space..................................................................................................................................................................26 Content Machine (Dan Norris)........................................................................................................................................26 The Connection Algorithm (Jesse Warren Tevelow)....................................................................................................26 Ideapress Publishing.................................................................................................................................................27 Non-Obvious: How to Think Different, Curate Ideas & Predict the Future (Rohit Bhargava)...............................27 Amazing People Worldwide....................................................................................................................................27 DUTCH PUBLISHERS...............................................................................................................................................28 Uitgeverij De Geus......................................................................................................................................................29 The Boy from the Old City (Tahmina Akefi)..................................................................................................................29 The King Will Come (Mohammed Benzakour).............................................................................................................29 A Small Effort (Hugo Blom).............................................................................................................................................30 Rara Avis (Bram Dehouck)...............................................................................................................................................30 Everything Changes (Kristien Hemmerechts)..............................................................................................................31 Birk (Jaap Robben)............................................................................................................................................................31 The Black Napoleon (Vamba Sherif)...............................................................................................................................32 Underdog (Elfie Tromp)....................................................................................................................................................32 Thirty Days (Annelies Verbeke).......................................................................................................................................33 Uitgeverij Meulenhoff-Boekerij.............................................................................................................................33 Brussels (Basje Bender)....................................................................................................................................................33 Attempts to Make Something of Life. The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83 1/4 Years Old (Hendrik Groen)........34 As Long As There is Life. The Second Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 85 Years Old (Hendrik Groen).................34 Turbulence (Annette Herfkens).......................................................................................................................................35 Rather No Applause Before I Live (Sander Van Leeuwen)............................................................................................35 Exit (Michiel Stroink).......................................................................................................................................................36 Uitgeverij Nieuw Amsterdam.................................................................................................................................36 The New Kratz (Gerard van Emmerik)..........................................................................................................................36 When Winter Is Over (Thomas Verbogt)........................................................................................................................37 Uitgeverij Podium.......................................................................................................................................................37 Alone with the Gods (Alex Boogers)...............................................................................................................................37 The Third Lottery (Renate Dorrestein)..........................................................................................................................38 Harem (Ronald Giphart)..................................................................................................................................................38 Hunt (Elvis Peeters)..........................................................................................................................................................39 Styx (Peter Pontiac)...........................................................................................................................................................39 Tench (Inge Schilperoord)................................................................................................................................................40 Monica, My Father (Maaike Sips)...................................................................................................................................40 Uitgeverij Prometheus..............................................................................................................................................41 Parrot Flew Over the IJssel (Kader Abdolah)...............................................................................................................41
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2 Seas Agency Rights Catalog Fall 2015
Latest Rights Deals AUGUST 2015 Groen, Hendrik, Attempts to Make Something of Life: China (Thinkingdom) Pearson, Taylor, The End of Jobs: Korea (Bookie Publishing House, at auction) Schilperoord, Inge, Tench: UK (Pushkin Press, WEL) Snyder, Gary, Riprap and Cold Mountain Poems: Norway (Bokvennen)
JULY 2015 Altucher, James, Choose Yourself: Vietnam (Alpha Books) Altucher, James, The Choose Yourself Guide to Wealth: Taiwan (Good Publishing) Bhargava, Rohit, Non-Obvious: Russia (Mann, Ivanov & Ferber), Vietnam (Thai Ha) Brasseur, Diane, I Don’t Want Passion: Germany (DTV) Daull, Sophie, Camille, I’ll Come Fly With You: The Netherlands (Xander, in a pre-empt) De Cambronne, Laurence, Madame de Staël.The Woman Napoleon Feared: Poland (GWF) Groen, Hendrik, Attempts to Make Something of Life: Turkey (Can, at auction) Knight, Michael Muhammad, The Taqwacores: The Netherlands (Bananafish) Musso, Guillaume, This Very Moment: Netherlands (A.W. Bruna) Norris, Dan, The 7 Day Startup: You Don’t Learn Until You Launch: Czech Republic (Blue Vision), China (China Machine Press, at auction) Onfray, Michel, Theory of Travel: Spain (Taurus) Pépin, Charles, Joy: Korea (Nike Books) Rimmer, Kelly, Me Without You: Norway (Cappelen Damm) Sattouf, Riad, The Arab of the Future Vol. 2: Korea (Humanist) Schilperoord, Inge, Tench: France (Belfond)
JUNE 2015 Bhargava, Rohit, Non-Obvious: Korea (Moonyelim), China (Renmin University Press) Colin, Jérôme, Avoiding Tolls: Germany (Hoffmann und Campe) Groen, Hendrik, Attempts to Make Something of Life: Hungary (Libri Kiado, at auction) Harnisch, Kristen, The California Wife: Hungary (Lazi) Lewis, Jason Lewis, The Expedition – Book 3: China (Sunnbook Culture and Art) Ricard, Matthieu, A Plea for Animals: Brazil (Palas Athena) Zeller, Guillaume, The Priest Barracks of Dachau: USA (Ignatius Press, WEL)
MAY 2015 Ackerman, Angela & Becca Puglisi, The Emotion Thesaurus: Romania (Paralela 45) Bhargava, Rohit, Non-Obvious: Thailand (Be Better Publishing), Arabic (Jarir) Carpenter, Sam, Work the System: The Simple Mechanics of Making More and Working Less: Arabic (ElArab Group For Training, Publishing & Printing) Coburn, Derek, Networking Is Not Working: Arabic (ElArab Group For Training, Publishing & Printing) Groen, Hendrik, Attempts to Make Something of Life: Slovenia (Mladinska Knjiga, at auction), Norway (Vigmostad & Bjørke, at auction), Iceland (Bjartur, at auction) Herfkens, Annette, Turbulence: France (Payot-Rivages), Germany (Lübbe), Portugal (Quinta Essência/Leya, in a pre-empt) Norris, Dan, The 7 Day Startup: You Don’t Learn Until You Launch: Vietnam (Thai Ha) Peeters, Elvis, The Uncountables: Turkey (Tekin) Sattouf, Riad, The Arab of the Future Vols. 2 and 3: Germany (Knaus)
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2 Seas Agency Rights Catalog Fall 2015
Clients & Co-Agents WORLDWIDE REPRESENTATION Selected titles presented in this catalog
ENGLISH LANGUAGE PUBLISHERS AND AGENTS: April Eberhardt Literary (USA) | Karina Library Press (USA) | ONE/Pushkin Press (UK) | Quill Shift Literary Agency (USA) | Amazing People Worldwide (UK) | Choose Yourself Media ENGLISH LANGUAGE AUTHORS (selected titles): Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi | Rohit Bhargava | Anna M. Campbell | Derek Coburn | Debora Geary | Victor W. Hwang & Greg Horowitt | Dr. Paulette Kouffman Sherman | Michael Krohnen | Jason Lewis | Nathan Lowell | J. Steve Miller | Mark Obama Ndesandjo FRANCE Allary Editions | Editions de l’Epée | Hachette Romans, an imprint of Hachette Livre | Le Livre de Poche (paperback originals only + imprint Préludes Editions) | Editions de la Martinière Littérature THE NETHERLANDS De Geus | Meulenhoff Boekerij | Nieuw Amsterdam | Podium
EXCLUSIVE CO-AGENTS For our world rights titles
Afrikaans: Van Aggelen African Literary Agency | Brazil: Villas-Boas & Moss Agency | Bulgaria: Anthea Agency | Greece: Ersilia Agency | Hungary, Croatia: Andrew Nurnberg Associates, Budapest Office | Israel: The Deborah Harris Agency | Italy, Portugal: The Ella Sher Agency | Poland: Graal Agency | Romania, Czech Republic, Slovakia: Livia Stoia Agency | Russia, Belarus, Ukraine: Anastasia Lester Agency | Serbia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Bosnia, Albania: Plima Agency | Spain: SalmaiaLit | Turkey: Akcali Agency / Kalem Agency
REPRESENTATION IN SELECTED TERRITORIES See individual catalogs & information sheets
FROM THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE Lorella Belli Literary Agency (The Netherlands, Scandinavia) | Kleinworks Agency (France, The Netherlands, Scandinavia) | OR Books (France, The Netherlands, Scandinavia) | Osho International (The Netherlands, Scandinavia) | The Rights Factory (France & The Netherlands, adult titles only) FROM FRANCE & QUEBEC Editions Au Diable Vauvert (The Netherlands, Scandinavia, World English) | L’Autre Agence (The Netherlands, Scandinavia, North America) | Editions du Boréal (The Netherlands, Scandinavia, USA) | Editions XO (selected titles in selected territories) FROM GERMANY Thiele Verlag (World English) FROM BRAZIL Villas-Boas & Moss Literary Consultancy (World English, Netherlands & Scandinavia) FROM SPAIN, PORTUGAL & LATIN AMERICA The Ella Sher Literary Agency (Netherlands & North America)
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French Publishers
2 Seas Agency
2 Seas Agency Rights Catalog Fall 2015
I Don’t Want Passion By Diane Brasseur
Publisher: Allary Editions Original Language: French | 176 pp. | September 2015 Territory: World Excl French Rights Sold: Germany (DTV); Under option: Spain, Catalan, Brazil, Italy, Estonia, and Arabic
Literary Fiction Praise for Brasseur’s previous novel Fidelities: The book is well-served by an electrifying style. […] A real tour de force. —Elle Absolutely brilliant. —France Info
The book begins with a breakup: One night in a bar, the main character’s lover leaves her with these words: “I don’t want passion.” At over thirty years old, she realizes she has never lived with a man other than her father, the father whom she loves… passionately. We explore these two love stories in parallel. One is with her lover she met a few months before. The other is with our heroine’s father, with whom she has maintained an intense relationship since she was young. Both stories constantly intertwine with each other, to the extent that we start wondering if the two don’t obstruct one another. Following the success of Fidelities, Diane Brasseur takes us on a journey into another love triangle, yet this one is of a very different nature.
About the Author
Diane Brasseur is a scriptwriter. Her debut novel Fidelities sold over 15,000 copies in France and was received with great critical acclaim from both critics and readers. Rights in Fidelities have so far been sold to 8 territories.
Madame De Staël: The Woman Napoleon Feared By Laurence de Cambronne Publisher: Allary Editions Original Language: French | 248 pp. | March 2015 Territory: World Excl French | Rights Sold: Poland (GWF)
Biography We have found our Woman of the Year for 2015!—Elle Around de Staël in 24 days: enlightening!—Le Point
About the Author Laurence de Cambronne is a journalist. She was an editor at the French “Elle” magazine for which she was in charge for fifteen years of the column “Une journée avec…”
She was known throughout Europe, her books were bestsellers. Napoleon said of her: “I have four enemies: Prussia, Russia, England and Madame de Staël.” Germaine de Staël lived through the Revolution, the Consulate and the Empire. She was a major political writer and her salon was the focal rendezvous point of the European intelligentsia. She knew Voltaire and Diderot, the Czar of Russia, Jefferson and Lord Byron. She spent her life being chased away by Napoleon, who constantly banned her from Paris and then France. She campaigned for divorce, for women’s right to happiness, for freedom of expression and the abolition of slavery. This strong, great intellectual woman was also perpetually in love. Laurence de Cambronne chronicles the life of this exceptional woman over 24 decisive days.
