Harvill Secker Acquires “Right Bank of the Argun” for UK and Commonwealth

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Right Bank of the Argun (额尔古纳河右岸) has been acquired by Harvill Secker for publication in the UK and Commonwealth markets. Gray Tan at The Grayhawk Agency in Taipei confirmed the news to Paper-Republic on May 5, and added that the deal was completed by Georgina Capel of Capel & Land on behalf of Barbara J Zitwer and The Grayhawk Agency.

Publishing director at Harvill Secker, Liz Foley, was responsible for purchasing Haruki Murakami's 1Q84. But Right Bank of the Argun "is indeed the first Chinese book I've ever bought," she noted.

The novel by Chi Zijian (迟子建) is a first-person narrative told from the point of view of an aging Evenki woman in the last years of the 20th century. She chooses to stay behind when her clan abandons the forested mountains of northeast China for “civilized” life among town dwellers, where their beloved reindeer will be cooped up like cattle. It will soon be a film directed by Yang Minghua (杨明华), a member of the Daur ethnic group, and starring the popular and photogenic Evenki singer, Alima (阿丽玛).

A few weeks earlier, the Dutch-language rights were sold to House of Books by Marianne Schobach Literary Agency, and the Italian-language rights to Corbaccio (Longanesi Group) by Gabriella Ambrosioni Literary Agency, both on behalf of Barbara J Zitwer and The Grayhawk Agency.

Harvill Secker is a Random House UK imprint and one of the best-known publishers of foreign literature in the UK. Their stable of authors includes JM Coetzee, Haruki Murakami, Juli Zeh (German), Ron Leshem (Hebrew) and Giulo Leoni (Italian), as well as Scandinavian authors Arnaldur Indridason, Karin Fussom, Jo Nesbo and Per Petterson.