Raven Leilani deal
Publishers Weekly reports that Farrar, Straus and Giroux acquired Raven Leilani’s second novel, described as a work centered on women artists — a deal listed in the industry’s weekly book-deals column (publishersweekly.com). The listing appears in the Book Deals: Week of April 13, 2026 roundup, signaling active rights movement after the London Book Fair (publishersweekly.com).
Farrar, Straus and Giroux has acquired Raven Leilani’s second novel, with publication scheduled for spring 2027. (publishersweekly.com) Publishers Weekly reported the deal in its “Book Deals: Week of April 13, 2026” column, describing the book as a novel about “a group of women, all artists” linked by a scandal and its aftermath. (publishersweekly.com) The trade listing says Leilani was represented by Molly Friedrich, president of The Friedrich Agency, and that Farrar, Straus and Giroux bought the book after Leilani’s 2020 debut, *Luster*. (publishersweekly.com; friedrichagency.com) That timing places the deal in the spring rights season, just weeks after the 2026 London Book Fair ran from March 10 to March 12 at Olympia London, a major marketplace for publishers and agents buying and selling books across territories. (londonbookfair.co.uk; bookfairs.ecpublishingllc.com) In trade publishing, a “book deal” notice is an early public signal that a manuscript or proposal has changed hands, often before a cover, final plot summary, or exact publication date is announced. Publishers Weekly’s weekly roundup is one of the industry’s standard places where those transactions become public. (publishersweekly.com; publishersweekly.com) Leilani’s first novel gives the new acquisition extra weight inside publishing. *Luster* was published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux on August 4, 2020, and later appeared in paperback from Picador, another Macmillan imprint. (aalbc.com; us.macmillan.com) Since then, Leilani has accumulated a cluster of major literary honors. The National Book Foundation says she was a “5 Under 35” honoree and lists prizes including the 2020 Kirkus Prize, the National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Prize, the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, and the Dylan Thomas Prize. (nationalbook.org) Leilani is also now teaching creative writing at Harvard, according to both the National Book Foundation and Harvard’s English department course listings. (nationalbook.org; english.fas.harvard.edu) For readers, the immediate takeaway is narrow but concrete: Leilani has a new novel sold, it is set for spring 2027, and the first public description points back to art, doubt, exposure, and the aftermath of scandal. (publishersweekly.com)