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2 Seas Agency Rights Catalog Fall 2015
The Man Who Brought the General Down (Le tombeur du général) By Christine Clerc Publisher: Allary Editions Original Language: French | 300 pp. | October 2015 Territory: World Excl French
Literary Fiction May 28, 1968: Dany, a radical student leader who had been expelled from France, slips back over the border from Germany. When he stops in Paris, his comrades tell him his lawyer has been desperately trying to reach him. “The President of France wants to see you.” What follows is an imaginary interaction between two icons; General de Gaulle and Daniel Cohn-Bendit. One is 77 – a military man and an intellectual, with deep roots in French history, devoted to the over-arching interests of the Nation. The other is 23, an anti-communist and anti-capitalist anarchist. But each of them is curious about the other, and leaps at the chance to tell the other what they think. The two men have a fascinating discussion about political power, patriotism, the ironbound hierarchy of industrial societies, peoples’ capacity for self-governance... and sexual liberation.
About the Author
Christine Clerc is a journalist and a writer. She has written numerous biographies, essays and novels, including, most notably, Les de Gaulle, une famille française (The de Gaulles, a French Family) and Journal intime de Jacques Chirac (Jacques Chirac’s Diary).
Avoiding Tolls By Jérôme Colin Publisher: Allary Editions Original Language: French | 200 pp. | May 2015 Territory: World Excl French Rights Sold: Germany (Hoffmann und Campe)
Literary Fiction
An excellent novel about a mid-life crisis, told simply, efficiently and humorously. —Le Soir A novel that exposes men’s touching fragility. —Femmes d’aujourd’hui A charming and pleasantly paced first novel. —L’Express Styles
About the Author
Jérôme Colin is the host of “Hep taxi”, a weekly show on national Belgian TV. He also hosts “Entrez sans frapper,” a daily cultural program on national Belgian radio, and is a journalist for the weekly magazine “Moustique.” Avoiding Tolls is his first novel.
One night Henry gets in his taxi. He asks to be picked up three times a week. Soon, Henry becomes like a friend. One afternoon, at a café, Marie smiles at him and in that moment, the world takes on a new color. Until then, there had been the men and women he drove around in his taxi, who warmed his heart as they confided in him. At age thirty-eight, he thought he had played all his cards. Now he needs to know more about the strange Henry and he’s falling in love with Marie. A small chasm opens under his feet. Do we have the right to a new start? How fragile we are, when passion overturns us. The interior monologue of the narrator deeply moves us, since it describes a battle against the ravages of time and the feelings that are encurred in time’s passing. His sensual and heartfelt writing examines an issue that affects all of us at one time or another: does love deserve a second chance?
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2 Seas Agency Rights Catalog Fall 2015
How to Bore People with Your Travel Stories By Matthias Debureaux Publisher: Allary Editions Original Language: French | 100 pp. | November 2015 Territory: World Excl French
Essay | Humor You could die laughing. I read it in one fell swoop in Belgium, where I was giving 80 conferences about my travels. —Sylvain Tesson
Historically, the art of traveling blends with the art of talking about our travels. In other words, it blends with the art of annoying our relatives by showing off our happiness, or pretending to be adventurers. Yesterday we organized special slide show evenings. Today, thanks to social media, it is possible to inundate our contacts with a steady stream of comments, photos, and videos. Our ability to knock people out with our travel stories has become limitless, so we no longer give our audience any breathing space. Drawing from an ancestral know-how, Matthias Debureaux initiates us to this subtle art in this bitingly ironic manual that mocks all our failings as tourists. A short text that has a refined style and sharp wit.
About the Author Matthias Debureaux is the editorin-chief of “Citizen K” magazine. His most recent book is Les dictateurs font très bien l’amour (Dictators Make Great Lovers, NiL, 2011).
Alexandre Grothendieck. A Life (Alexandre Grothendieck. Une vie) By Philippe Douroux Publisher: Allary Editions Original Language: French | 50,000 words | February 2016 Territory: World Excl French
Biography
About the Author
Philippe Douroux is a journalist for the French national daily paper Libération. With a long-term fascination for Grothendieck’s work and his life story, he spent several weeks in the village of Lasserre, observing the mathematician.
Alexandre Grothendieck, who died on November 13, 2014, was seen by his peers as the last true mathematical genius. He invented modern geometry, allowing for the development of cell phones and the Internet. And he left thousands of pages of notes that may contain keys to human existence. But Grothendieck also left strict instructions: his notes are not to be studied. Born into a Central European Jewish family that was devastated by the war, Grothendieck developed a tremendous suspicion of his fellow man at a young age. Over the course of his career, he declined many honors (e.g. the Crafoord Prize), and even wound up quitting the Collège de France in order to retreat from the world, terrified at what mankind might do with his discoveries. For over 25 years, he lived a solitary existence in a small village in the foothills of the Pyrenees, refusing all contact with his ex-fellow mathematicians, ex-wives and lovers, former students and even his own children. Nevertheless, Philippe Douroux was able to tell this misanthropic genius’s life story.
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2 Seas Agency Rights Catalog Fall 2015
Heir to the Empire By Serge Hayat Publisher: Allary Editions Original Language: French | 500 pp. | October 2015 Territory: World Excl French
Historical Fiction An Alexandre Dumas-style adventure What if François, the son of Napoleon I and grand-son of the Emperor of Austria, also known as L’Aiglon, had freed himself from his family’s tutelage to try to conquer the throne of France? In this great adventure novel, L’Aiglon undertakes an imaginary journey of initiation. He flees from his gilded prison in Vienna and goes to Paris. Despite the presence of his mother Marie-Louise, his cousin Napoleon III, Talleyrand, Metternich and countless courtiers and seductresses, the teenager is struggling to make sense of his life. Through a very cinematographic writing, served by a careful restoration of the historical context, Serge Hayat invents a hectic destiny to the most famous of heirs, and turns the quest for the father into an epic.
About the Author
Serge Hayat works behind the scenes in the movie industry. He is featured in the credits for the biggest successes in France. Heir to the Empire is his first novel. A Napoleon enthusiast, he spends his holidays on Saint Helena.
What Binds Us. Why We Still Don’t Understand the Internet (Ce qui nous relie. Pourquoi nous n’avons toujours rien compris à Internet)
By Alexandre Lacroix
Publisher: Allary Editions Original Language: French | 60,000 words | January 2016 Territory: World Excl French
Essay
About the Author
Alexandre Lacroix, a philosopher and a novelist born in 1975, is the editorin-chief of France’s “Philosophie magazine” and an advisor to the German version, “Philosophie Magazin”. He has written dozens of books of both fiction and non-fiction. He has been translated in 5 countries.
The Internet’s exponential growth has led to tremendous economic and sociological upheaval, which has been widely examined and written about. But that’s not the most important thing: this revolution actually affects the very foundations of our humanity: a philosophical Big Bang that we absolutely need to become aware of. From London to Mexico City via Paris and Silicon Valley, Alexandre Lacroix, editor-in-chief of Philosophie Magazine, introduces us to the people who opened his eyes. To begin with, Julian Assange, who was the first to realize that the Internet would undermine the political concepts that founded our societies (the State, public space, freedom and more); next, a “truther”, one of those thousands of conspiracy theorists who lead us into a world where it will become more and more difficult to unravel truth from falsehood. And finally, Peter Thiel, one of the Silicon Valley millionaires who are putting their vast fortunes to work to create connected medicine capable of pushing back the frontiers between life and death. With them, Alexandre Lacroix provides the first clear ideas about humanity’s latest religion – the only one capable of connecting the vast majority of humanity: the Internet.
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2 Seas Agency Rights Catalog Fall 2015
Burnout (Burn out) By Pascal Louvrier
Publisher: Allary Editions Original Language: French | 40,000 words | January 2016 Territory: World Excl French
Literary Fiction
Praise for Louvrier’s previous novel I Will Not Leave You: A stunning book. —L’Express Pascal Louvrier hasn’t listened to anything but his own pleasure. He was right to do so. —Livres Hebdo
It all starts with a victory: famous architect Marc Cisco’s design has been selected for Venice’s new Opera House. It is the crowning achievement of an already brilliant career. But upon his return from Venice, a sense of unease takes hold of him. He is in no hurry to meet with his staff, has no desire to announce his great victory to his wife, and can’t think of a single thing to say to his rebellious daughter. In fact, he doesn’t want to do anything at all. Not even to have a nostalgic fling with a woman he once loved, who the Venice Opera has brought back into his life. There’s nothing that he wants. Except maybe to overturn his entire existence. What can you do next once your dreams have come true? As a connoisseur of the “high and mighty,” Pascal Louvrier is amazingly credible as he slips into the skin of a celebrity architect, helping us feel the despair of those who have everything.
About the Author
Pascal Louvrier teaches French and has authored a number of biographies (Georges Bataille, Paul Morand, Philippe Sollers, Françoise Sagan, Fanny Ardant). He is also a ghostwriter, which brings him to meet many powerful men and women. Burnout is his second novel. His debut novel I Will Not Leave You is being adapted for the big screen.
Final Words. What Influential People Said Just Before They Died By Philippe Nassif Publisher: Allary Editions Original Language: French | 150 pp. | November 2015 Territory: World Excl French
Essay
About the Author
Philippe Nassif is a journalist and an editorial advisor to “Philosophie magazine”. His previous books include La Lutte initiale : quitter l’empire du nihilism (The Initial Struggle: Leaving the Empire of Nihilism, Denoël, 2011); Pop philosophie (Pop Philosophy, with Medhi Belhaj Kacem, 2008) and Bienvenue dans un monde inutile (Welcome to a Useless World, Denoël, 2002).
80 examples of historical figures’ last words. Some are profound, some frivolous, some funny... But they are all touching, because they are the last thing these influential people said. Each of the 80 quotes that make up this book is followed by a short explanation that sets it in context, giving it greater resonance. An instructing and moving book: unconventional, yet easy to read. If heaven had granted me five more years, I would have become a great artist. —Hokusai I’m bored with it all! —Winston Churchill The tragedy is that there are no human beings anymore, but strange machines that bump against each other. —Pier Paolo Pasolini I am off to fetch the big maybe. —François Rabelais I die a martyr, voluntarily. My soul will rise with the smoke in paradise. — Giordano Bruno Why are you weeping, did you believe I was immortal? —Louis XIV
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2 Seas Agency Rights Catalog Fall 2015
The Arab of the Future vol. 2 By Riad Sattouf
Publisher: Allary Editions Original Language: French | 160 pp. | June 2015 Territory: World Excl French Rights Sold (mostly at auction or in pre-empts): Brazil (Intrinseca), Spain & Catalan (Salamandra), Germany (Knaus), The Netherlands (De Geus), Denmark (Cobolt), Sweden (Cobolt), Finland (WSOY), World English (Metropolitan), Korea (Humanist); Vol. 2 under option: Italy, Norway, Poland and Portugal.
