SIMON & SCHUSTER AUSTRALIA ACQUIRES THREE NEW TITLES BY ANITA HEISS 

Simon & Schuster Australia is thrilled to announce the acquisition of three new books by Dr Anita Heiss. The first of these works will be Anita’s third historical fiction in her series on significant historical events about Wiradyuri country and people. This epic novel will focus on the 150 km trek Jimmy Clements and John Noble made from Brungle Aboriginal Station to Parliament House, Canberra in 1927. The walk raised awareness of Aboriginal rights and fought for recognition that sovereignty had never been ceded. The Long Walk (working title) will be released in 2027, to mark the 100th anniversary of their journey.

In the meantime, Anita is writing two more works of commercial women’s fiction focusing on three First Nations women. These novels will feature close friends in their fifties, living vibrant lives as they say farewell to menopausal hot flushes and sleepless nights, and welcome a newfound zest for life the rest of the world has told them should have all but dried up.

Anita says, ‘These new novels will speak to women in their 50’s – living their best lives; from swaying their hips under Hawaiian palm trees, to donning some fancy fluoro and dancing to 80s classics. As with my previous women’s fiction, the storylines will weave in the issues and themes I believe Australian readers should be considering and speaking about on a regular basis.’

The publishing director at Simon & Schuster Australia, Ben Ball, added, ‘Simon & Schuster’s relationship with Anita runs deep, so it’s wonderful to lay out her future as an author together like this, continuing her remarkably successful, groundbreaking historical novels and adding a new chapter: rich, sustaining, wildly entertaining contemporary fiction. There aren’t many authors who can write across these registers, so we’re beyond delighted to have Anita as part of the Simon & Schuster family.’

S&S secured world rights to Anita’s books via Tara Wynne of Curtis Brown Australia.