Graphic Novel
Volume 1: sold over 300,000 copies; translated in 15 countries; complete English translation available Volume 2: already sold over 200,000 copies; both volumes have been critically acclaimed by the press and their readers around the world
This is THE literary event of the season. —RTL Riad Sattouf’s autobiography is already a classic. —Le Point On Volume 1: Subtly written and deftly illustrated, with psychological incisiveness and humor. —Kirkus *Starred Review* [In] this stunning memoir, reminiscent of a male Persepolis... Sattouf gives a powerfully detailed child’s-eye view of the cultural conflict of our times. —Publishers Weekly
Riad Sattouf, whose father is Syrian and whose mother is a Frenchwoman from Brittany, describes growing up in the Middle East. In this second volume, which covers his first year of school in Syria (1984-1985) gets to know his father’s side of the family, and does his best to make his father proud by becoming a real little Syrian boy.
About the Author
Riad Sattouf is the author of a number of graphic novels, including Retour au collège (Back to Middle School), Pascal Brutal, and La vie secrète des jeunes (The Secret Life of Teens). He is one of the very few graphic-novel authors to have won twice the top prize at Angoulême (Pascal Brutal 3 in 2010, and L’Arabe du futur, in 2015).
Debt Heads
By Christophe Alévêque & Vincent Glenn
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Publisher: Editions de la Martinière Littérature Original Language: French | 180 pp. | May 2015 Territory: World Excl French
Current Affairs | Humor Over 25,000 copies sold
About the Authors
Christophe Alévêque is an actor and a stand-up comic. Since August 2014 he has had his own daily show on the France Inter radio station. Vincent Glenn is a principled film director whose activism is expressed in documentaries devoted to international economics and finances.
The national debt? Oh, my god. The experts’ sanctimonious scolding and sanctions are scarier than the debt itself. You feel like you’re watching a horror film where we’re all going to die at the end, no matter what we do… So what exactly is the National Debt? How much do we owe? To whom? We decided to investigate from the point of view of a pair of economic illiterates. Equipped with our deceit detector, we went to deflate the first bag of hot air we could find. It turns out that understanding the debt is like figuring out a magic trick, you have to turn your eyes away from where the magician/economic expert is trying to get you to look… One thing is for sure though: if we managed to understand, anyone can. Provocative humor that stands up to the economic fundamentalists that rule our daily lives.
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2 Seas Agency Rights Catalog Fall 2015
The First of Their Century By Christophe Bigot Publisher: Editions de la Martinière Littérature Original Language: French | 416 pp. | January 2015 Territory: World Excl French
Historical Fiction Did Henri Lehmann (1814-1882), a young German painter, sell his soul when he followed his uncle’s advice and joined Ingres’s studio? In the enchanted salons of the Villa Medicis an event took place that would change the course of Lehmann’s entire life: meeting Marie d’Agoult and Franz Liszt. Through the memoirs of this choloric painter, who wound up as a failed and bitter academic painter, an entire era is brought back to life, with its splendor and its pettiness, its mystical debates and its gossip, its aesthetic quarrels and its revolutions nipped in the bud. Lehmann’s path will cross those of Delacroix, Sainte-Beuve, Chassériau, Stendhal and more. This novel is both a saga of the private life of the Romantics and an insightful reflection on the difficulties of combining artistic genius and moral rectitude. From Parisian salons to the luminous landscapes of the Italian countryside, this knowledgeable novel brings us into the privacy of 19th-century Romanticism’s greatest artists.
About the Author A graduate of France’s Ecole Normale, with an advanced degree in literature, Christophe Bigot lives in Paris and teaches literature at Lycée Louis le Grand. He has published two novels previously.
The Crime Bible By Stéphane Bourgoin Publisher: Editions de la Martinière Littérature Original Language: French | 464 pp. | May 2015 Territory: World Excl French
True Crime
About the Author
An internationally renowned specialist, Stéphane Bourgoin has been studying serial killers for over 35 years. The 1976 rape and murder of his girlfriend by a repeat offender in California set him on his path. Since then, he has met with over 70 serial killers for the sake of his investigations, books and documentaries.
365 short but terrifying true stories for crime buffs, by an internationally renowned specialist in serial killers. A criminology expert specialized in serial killers, Stéphane Bourgoin offers readers one true-crime story for every day of the year: 365 cases from the news, gory anecdotes or portraits of murderers. From January to December, from “classic” crimes (Jack the Ripper, the Black Dahlia, and more) to little-known cases, from cold cases to the most recent murders, these stories let us enter the awful yet fascinating world of criminology: crime-scene investigation and forensic science, wrongful convictions, serial killers, diabolical couples, black widows and more… Some 100 black-and-white documents (newspaper clippings, photos of criminals and more) are scattered throughout the book.
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2 Seas Agency Rights Catalog Fall 2015
With God En Route By Cardinal Roger Etchegaray Publisher: Editions de la Martinière Littérature Original Language: French | 132 pp. | October 2015 Territory: World Excl French | Rights Sold: Italy (San Paolo)
Religion | Spirituality At 93, the Basque cardinal shares his personal experience of faith, and how “hard it can be to believe” at times. An affecting tale told at the twilight of an earnest man’s life.“My faith as a cardinal is as fragile and precarious as any Christian’s.” Cardinal or not, no one who lives the mystery of faith gets a “free ride.” Instead, the God that Roger Etchegaray portrays accompanies individuals’ complicated lives, including his own, from his Basque childhood in Espelette, through his many ups and downs, joys and tribulations. The Popes that the Cardinal has known and admired obviously have a lot to say about that “unpredictable God,” but so do many others, ranging from a New York City cop, Millet’s “L’Angélus,” Thomas More, Vaclav Havel, and the Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople… In this way, the Cardinal exposes in each short chapter a facet of faith, his own or someone else’s. And he does it in a very concrete way, through anecdotes, real events, words and sometimes prayers.
About the Author
Born in 1922 in the Basque country, Cardinal Roger Etchegaray was one of Pope John-Paul II’s closest collaborators. His previous book sold 8,000 copies. Known for his warmth and simplicity, he is one of the most beloved cardinals in Rome. (Résurrection, Eugène Burnand (1850-1921) Photo (C) Musée d’Orsay, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Patrice Schmidt)
The Predators’ Ball By Dominique Maisons
Publisher: Editions de la Martinière Littérature Original Language: French | 548 pp. | November 2015 Territory: World Excl French
Thriller
About the Author
Dominique Maisons has edited a magazine, translated comic books, worked in the music industry for 10 years and co-produced a feature film. His first thriller, Le Psychopompe, won the “Grand Prix VSD du polar 2011”and was released in paperback by Pocket.
When a self-styled avenger decides to strike at the highest levels of government and national security, the whole system begins to quake. The Predators’ Ball has begun… In an exclusive suburb of Paris, a prominent but corrupt citizen is hosting a sumptuous fetish party. The men are wearing predators’ masks: hyenas, lions, jackals and more. The women are the prey: gazelles, antelopes or does. But as he is about to give the speech to get the evening started, their host collapses, gushing blood. A terrible poison has made all his organs burst. A few days earlier, the victim had received a poison-pen letter signed with a strange name: Judex. What does that black-caped French avenger from the 1910s have to do with this case? When another big shot succumbs to Judex’s warnings, the whole machinery of government is threatened. Commissioner Rossi knows that he’ll be the sacrificial lamb, the first one to go if things really fall apart. If only to save his own skin, he has to follow Judex’s trail right up through the highest ranks.
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2 Seas Agency Rights Catalog Fall 2015
Wounded Wolves By Christophe Molmy
Publisher: Editions de la Martinière Littérature Original Language: French | 336 pp. | March 2015 Territory: World Excl French
Detective Novel Christophe Molmy succeeds in offering an ultra-realistic text without falling into the trap of the succession of anecdotes from his experience as a policeman or into an optimistic Manichaeism. —MetroNews
Cops and thugs caught in an inescapable and deadly escalation of violence. A fatal sequence of events leads to chaos. Two wounded old wolves. One has been worn down by a life of robbery, extortion and years behind bars: Matthéo Astolfi, a high-ranking criminal. The other by his job, pressure from his superiors and being betrayed by his informants: Renan Pessac, police commissioner in Paris. Their fates will collide. They’ll keep tabs on each other through robberies and tailing, tracking each other down. Both of them are looking for an impossible redemption, hoping to escape their fate. Until total chaos erupts. A stunningly masterful first novel. The writing, the rhythm, the dialogues and the impeccably constructed scenes make Christophe Molmy a highly promising new author of detective fiction.
About the Author
Christophe Molmy is the head of the Paris Research and Intervention Brigade (BRI), a.k.a. the Anti-Gang Brigade. Specialized in organized crime, he began his career as a detective in Marseille, and spent many years at France’s Central Office for Repressing Organized Crime (OCRB). He is 45 years old, and this is his first novel.
Extra
By Dominique Pascaud
Publisher: Editions de la Martinière Littérature Original Language: French | 144 pp. | August 2015 Territory: World Excl French
Literary Fiction
About the Author
Dominique Pascaud was born in southwest France in 1976. After studying art in Bordeaux, he graduated from the Paris School of BeauxArts in 2001. He has had several short stories published in literary journals. He lives and works in Paris, where he teaches drawing.
A young woman who works at a stodgy provincial hotel feels like life is passing her by. To cope with a father who doesn’t speak to her and bosses who disgust her, Louise seeks shelter in what she knows how to do: serve breakfast, clear tables, scrub rooms. The only thing that makes her feel the least bit alive are Marc’s caresses and the cigarette smoke that fills her lungs during her breaks. Then one day, a film crew comes to the hotel, and something finally breaks up the monotony of her days. She’ll get caught up in a dream of glory that isn’t her own, turning her life upside down. A first novel that evokes the beauty of simple things and ordinary people. Reminiscent of Annie Ernaux’s novels, the sheer silhouettes in Patrick Modiano’s work, and the grace of Pascal Lainé’s La Dentellière (The Lace-maker), which brings to life a woman who thinks she is destined to stay in the background, rather than to have the starring role.
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2 Seas Agency Rights Catalog Fall 2015
Martine is on Gleeden® By Martine S.
Publisher: Editions de la Martinière Littérature Original Language: French | 128 pp. | September 2015 Territory: World Excl French
Fiction Last night, Martine dreamt she was a lamb chop in an airtight package from the supermarket. Because Pierre, her husband of 20 years, is cheating on her. Pierre found a mistress on Gleeden®, the “first website for extra-marital dating.” To begin with, Martine just screamed. Because of how much it hurt, and because of the other woman’s body. But also because that kind of cheating was petty, and ugly and so middle-class. Not even flamboyant, like Anna Karenina. And so for his sake, and for her own, she confronts the questions that humdrum women – the ones who’ve been baking cookies for 20 years and have stayed out of the catalogues – have to ask themselves. “Am I hopelessly naive?” Then comes the final step towards understanding Pierre: Martine signs up for Gleeden. And she talks to men. Dozens of them. It’s so easy. All you have to do is dream. But Martine doesn’t know how far all that will take her.
About the Author
Martine S. is 50. She has been married to Pierre for 20 years and works in a bank. She wrote this novel when she realized that Pierre was cheating on her. Neither her upbringing on a farm, not her camping holidays, not her visits to the zoo had prepared her for on-line adultery.
Empresses of Fashion By Yseult Williams
Publisher: Editions de la Martinière Littérature Original Language: French | 256 pp. | September 2015 Territory: World Excl French
Fashion | Lifestyle
About the Author
Yseult Williams, who has AngloIrish roots, has worked for the press since 1996. A reporter for Elle, DS, L’Evénement du Jeudi and VSD, she was the editor-in-chief of MarieClaire. In 2008, she founded and ran the magazine Grazia, and in 2013, the magazine LUI, alongside Frédéric Beigbeder.
They are divas of the press, strange creatures whose faces are hidden by huge sunglasses, and who sit in the front row at fashion shows. In another era, they would have founded salons. But in the 1920s, they began to conquer an uncharted, promising territory where their sense of style, their audacity and their ability to distill the spirit of the times could be printed on glossy paper: fashion magazines. Over time, they turned into real political animals: eccentric, whimsical, exuberant… but also inspired, avant-garde and committed. Today, their power is unparalleled. From the front row of the shows, where protocol is as precise as at royal courts, they make and break empires of luxury and fashion by raising an eyebrow, or writing an article with a poison pen. This book explores a century of fashion and women’s emancipation through portraits of women from varied backgrounds but whose fates are closely tied: from the pioneer, Edna Chase, who took over Vogue in 1914, to the diva assoluta Anna Wintour, to Hélène Lazareff (Elle), Marcelle Auclair (co-founder of MarieClaire), and many more.
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2 Seas Agency Rights Catalog Fall 2015
Rudi’s Choice By Françoise Dargent Publisher: Hachette Romans Original Language: French | 352 pp. | June 2015 Territory: World Excl French
Young Adult | Crossover Fiction November 1961: Soviet Union It’s not a fit night out for man or beast. But Rudi, 13, is running through the forest to get away from his father, who went to war and never really came back. A father who doesn’t know him. Rudi’s father wanted a chip off the old block: a good old boy who likes to hunt, and would have a tough, manly job. But Rudi lives for music and dance. He puts all of his power, strength and intensity into his steps, his pliés, and his leaps. Against all odds, Rudi will write the story of his own life. He’ll make his dream come true, a dream that will take him first to Moscow, then to Leningrad and then the world. He will become the world-famous Rudolf Nureyev...
About the Author
Françoise Dargent was born in the suburbs of Paris, but grew up in Northern France. She has worked as a journalist, and as a book critic for Figaro littéraire. In 2013, she made her first contribution to the children’s genre, co-signing the novel Mon ami Jappeloup (My Friend Jappeloup), with Pierre Durand.
Anna and Her Ghost vol. 2 By Franck Krebs Publisher: Hachette Romans Original Language: French | 260 pp. | September 2015 Territory: World Excl French
Middle Grade Fiction Anna has really done it this time. She’s got two boyfriends! First there’s Roderick, the ghost she’s seeing in secret, who has never admitted his feelings for her.
About the Author Franck Krebs was born in 1963 in Bordeaux. With a degree in literature, he became a teacher in order to share his passion for books. It was a job he adored. Franck Krebs died in 2015.
Then there’s Cedric, the new boy next door – she’s still wondering why she kissed him. Well, ok, he is cute and everything, but is she really in love with him? She’s got so many questions it’s making her head spin! And with Mammy Masha, the tyrant also known as her grandmother, coming to town, nothing’s going to get any easier. In the second and last volume of this light-hearted and affectionate text, the reader will follow two different narrators: Anna and Roderick, the ghost.
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2 Seas Agency Rights Catalog Fall 2015
6 Friends in 9th Grade By Sophie Laroche Publisher: Hachette Romans Original Language: French | 288 pp. | October 2015 Territory: World Excl French
Middle Grade Fiction Four girls and two boys. Six super-close friends. Year after year, class after class, they’ve shared everything. But will starting ninth grade put an end to all that? Allie, Leah, Mazo, Beverly, Solal and Louis are about to start ninth grade. They’ve known each other since the beginning of middle school, and they are each other’s best friends. Up until now, they’ve had a lot of classes together, but this year, their schedules don’t match at all, and they’re really upset. They’re used to telling each other everything, sharing everything and helping each other with their homework. But how are they going to deal with being split up, and what if new friends join their group? The characters face moving up to high school, preparing for collegeentrance exams, and first loves, all through the perspectives of both boys and girls.
About the Author Sophie Laroche was born in Calais in 1970. She studied journalism in Paris and has worked for the print press. Today, she devotes most of her time to writing novels and meeting her young readers. She lives in the suburbs of Paris with her husband and her three children.
One-Eyed Teddy By Yann Rambaud
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Publisher: Hachette Romans Original Language: French | 192 pp. | April 2015 Territory: World Excl French
Middle Grade Fiction (Illustrated)
About the Author
Yann Rambaud is an educator who spent many years caring for children in difficult circumstances. A few years ago, he decided to start looking after adults with mental disabilities instead. He still does this to this day, and lives with his wife and his three children near Grenoble.
It’s so difficult to concentrate when you are 12 years old and have only one thought in mind: drawing monsters. An army of orcs, or a band of trolls are far less scary than maths and grammar exercises! One day however, while he’s playing with his sister Lucile, Thomas meets his first real monster: a huge, one-eyed lizard… Very curious about the strange creature that hardly looks aggressive at all, Thomas and Lucile decide to adopt it and name it Teddy. But this new companion is neither a teddy bear nor a video game you can switch on and off at will. And soon enough, strange things begin to happen… What if the weird lizard possessed a superpower? Also available: Rights to Yann Rambaud’s previous title Gaspard from the Depths!
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2 Seas Agency Rights Catalog Fall 2015
The Epic Saga of Hercules By Jacques Cassabois Publisher: Le Livre de Poche Jeunesse Original Language: French | 320 pp. | August 2015 Territory: World Excl French
Middle Grade Fiction One of the great figures of Greek mythology, Hercules comes to life through the words of Jacques Cassabois, the author of the Gilgamesh saga. There once was a night that lasted 36 hours. A mystical night, when a god united with a mortal woman. A night that would set into motion a plan that Zeus, the master of Mount Olympus, held dear: to make humanity better by giving them as a role model his own son. Alcaeus was stronger than anyone. But that wasn’t enough. He would have to learn to outdo himself. Never to rest on his laurels but to go ever further, from the world of the dead to the far ends of the earth. He would also have to learn to listen to the music of his heart. To do that, he must perform 12 labors, and to accomplish them all. He was already a man. A conqueror. A hero. He would become Hercules.
About the Author
Born in 1947 in the Jura Mountains, Jacques Cassabois has published numerous works for adolescents and adults. A winner of the prize of the Société des Gens de Lettres et du Ministère de la Jeunesse et des Sports, he is interested in old texts and mythological heroes such as Sinbad and Gilgamesh.
The Smell of Cut Grass By Nicolas Delesalle Publisher: Le Livre de Poche/Préludes Editions Original Language: French | 148 pp. | January 2015 Territory: World Excl French
Literary Fiction
Over 15,000 copies sold; English sample available This bittersweet debut novel, composed of a clear and musical writing, examines with great tenderness but without nostalgia what remains in each us of the child we were. —Le Monde des Livres
About the Author Nicolas Delesalle studied at the School of Journalism in Lille. He is a journalist working for the French weekly magazine Télérama, and has covered amongst others the revolt in Cairo, Egypt. The Smell of Cut Grass (“Un parfum d’herbe coupée”) is his first novel.
“The day my father came home with a winning smile and the [Renault 25] GTS, I scowled. But I swallowed my expression the way a kid hides the smell of his first cigarette from his parents. I said ‘yea’ and ‘great’ but with a heavy heart, having understood that having a GTS instead of a GTX was the sixth Great Renunciation after the tooth fairy, the Easter bunny, Santa Claus, Mathilde (the prettiest girl in kindergarten) and my career as a professional soccer player.” By showing snapshots of his life, Kolya depicts people, words, landscapes that have counted for him: the roads to vacation, girls, Totor the peasant with mushrooms and the family home, books, a few grasshoppers, Rasputin the German Shepherd… All those little things, which in the end are everything. A remarkable first novel, full of emotion, humor, poetry, and depth, in which the delicate, singular music of childhood leads the way to a universal partition.
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2 Seas Agency Rights Catalog Fall 2015
I Like You
By Jacques Expert
Publisher: Le Livre de Poche Original Language: French | 170 pp. | June 2015 Territory: World Excl French
Thriller
30,000 copies sold
Love at first sight can lead to the worst… especially if the object of your affection is a serial killer. Vincent is a seductive young man who seems perfectly respectable. When he finds himself in the same subway car as the lovely Stephanie and helps her get rid of a bothersome stranger, she is charmed instantly. Although she’s already in a relationship, love at first sight strikes here, in this subway. Yet Vincent is not who he seems. He’s a predator: Stephanie won’t be his first victim; the very thought of slitting her throat compels him to pursue her at any cost. Everything changes when, while leaving the same subway, a cop recognizes Vincent from a composite sketch. A breakneck race against time begins. Will he stop the subway on time before Stephanie becomes the new victim of this oh-so-charming serial killer? This ruthless, page-turning thriller, written exclusively for Le Livre de Poche, ratchets up the tension in its dark reflection on love and chance.
About the Author
Jacques Expert is the director of programming for RTL radio and the author of the series “Criminal Stories” on France Info radio. His previous book, Farewell, sold 40,000 copies.
Mala Vida By Marc Fernandez Publisher: Le Livre de Poche/Préludes Editions Original Language: French | 256 pp. | September 2015 Territory: World Excl French
Thriller
About the Author Marc Fernandez, co-founder and editor-in-chief of the magazine Alibi, which is dedicated to crime fiction, has been a journalist for over 15 years. He has also co-written several books of investigation. Mala Vida is first solo novel.
Present-day Spain. The radical right just won the elections after 12 years of Socialist rule. In the midst of the political upheaval, a series of murders is committed, from Madrid to Barcelona via Valencia. The list of victims: a politician, a real-estate lawyer, a doctor, a banker and a nun. There are no obvious ties between them… Diego Martin, a radio journalist specialized in criminal affairs, is trying to keep his head above water despite the coming purge in the media. When he decides to look into the first murder, he hasn’t got the faintest idea that the investigation will lead him far beyond the local crime scene and to the heart of an on-going national scandal – the “stolen babies” affair that started under Franco. When a specialist in crime and crime fiction intertwines recent historical events and a thirst for revenge, the outcome is both surprising and disturbing. Marc Fernandez has written a dark and fast-paced narrative exposing the most shameful secrets of the Franco era, whose stigmata can still be felt in today’s Spain.
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2 Seas Agency Rights Catalog Fall 2015
Gods in Crisis By Meliss
Publisher: Maison du dictionnaire Original Language: French | 89 pp. | September 2015 Territory: World Excl French
Graphic Novel
Full English translation available
The Greek crisis seen from Olympus Olympus is going through an economic crisis as the gods have spent all the money. The International Monetary God demands austerity measures from them, in order to be saved. So they start by interfering with famous myths and stories, like putting tolls in Thermopylae, taxing the Labyrinth and more. Humans find those measures impossible to bear and the Philosophers convince them to take down Olympus. The God Hermes will try everything he can, in order to save Olympus and also himself…
About the Author
Born in 1981, Meliss (George Melissaropoulos) studied animation and illustration in London and specialized in 3D animation and multimedia arts in Athens. In 2006, he established his own creative studio, Animatic Vision. He has published in several magazines, as well as the comics album Hartinos Kosmos. He is known for his Greek comics series TEZA published by Jemma Press.
English Language Publishers, Agents, and Authors
2 Seas Agency
2 Seas Agency Rights Catalog Fall 2015
The Minor Outsider By Ted McDermott
Publisher: ONE/Pushkin Press Original Language: English | Approx. 56,000 words | April 2016 Territory: World Excl UK and Ireland
Literary Fiction
Wry, sharp-eyed, fresh as mountain air. —Jonathan Trigell, author of Boy A and Genus
A love story for the Vice generation Ed and Taylor, both aspiring young writers, fall in love during a summer of aimless drinking and partying in their university town of Missoula, Montana. Lonely and looking for love, they connect despite their profound differences: Ed is brooding, ambitious and selfdestructive, living in denial of a mysterious tumour spreading from his limbs to his brain. Beautiful Taylor is a pure soul, positive, full of hope and emotional generosity. Their difficult relationship is intense, exciting yet doomed from the start, complicated further when Taylor falls pregnant. As Ed resists the harmony she brings to his life, Taylor’s need to protect herself and their child also grows, until a dramatic finale. Ted Mc Dermott’s stark writing speaks truthfully and with a touch of dark humour for and to today’s generation of young people trying to find hope in what feels to many like an existential void. The Minor Outsider will be read as the young literary voice of our dark times.
About the Author
Ted McDermott lives with his wife in Philadelphia. He has worked as a cook, a mover, a baker, a college instructor, an encyclopedist and a reporter for an alternative weekly. His fiction and non-fiction have appeared in VICE, Believer, Portland Review, Minus Times and elsewhere. In 2009, he was nominated for The Essay Prize. The Minor Outsider is his first novel.
Flame Tree Road By Shona Patel Publisher: Mira Press | Agent: April Eberhardt Literary Original Language: English | 416 pp. | June 2015 Territory: World Excl North America
Historical Romance
About the Author
Shona Patel was born and raised in a remote tea plantation in Assam, India. The daughter of a tea planter, she drew upon her personal observations and experiences for her critically acclaimed debut novel, Teatime For The Firefly. She lives in Arizona where is currently working on her third novel.
From the acclaimed author of Teatime for the Firefly comes the story of a man with dreams of changing the world, who finds himself changed by love... 1870s India. In a tiny village where society is ruled by a caste system and women are defined solely by marriage, young Biren Roy dreams of forging a new destiny. When his mother suffers the fate of widowhood—shunned by her loved ones and forced to live in solitary penance—Biren devotes his life to affecting change. Biren’s passionate spirit blossoms as wildly as the blazing flame trees of his homeland. With a law degree he goes to work for the government to pioneer academic equality for girls. But in a place governed by age-old conventions, progress comes at a price and soon Biren becomes a stranger among his own countrymen. Just when his vision for the future begins to look hopeless, he meets Maya, the independent-minded daughter of a local educator, and his soul is reignited. It is in her love that Biren finally finds his home, and in her heart that he finds the hope for a new world.
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2 Seas Agency Rights Catalog Fall 2015
The California Wife By Kristen Harnisch Publisher: Harper Collins Canada | Agent: April Eberhardt Literary Original Language: English | Approx. 102,000 words | January 2016 Territory: World Excl North America | Rights Sold: Hungary (Lazi)
Historical Romance The California Wife is the second novel in a series about the changing world of vineyard life at the turn of the twentieth century. In this stand-alone sequel to The Vintner’s Daughter, the newly married Sara and Philippe Lemieux strive to create worldrenowned wines while confronting obstacles that threaten their life together. In a family saga that spans from 1897 to 1906, Sara and Philippe’s vineyards in Napa and the Loire Valley face record losses—and the threats of phylloxera and prohibition. The California Wife is an extensively researched and captivating tale that immerses readers in the rich vineyard culture of both the Old and New Worlds, the evolving women’s rights movement in America, and a spirited heroine’s fight for independence within her marriage.
About the Author
Kristen Harnisch drew upon her extensive research and experiences living in the San Francisco Bay Area and visiting the Loire Valley to create the story for The Vintner’s Daughter and The California Wife. Harnisch has a degree in economics from Villanova University and currently resides in Connecticut. (Alix Martinez Photography)
Twelve Thousand Mornings By Mary Driver Thiel
Publisher: Pine Lake Press | Agent: April Eberhardt Literary Original Language: English | 362 pp. | January 2015 Territory: World Excl USA
Women’s Fiction
This moving portrait of a woman forced to confront her failures— and to trust in the powers of family and forgiveness—makes this story a fascinating read. —Kristen Harnisch, author of The Vintner’s Daughter
About the Author
Mary Driver-Thiel lives in Lake Forest, Illinois. Her short stories have been published in various print and online magazines. Her novel The World Undone, which begins the story of Anne and her daughters, was short-listed for 2013 Book of the Year by Chicago Writers’ Association. Both books can be read as stand-alones.
In Twelve Thousand Mornings, Anne Bennett presents herself as living a charmed life. Her husband, Henry, heads a powerful Connecticut investment firm, and her elegant home is featured in magazines dedicated to luxury lifestyles. When Henry dies unexpectedly, the façade of Anne’s perfect life disappears. His firm is under federal investigation. All assets are seized, and Anne has nothing but a purse full of cash, her sense of entitlement, and her car. Anne soon aims for Michigan, where both daughters live, to face the costs of her mistakes. In this gripping, beautifully written novel, three women let their hearts thaw in the great faith that the connections they forge will save them all. Twelve Thousand Mornings is a deeply hopeful story about the power we have to change ourselves, to forgive, and to bloom.
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2 Seas Agency Rights Catalog Fall 2015
The Rich Employee By James Altucher with Claudia Azula Altucher Publisher: Choose Yourself Media Original Language: English | 235 pp. | September 2015 Territory: World Excl English | Under Option: Taiwan
Business | Marketing Income is now permanently going down versus inflation for the average employee. Industry, knowledge, and management are all being outsourced cheaply or to technology. Many people, though, mistakenly think that the solution is entrepreneurship. That “entrepreneurship is the pathway to riches”. This is not true. Being an entrepreneur does have great upside but also it has a well-known rate of failure of 85%. There is no way to predict your way out of that 85%. 85% of all startups fail. But, you can become a rich employee with the mindset and techniques described in this book. Not only that: companies in this new century will only succeed if they encourage their employees to develop a Rich Employee mindset. Written by the author of The Choose Yourself Guide to Wealth which USA Today has called “One of the 12 Best Business Books of All Time” and also the author of WSJ and USA Today bestseller Choose Yourself, which Forbes recently called one of the “Top Five Books Every Entrepreneur Must Read”.
About the Author
James Altucher is a successful investor, entrepreneur, and employee. He has appeared 100s of times on CNBC and other TV networks. He has written over 15 books on topics ranging from investing to inspirational. All of his books have been bestsellers and he is translated in over a dozen languages.
Become an Idea Machine: Because
Ideas Are the Currency of the 21st Century By Claudia Azula Altucher
Publisher: Choose Yourself Media Original Language: English | 356 pp. | January 2015 Territory: World Excl English
Business | Personal Development I love a book that inspires action and this one does the trick! Clever, creative, and filled with great exercises, Become an Idea Machine will make your brain come alive in an exciting new way. Get ready to mentally sweat your way to success! —Cheryl Richardson, NY Times Bestselling Author of Take Time for Your Life
About the Author
Claudia Azula Altucher is a writer, podcast host, speaker and teacher of yoga. She is the WSJ bestselling coauthor of The Power of No which was sold to 18 countries, and author of 21 Things To Know Before Starting An Ashtanga Yoga Practice. She writes for national media outlets including Thought Catalog, Mantra Yoga + Health, and Positively Positive.
How do I transform my life? The answer is simple: come up with ten ideas a day. It doesn’t matter if they are good or bad, the key is to exercise your idea muscle, keep it toned, and in great shape. When we become idea machines we are flooded with good ones, and when a good idea comes to us we feel grateful, in awe, and energized. The power of a great idea takes over us and we have to do the next step. We are inspired from within to take action and make it happen. Try it for yourself. Come up with the ideas suggested in the 180 lists within this book and see your life transform, in magical ways, in front of your eyes.
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2 Seas Agency Rights Catalog Fall 2015
Content Machine By Dan Norris Publisher: Create Space Original Language: English | 224 pp. | August 2015 Territory: World Excl English | Under Option: China, Czech Republic, Poland, Thailand and Vietnam
Business | Marketing Learn how to use content marketing to build a 6-figure business with zero advertising Content Machine outlines a strategy for using content marketing to build a 7 figure business with zero advertising. By teaching the fundamentals of content marketing, how to create great content and how to stand out from the crowd, it simplifies the otherwise challenging process of creating content with impact. Since the purpose of content marketing is to build a great business, Content Machine focuses heavily on how to create a high growth business off the back of your content. Author Dan Norris shares his story about how he grew his WordPress support business from scratch to over $1m AUD annual run rate in 2 years, spending only $181.23 on advertising. Whether you are a blogger, content marketer, entrepreneur or marketing manager, Content Machine will help you see the return you deserve from your content marketing efforts.
About the Author
Dan Norris is a serial entrepreneur, award winning content marketer, and international speaker. His book The 7 Day Startup was a top 10 bestseller in 3 Amazon categories, has been translated into 6 languages, and is also available with 2 Seas Agency.
The Connection Algorithm By Jesse Warren Tevelow
Publisher: Create Space Original Language: English | 233 pp. | May 2015 Territory: World Excl English | Rights Sold: Korea (Innerbook)
Business | Self Help
Reached #1 in multiple categories on Amazon, including Entrepreneurship, Management, Knowledge Capital, and Personal Success. Promising first book [by] a new author, about a fascinating topic. — Jurgen Appelo, Contributing writer for Forbes, author of best-selling books Management 3.0, How to Change the World, and #Workout.
About the Author
Jesse Warren Tevelow is an entrepreneur and writer. He cofounded PlayQ Inc., and was a member of the inaugural class of TechStars. Jesse has been featured in various publications, including Businessweek Magazine, Do More Faster (by Brad Feld and David Cohen), and Upstarts (by Donna Fenn).
Ever wish you could be a little more extraordinary? A little happier? A little more in control of your life? Well, this is your blueprint for making it happen. It might sound crazy, but it all starts with quitting your 9-5. Jesse should know. He quit his job to join TechStars, a startup accelerator that helped him and his business partner build a multimillion dollar company from the ground up. Then he wrote this book, while lounging at the beach. This isn’t just Jesse’s story. It’s the story of every successful person you’ve ever known. After nearly a decade of interviews and research, Jesse has compiled the ultimate playbook for defying the status quo, weaving together tips from industry heavy-hitters like Ben Horowitz, Tim Ferriss, and Steve Jobs. Beyond advice, you’ll also find lists of the actual sites, services, and techniques you can use to improve your performance in a range of disciplines. Join Jesse as he outlines the power of the Four C’s: Choose, Commit, Create, Connect.
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2 Seas Agency Rights Catalog Fall 2015
Non-Obvious: How to Think Different, Curate Ideas & Predict the Future By Rohit Bhargava
Publisher: Ideapress Publishing Original Language: English | 272 pp. | February 2015 Territory: World Excl English Rights Sold: Thailand (Be Better Publishing), Arabic (Jarir), Korea (Moonyelim), China (Renmin University Press), Russia (Mann, Ivanov & Ferber), Vietnam (Thai Ha)
Business | Marketing
A goldmine of ideas and trends – Guy Kawasaki, Chief Evangelist of Canva and author of The Art of the Start, 2.0 This is one of those rare books that delivers insights that are both useful and help illuminate where business is going. It’s a great read. – Charles Duhigg, Author of the bestseller The Power Of Habit
What do Disney, Bollywood, and The Batkid teach us about how to create celebrity experiences for our audiences? Can being imperfect make your business more marketable? The answers to these questions may not be all that obvious. And that’s exactly the point. Discover what more than half a million others already have: how to use the power of non-obvious thinking to grow your business and make a bigger impact in the world. Non-Obvious is filled with entertaining insights like how a pioneering comedy club charging audiences per laugh may forecast the future of consumption or how a wave of tech firms hiring yogis may change the overall culture of business.
About the Author
Rohit Bhargava is a trend curator, founder of the Influential Marketing Group (IMG), and author of five best selling business books including Non-Obvious (Wall Street Journal bestseller in 2015) and Likeonomics (shortlisted for Best Sales/Marketing Book of 2012 by 1800CEORead).
Amazing People Worldwide (series) By Charles Margerison Original Language: English | Approx. 200 pp. each | 2010 onwards Territory: World Excl English
Reference | Inspirational
About the Author
Dr Charles Margerison, founder and author of Amazing People Worldwide, is a Chartered Psychologist and a member of the Royal Institution and the Royal Literature Society. The author of more than ten books on management issues, he also cofounded Emerald, the world’s leading publisher of management journals and databases and TMS, a global management consultancy company.
Amazing People Worldwide is home to the world’s largest collection of inspirational, biographical stories about amazing people including Walt Disney, Aristotle, Marie Curie, Galileo, Queen Victoria, Confucius, Helen Keller and Elvis Presley. This unique book and audio series holds the key to understanding how and why the world’s most influential and effective individuals did what they did. The series features influential artists, scientists, politicians, musicians, inventors, activists, philosophers, doctors, engineers and entrepreneurs from all over the world. These stories are developed by psychologist and business leader Dr Charles Margerison, who is supported by his dedicated editorial team. Each story is meticulously researched and based on historical facts. We can all learn how to improve our own performance from the achievements of amazing people. —Dr Charles Margerison
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Dutch Publishers
2 Seas Agency
2 Seas Agency Rights Catalog Fall 2015
The Boy from the Old City By Tahmina Akefi Publisher: De Geus Original Language: Dutch | 288 pp. | April 2015 Territory: World Excl Dutch
Literary Fiction Praise for Akefi’s Not One of Us Looked Back: Charming and threatening. Highly recommended to devotees of The Kite Runner. —Feeling A beautiful novel. —Marie Claire
The father of Freidoon is taking him to the modern part of their hometown Herat. It appears that his father’s new wife is living there. Freidoon doesn’t get along with her and decides to run away to the city. He meets new people and is especially interested in Maryam, the daughter of a glassblower. He does his utmost to get near to her.
About the Author
The Boy from the Old City is the second novel by Tahmina Akefi, TV and radio journalist and editor of the national news. Her autobiographic debut novel Not One of Us Looked Back was published in 2012.
The King Will Come By Mohammed Benzakour Publisher: De Geus Original Language: Dutch | 224 pp. | September 2015 Territory: World Excl Dutch
Literary Fiction Praise for Benzakour’s previous title Yemma: What a magnificently devastating book. —De Groene Amsterdammer His observation and his feelings are social, public, personal, and intimate at the same time. —Report of the jury E. Du Perron Prize 2014
About the Author
Mohammed Benzakour (Morocco, 1972) is not only a writer, but also a columnist, journalist, and publicist. De Geus has published the anthology Smelly Surgeons and the highly praised Yemma, for which Benzakour won the E. Du Perron Prize in 2014.
Moebdi leaves the Netherlands to look for a bride in his native region. He’s a desirable match and there are enough marriageable girls. Nevertheless, everything that could go wrong, goes wrong. Courtesy and decency always lose from his desire and fantasy when Moebdi is approaching the girls. But he won’t abandon his hope. He will find love and happiness somewhere.
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2 Seas Agency Rights Catalog Fall 2015
A Small Effort By Hugo Blom Publisher: De Geus Original Language: Dutch | 256 pp. | September 2015 Territory: World Excl Dutch
Literary Fiction A child growing up without its mother, a son getting older without his father, a man who discovers that love is not about power. Samuel is sent to a prestigious boarding school by his father when he is twelve. The aura of untouchability around the boy makes sure that nobody gets too close. He also protects himself from love. After a successful stint at boarding school, Samuel’s career moves forward quickly and effortlessly. He doesn’t seek out happiness; he just wants to be left alone. Until the memory of something that happened in his younger days pushes him off balance and creates cracks in his emotional armour.
About the Author
Hugo Blom (the Netherlands, 1968) has been chief editor and publisher of VPRO Magazine since 2007. He started his journalistic career in 1990 as a freelance reporter. A Small Effort is his debut novel.
Rara Avis By Bram Dehouck Publisher: De Geus Original Language: Dutch | 256 pp. | September 2015 Territory: World Excl Dutch Under Option: France, Germany, and the English language
Crime Fiction Complete English and German translations available of previous title Sleepless Summer
About the Author
The Condescending Murder, Bram Dehouck’s debut novel, was awarded several prizes including the award for best Dutch crime novel. Two years later, he received the same prize for his second work, Sleepless Summer. Rights were sold to France, Germany and England, and Shooting Star bought film rights.
Praise for Dehouck’s previous work: Very few Dutch thriller authors are able to touch his authorship.— Trouw Dehouck shows that the power is in the restriction; he keeps the story small and the main characters on a short. He successfully causes confusion. —NRC Handelsblad
He promises heaven. You get hell. Nick Farkas is a man to look up to. Full of charm, style and appearance. His CV is an enumeration of successes. But he also has another side; manipulation, intimidation, abuse and blatant lies. But pride goes before a fall, doesn’t it? No, Nick Farkas will not fall. When things get too hot, he leaves. A new job, a new beginning.
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2 Seas Agency Rights Catalog Fall 2015
Everything Changes By Kristien Hemmerechts Publisher: De Geus Original Language: Dutch | 288 pp. | August 2015 Territory: World Excl Dutch Under Option: France, Sweden, and the English language
Literary Fiction Praise for Hemmerechts’ previous work: Hemmerechts is always innovative; she writes always suspenseful books and asks the right questions. —De Morgen
A novel which breaks down role patterns and brings the moral up for discussion. Iris Verdonck can proudly look back on a successful career and a turbulent love life. Everything, or almost everything in her life seems to go smoothly. Until she meets a beautiful, enigmatic female student who turns her head. The consequences are hardly incalculable and she risks losing everything she has fought for.
About the Author
Kristien Hemmerechts (1955) is a well-known Belgian author. Her vast body of oeuvre consist of novels, short stories and autobiographical essays. The success of various novels as Language Without Me (1997), Gitte, and The Woman Who Fed the Dogs (2014) is illustrative of the significance and importance of her work.
Birk By Jaap Robben Publisher: De Geus Original Language: Dutch | 256 pp. | April 2014 Territory: World Excl Dutch Rights Sold: English language (World Editions), Germany (Ars Vivendi), Turkey (Kahve)
Literary Fiction Full English translation available; over 20,000 copies sold; film rights sold
About the Author
After having written several highly praised children’s books, Birk is the first literary novel by the multitalented Jaap Robben. The book received rave reviews and was embraced by many booksellers and readers as one of their favorite Dutch titles of 2014.
Selected by the Dutch Foundation for Literature for their fall 2014 edition of 10 Books from Holland, and winner of the First Dutch Bookseller Award! With Birk, Jaap Robben delivers a staggering first novel. —Het Parool You just keep reading while you’re holding your breath. (…) A promising novelist is born. **** —De Morgen
Mikael lives with his parents on a small and remote island between Scotland and Norway. One day, his father disappears into the sea and Mikael keeps silent about what has happened. Guilt, consolation and reproaches pile up, until his mother demands the impossible from him. Birk is a story as tender as it is oppressive, about people who become islands themselves.
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2 Seas Agency Rights Catalog Fall 2015
The Black Napoleon By Vamba Sherif Publisher: De Geus Original Language: Dutch | 416 pp. | November 2015 Territory: World Excl Dutch Under Option: Germany, Spain, France and the English language
Literary Fiction Praise for Sherif’s previous work: The African version of Heart of Darkness. –Ilija Trojanow Behind the uncomplicated language the refinement is hidden of a writer who is running the show. –NRC Handelsblad Shakespeare in the rain forest. –Berliner Zeitung
A tremendous novel based on a true story about an African emperor. Zaiwulo is thirteen when he leaves his home in Liberia and travels to an old city in Guinea. In this place he learns to read, to love and to survive the battle. At the same time, the ruthless warrior Samori Turi wants to unite various African nations to battle against the colonial rulers. The paths of Zaiwulo and Samori, the Black Napoleon, cross one another. The boy becomes an important piece in a heroic struggle for freedom.
About the Author
Vamba Sherif (Liberia, 1973) was 17 years old when he moved to the Netherlands with his brother. The Black Napoleon is his fourth novel and the translation rights of his previous works have been sold to various countries including Spain, Germany, France and England.
Underdog By Elfie Tromp Publisher: De Geus Original Language: Dutch | 256 pp. | October 2015 Territory: World Excl Dutch
Literary Fiction Praise for Tromp’s previous work: Her style is free of cynicism, while there’s still enough to laugh about. –VPRO Magazine Elfie Tromp is a naturally talented person. Her sentences are like fishhooks. –James Worthy
About the Author
Elfie Tromp (the Netherlands, 1985) writes novels, columns and plays. Her debut novel, Goeroe, was awarded the prize of the best book of Rotterdam. That same year she won a prize for young travel journalists.
A tragicomedy about the biggest taboo of our time: failure. The eccentric Rein works as a caretaker at his family’s kennel. Although the Afghan Hounds have won many awards, the kennel is on the edge of a financial abyss. Rein’s ambitious sister, Adelien, has a plan of last resort: they should have their bitch serviced by an international stud dog in Australia. During a trip full of unexpected situations the siblings get to know each other better than they ever thought possible.
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2 Seas Agency Rights Catalog Fall 2015
Thirty Days By Annelies Verbeke Publisher: De Geus Original Language: Dutch | 320 pp. | March 2015 Territory: World Excl Dutch Rights Sold: English (World Editions, WEL)
Literary Fiction
English sample available; over 10,000 copies sold This book is a dialogue with our whimsical, tough time. Read it slowly. Put it aside. Read it again –David van Reybrouck, author of Congo, A History Without a doubt, Verbeke is the greatest talent of her generation. —De Standaard Verbeke manipulates in a refined way the register of the duality: life and death, good and bad, friend and foe go closely together. That realization gets through to the end of the novel. **** —De Morgen
Alphonse is a handyman with unique charisma. His costumers are not only praising his work, but also his personality. He brings peace to people and they open their mind for him. His attraction is so overwhelming that people are starting to claim him. But Alphonse neither wants to be a guru nor Jesus.
About the Author
Annelies Verbeke (Gent, 1976) is what you might call an all-rounder. She writes novels, film scenarios, theatre texts and columns. However, the genre she particularly focuses on is the short story. A few years ago she published her first collection, Greener Grass, followed in the summer of 2012 by the anthology To the City.
Brussels By Basje Bender Publisher: Meulenhoff Original Language: Dutch | 208 pp. | September 2015 Territory: World Excl Dutch
Literary Fiction English sample available
About the Author
Basje Bender (1984) studied Law and Italian at Utrecht University, after which she moved to Brussels for a traineeship at the European Commission. She is currently graduating on European policies.
Elvie is twenty-seven and works in Brussels, where the apéros are in French and the beer is served with a sip of grenadine. Life in the bubble of European officials and lobbyists suits her just fine. She views the men she dates as entertaining passers-by who pay for her dinner and fill her nights. On the weekends Elvie takes long walks and observes the city and its inhabitants. Brussels feels like the ultimate escape: the receptions, the networking and the hobos on the streets can’t really touch Elvie. That changes when she meets the Flemish artist Camille. Elvie doesn’t know what to make of her confused feelings for someone as elusive as Camille. Their friendship is light and pretty as a soap bubble, but it turns out to be just as vulnerable.
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2 Seas Agency Rights Catalog Fall 2015
Attempts to Make Something of Life. The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83 1/4 Years Old By Hendrik Groen
Publisher: Meulenhoff Original Language: Dutch | 328 pp. | June 2014 Territory: World Excl Dutch Rights Sold (mostly at auction or in pre-empts): Italy (Longanesi), Germany (Piper), Spain (Roca), France (Presses de la Cité), Catalan (Amsterdam), Greece (Patakis), UK & Commonwealth (Michael Joseph/Penguin Randomhouse UK), Sweden (Wahlström & Widstrand), Korea (Moonhak Soochup), Finland (Gummerus), Brazil (Planeta), Portugal (Jacaranda), Serbia (Dereta), Poland (Albatros), Lithuania (Alma Littera), Slovenia (Mladinska Knjiga), Norway (Vigmostad & Bjørke), Iceland (Bjartur), Hungary (Libri Kiado), Turkey (Can), China (ThinKingdom).
Literary Fiction
English sample and full Italian translation available Over 40,000 copies sold Film rights sold
Hendrik Groen may be old, but he’s certainly not dead yet and not messing about this year. Granted, his daily walks become shorter and shorter because the legs are protesting and he certainly frequents his GP’s office; he’s an elderly, technically speaking. But why would that mean that life’s only about hiding out in a retirement home, drinking coffee and waiting for death to come? In short and honest, seemingly light-hearted diary entries Hendrik Groen takes the reader along for a year full of ups and downs in a retirement home in the north of Amsterdam.
About the Author
Hendrik Groen is a pseudonym. The author doesn’t live in a retirement home himself, but he does write from his own experience. As he always says: ‘Not a sentence is dishonest, but not every word is true.’
As Long As There Is Life. The Second Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 85 Years Old By Hendrik Groen
Publisher: Meulenhoff Original Language: Dutch | 328 pp. | January 2016 Territory: World Excl Dutch | Under option in many countries (see above)
Literary Fiction Everyone got to know Hendrik Groen thanks to his diary Attempts to Make Something of Life. Together with his friend Evert and the other members of the Old-butnot-dead-club, Hendrik tries to make his last years in a retirement home in the north of Amsterdam as pleasant as possible. Sometimes it’s hard for Hendrik to keep his spirits up. Fortunately, he has picked up his pen again. With his characteristically charming, ironic humor and critical eye he observes his fellow residents, the management team, his friends, and old age in general. And he definitely does not spare himself. Also available: the Hendrik Groen birthday calendar! (Meulenhoff, October 2015, 14 pp.) The many fans of Hendrik Groen and his friends from the Old-but-not-dead-club will be particularly delighted to discover the faces illustrator Victor Meijer has given the other characters from Attempts to Make Something of Life. Each month of the year features an appropriate drawing: from Hendrik and Eefje sitting together on a bench in the first spring sunshine, to the Old-but-not-dead-club’s mobility scooter racing through a howling fall storm, and a festive bacchanal around the lavish Christmas turkey. To be enjoyed every day for many years to come!
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2 Seas Agency Rights Catalog Fall 2015
Turbulence By Annette Herfkens Publisher: Boekerij Original Language: English | 322 pp. | April 2015 Territory: World Excl USA, Dutch, Vietnam Rights Sold: France (Payot-Rivages), Germany (Lübbe), Portugal (Quinta Essência/Leya, in a pre-empt), USA (Regan Arts, incl. Canada)
Inspirational Memoir A moving tale of physical and psychological survival. —Kirkus In Turbulence, Annette Herfkens puts spiritual insights and teachings into practice, describing both effortless and mindful transformation of consciousness, in a concise and compelling way. —Deepak Chopra
If you think that surviving an airplane crash will get you a free pass for the rest of your life, think again. When young Annette Herfkens, one of the few female international bond traders on Wall Street, and her fiance boarded Vietnam Airlines flight 474 in Ho Chi Minh City, they were just two passengers headed for a romantic getaway, unaware of the fateful moment that would shatter their dreams forever. The plane crashed into a mountaintop, leaving Annette trapped in the jungle as the sole survivor for eight days. What followed was an incredible story of endurance, mystery, and higher spirit.
About the Author
Annette Herfkens writes and speaks about the gains that come with loss. She is an accidental expert in the field: Nine years after she lost her fiancé in an airplane crash, her son was diagnosed with autism. Just as in the jungle, she focuses on the beauty of what is. Annette is currently living a hopeful life in New York City with her family.
Rather No Applause Before I Live By Sander Van Leeuwen Publisher: Meulenhoff Original Language: Dutch | 256 pp. | April 2015 Territory: World Excl Dutch
Literary Fiction A funny, smart and sweet story. —Brabrants Dagblad This novel belongs to the category of promising debuts of young writers. —De Gelderlander
About the Author
Sander van Leeuwen (1986) studied psychology at Leiden University. He published the first chapter of his debut novel, Rather No Applause Before I Live, online on the crowdfunding site TenPages, where he got noticed immediately.
Twenty-four year old Thomas is stuck in his life. His days are a long chain of repetitive chores and he feels he is nothing more than a footnote in the lives of others. He desperately tries to get himself to do something, but nothing changes. He then receives a letter from a girl he doesn’t know, called Anna. She lives in Scotland and completely out of the blue she writes him very personal letters. Thomas, fascinated, can’t stop himself from answering her and a correspondence arises. The tone of Anna’s letters is increasingly dark, reminding Thomas of his best friend Frank, who committed suicide a few years ago. Driven by guilt, Thomas decides he will help Anna. He has to save her. But things turn out not to be that simple…
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2 Seas Agency Rights Catalog Fall 2015
Exit By Michiel Stroink Publisher: Meulenhoff Original Language: Dutch | 240 pp. | October 2015 Territory: World Excl Dutch Under Option: Russia
Literary Fiction For failed writer Abel Schreuder, the only way to escape his life without ambition is getting lost. After a visit to his demented grandmother in the nursing home, he lets fate decide and travels via Hanover to the shadowy ruin festivals of Berlin. In this selfcreated maze he meets femme fatale Eve, backpack-professional Jerry and many other lost souls which help him get lost too. Meanwhile, he is looking for an explanation for his urge to get lost, and begins to write about his father and his grandfather. Three generations of men who appear to be virtually nothing alike, but are inextricably linked. Slowly, his journey is starting to make more sense, but why does it seem that every step he takes into the distance seems to bring him closer to home?
About the Author
Michiel Stroink (1981) studied Journalism and Literature in Utrecht. His debut novel, Or Am I Crazy, was praised and is made into a movie which will be released in the fall of 2015. With his second novel, Tilt, he won the Dioraphte Youth Literature Award 2014. Michiel lives in Amsterdam.
The New Kratz By Gerard van Emmerik Publisher: Nieuw Amsterdam Original Language: Dutch | 192 pp. | October 2015 Territory: World Excl Dutch | Under Option: Hungary
Literary Fiction Praise for Van Emmerik’s previous novel, The Chicken Boy: A true masterpiece —De Gazet van Antwerpen The tension of the surroundings resembles the work of writers like Truman Capote and William Faulkner. —Haarlems Dagblad A page-turner to read in one sitting. —De Stentor
About the Author
Gerard van Emmerik (1955) is a writer of short stories and novels. His most recent book is the critically acclaimed novel The Chicken Boy. He divides his time between Amsterdam and his countryside house in the Veluwe region.
The New Kratz is the story of Julien and his new parents Hildegard and Karl Kratz. They decide to welcome Julien into their home, after having lost their own son Maikie under murky circumstances. Julien craves an ordinary life, Hildegard is looking for an ordinary son. But they both carry a secret that will have many more consequences than they could anticipate. A witty, dark and greatly written novel about an unusual family, guilt and second chances.
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2 Seas Agency Rights Catalog Fall 2015
When Winter Is Over By Thomas Verbogt Publisher: Nieuw Amsterdam Original Language: Dutch | 224 pp. | September 2015 Territory: World Excl Dutch
Literary Fiction Praise for Verbogt’s previous work: Reminiscent of Gerard Reve and JD Salinger’s prose. **** — Het Parool It’s nice to read Verbogt’s work; with every novel he draws you closer to him...His shining memories are quite contagious. — De Volkskrant
Your life might be ultimately determined by just a few seconds. Because you glance at someone, or not. You’re suddenly being kissed on a summer day. It doesn’t have to be more than that. The protagonist of When Winter Is Over feels exactly this, as for years he lives with the recollection of such a moment. But merely the recollection isn’t enough. When Winter Is Over is a story about guilt and shame, about the realization that we are all merely passersby who glance at each other, or quickly touch each other. It treats the question what life is ultimately about: about the truth, or about reality. When Winter Is Over – it’s a promise, the hope of something new.
About the Author
Thomas Verbogt (1952) has written many novels, short stories and theater plays. Well-known titles include the collection of stories What Exactly Is the Purpose? and Really Something for You, and the novels Perfect Silence and Color of Happiness.
Alone with the Gods By Alex Boogers Publisher: Podium Original Language: Dutch | 560 pp. | February 2015 Territory: World Excl Dutch
Literary Fiction Over 5,000 copies sold Boogers plays with reality, with worlds that exist in parallel, affecting each other and coming to blows. —De Volkskrant Boogers is a novelist who has something to say. —NRC Handelsblad
About the Author Alex Boogers (1970) has written seven novels, including The Book Estee and All Things Are Glorious. He caused quite a stir with the novella When the Ants Are Screaming, about the tragic death a young boy from Rotterdam. His most recent novel Alone with the Gods was published in 2015. Rights to his previous titles are also available with 2 Seas Agency.
One night, eleven-year-old Aaron Bachman finds a man lying motionless in the doorway. His father is standing in the hallway, his fists clenched. He shouts at Aaron to go back into the sitting room. His father calls for an ambulance and gives himself up to the police. This is the start of Alex Boogers’ stunning comingof-age novel, in which the author pulls all of his usual themes – fucked-up family relationships, love and abandonment, fighting to survive, writing in order to grow – into a kind of ultimate book. This moving, fluid story is also a search for a father. The son of a convicted criminal, Aaron has the sensitive, nuanced views of an artist, the hunger of a writer, the anger of a fighter, and the survival instincts of a street urchin.
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2 Seas Agency Rights Catalog Fall 2015
The Third Lottery By Renate Dorrestein
Publisher: Podium Original Language: Dutch | 300 pp. | February 2015 Territory: World Excl Dutch
Literary Fiction
English sample available; more than 16,000 copies sold Suspenseful and funny. —De Telegraaf Beautifully written, suspenseful, convincing characters with whom you’d like to spend time with as a reader. —Libelle
The world ends leaving behind just one Amsterdam satellite town. When the clouds of dust have settled, there are just a couple of thousand survivors. These are mainly women, including writer-inresidence, Renate Dorrestein. The few remaining men are escaped prisoners, who soon take charge. Slowly the shattered community gets back on its feet. But after a couple of years, the birth rate is still zero. Just when all hope of new life seems to be evaporating, a baby suddenly appears. Its origin is a puzzle to the inhabitants. Maybe there is still life outside of this place after all? Or is this event a sign of the beginning of the end? And who is going to be entrusted with the baby? In this tense, masterful novel, Renate Dorrestein shows that love will get us through anything in the end. The Third Lottery is an as humorous as it is harrowing narrative about hopelessness and hope, selfishness and sacrifice, by a writer at the height of her powers.
About the Author
Renate Dorrestein’s novels have been nominated for many prizes including the Libris Literature Prize, the AKO Literature Prize, the Trouw/NS Public Award and The International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.
Harem
By Ronald Giphart
Publisher: Podium Original Language: Dutch | 373 pp. | January 2015 Territory: World Excl Dutch
Literary Fiction
Longlisted for the ECI Literature Prize; more than 16,000 copies sold; English sample available Harem is the novel that you’ve been hoping Giphart was going to write for some time. A happy marriage between an impressive plot, compelling characters and an extremely likable narrator. **** —Het Parool As always with Giphart, love, sex and death are intertwined – he’s in splendid form. —NRC Handelsblad
About the Author
Ronald Giphart studied Dutch and worked as a night porter in a hospital in Utrecht for many years. His debut novel, Me too, was awarded the Gouden Ezelsoor and adapted for the big screen. He also published the literary photography book, Heroines (with photographer Eric van den Elsen). In 2004, Giphart was awarded the C.C.S. Croneprijs for his oeuvre, a biannual literary prize awarded by the city of Utrecht.
Liam, the twenty-year-old son of celebrated photographer McDonald Hope (known to all as Mac), retreats to a cabin in a Swedish forest to write his debut novel. The protagonist is his father, world-famous for his photography, who has always been oddly reticent about his flamboyant past. Drawing from photographs, interviews and rumours, Liam arrives at a tumultuous tale of Mac’s life, encompassing his youth in Amsterdam, a Swedish punk band, the excesses of the Milking Station (a Warholian Factory ensconced in Stockholm’s hippest neighbourhood), the tragic fate of his best friend Hampus and of course Mac’s legendary harem. In this accomplished novel, Ronald Giphart not only demonstrates his mastery of intoxicating scenes that pulse with romantic infatuation, but he also explores new themes such as the sinister side of hedonism, the power of both word and image, and the curse and the blessings of fatherhood.
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2 Seas Agency Rights Catalog Fall 2015
Hunt By Elvis Peeters Publisher: Podium Original Language: Dutch | 176 pp. | October 2015 Territory: World Excl Dutch
Literary Fiction
English sample available; Peeters’ work has been published in Croatia, Denmark (Turbine), Germany (Blumenbar), Hungary (Europa), Japan, Slovenia, and Turkey. Praise for Peeters’ previous works: A shining example of how powerful literature can be when it encourages people to contemplate the world they live in. ***** —Het Parool Us sharpens one’s senses, broadens one’s mind and offers the best of what literature may be expected to. ***** —De Volkskrant Another highly original novel by Elvis Peeters, whose works always end up on various short- and longlists of prestigious literary prizes, are adapted to the screen and translated into many languages. In Hunt (Jacht) Peeters examines the boundaries between humans and animals. What would happen if one day Descartes’ cogito ergo sum also applies to animals? Will the human hegemony then remain, or will we have to share our dominant position with other species? Once again Elvis Peeters explores moral issues, and once again he delivers a thought-provoking must-read. There’s no doubt that Hunt will be one of the most important Dutch novels of 2015.
Styx
About the Author
Elvis Peeters writes prose, scripts and children’s books and is also known as a musician and performer. His first work as a novelist, Spa, was published in 1998. He reached a wide audience in 2005 with The Uncountables, which was nominated for a number of prestigious literary awards. His controversial novel Us (2009) received a great deal of press attention and sold 10,000 copies.
By Peter Pontiac Publisher: Podium Original Language: Dutch | 160 pp. | October 2015 Territory: World Excl Dutch
Graphic Novel Praise for Pontiac’s previous work Kraut: A very moving story, that reads like a classical thriller. —Michel Faber (author of The Crimson Petal and The White) This can compete with Art Spiegelman’s Maus. —Het Parool
An unfinished autobiographical graphic novel on death.
About the Author
Peter Pontiac (1951-2015) is considered the Godfather of (underground) graphic novels in the Netherlands. In 2011 he was awarded the Marten Toonderprijs for his oeuvre.
On January 20th of this year the Netherlands lost its godfather of underground graphic novels, Peter Pontiac. Unfortunately, he didn’t have enough time to finish the successor to his masterpiece Kraut, but seldom have the words swan song rung so true: Pontiac has bequeathed to us an unfinished yet deeply moving response to his own imminent death – magnificently drawn and beautifully written. Undeniably one of the highlights in the history of Podium.
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2 Seas Agency Rights Catalog Fall 2015
Tench
By Inge Schilperoord
Publisher: Podium Original Language: Dutch | 221 pp. | March 2015 Territory: World Excl Dutch Rights Sold: France (Belfond), UK (Pushkin Press, WEL).
Literary Fiction
English sample available; Longlisted for the ECI Literature Prize; over 8,000 copies sold; film rights sold
A brilliant and necessary novel.***** —De Morgen A penetrating, oppressive and extremely well-written novel. —Radio 1
After Jonathan has been acquitted and released from a psychiatric prison due to insufficient evidence, he returns to the cramped house in the fishing village he shares with his lonely mother. He’s looking forward to walking his dog Milk on the dunes again. Soon he is joined by the new girl next door who has been left to fend for herself by her mother. Jonathan is afraid of making the same mistake and tries to keep her at arm’s length. He conscientiously does the exercise his prison psychologist gave him to keep his thoughts in check – with decreasing amounts of success, his mind becomes more and more overloaded and he seems to be losing control. In the intensely written Tench, Inge Schilperoord manages to make the reader complicit in the struggles of a paedophile. With her incisive style and perfect control of the narrative arch, she makes an overwhelming entry into Dutch literature.
About the Author
Inge Schilperoord (1973) works as an editor and reviewer for several publications including Psychologie Magazine, NRC Handelsblad, Het Parool and Crossing Border Magazine. Aside from this, she is a forensic psychologist at the Pieter Baan Centrum amongst other places. Tench is her debut.
Monica, My Father By Maaike Sips Publisher: Podium Original Language: Dutch | 300 pp. | October 2015 Territory: World Excl Dutch
Memoir
About the Author
Maaike Sips (1971) studied Dutch and Literature. She works as a journalist and has made various art programmes and documentaries for television and short films for big brands.
A father’s gender transition in later life. When Maaike’s father retired, he took the drastic decision to say goodbye to his life as a man. Monica, My Father is a groundbreaking work of literary non-fiction, in which Maaike Sips achieves a delicate balance between journalistic objectivity and personal involvement as she describes her father’s gender transition from man to woman in later life. When he did, she didn’t get the chance to say farewell to the man she had known as her father, and was left with many questions. Why did he wait so long? And how did he cope with being a man for almost seventy years? The story has already received much media attention in the Netherlands.
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2 Seas Agency Rights Catalog Fall 2015
Parrot Flew Over the IJssel By Kader Abdolah Publisher: Prometheus Original Language: Dutch | 448 pp. | September 2014 Territory: World Excl Dutch | Rights Sold: Italy (Iperborea)
Literary Fiction Over 35,000 copies sold 2 Seas also represents Kader Abdolah’s backlist titles published with De Geus, including The King and The House of the Mosque.
In Parrot Flew Over the IJssel, four foreign families are each offered a house in a village along the river IJssel. They begin a new life in a new country: the Netherlands. It doesn’t take long until the river, the IJssel Bridge, and the ferry become a part of their identity. This new novel by Kader Abdollah, takes place in and around the city of Zwolle, especially in four traditional Dutch villages by the river: Zalk, Wilsum, ‘s Heerenbroek and Veecaten, in a landscape that has remained the same for hundreds of years. While the cold is not inviting, the skies are magnificent. The four families, just as foreign to each other as the country where they live now, realize that they need to continue their journey along the water, the IJssel Bridge and to the city. Will they find a home there?
About the Author
Kader Abdolah’s books have been translated in more than 20 countries. Kader Abdolah is a pen name created to honor friends who died under the Iranian regime. In 1988, at the invitation of the United Nations, he moved to the Netherlands as a political refugee. Over one million copies of Kader Abdollah’s books have sold in the Netherlands and his work appears in 27 languages.
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