TORONTO
,
Nov. 9
/CNW/ - Knopf
Canada
, together with Yann Martel's international literary agency, Westwood Creative Artists, is pleased to announce that his eagerly awaited new novel, BEATRICE AND VIRGIL, will be on sale in
Canada
on
April 6, 2010
, leading off publication around the world.
Yann Martel is best-known as the author of the beloved novel, LIFE OF PI, which won the 2002
Man Booker
Prize, and has sold over 700,000 copies in
Canada
, and 7 million copies worldwide in more than forty countries. BEATRICE AND VIRGIL was acquired by Knopf
Canada
Publisher and Martel's longtime Canadian editor
Diane Martin
, in a deal arranged by
Jackie Kaiser
of Westwood Creative Artists.
"Yann Martel's fiction is always ambitious, always fascinating, always a great pleasure to discover and re-discover," says
Diane Martin
. "No one will ever forget Pi Patel and his lifeboat mate
Richard Parker
as they engage in a mutual dance of survival through many months at sea. There are some books one simply must talk about after reading. His new novel - one that flashes and shines like the rarest of gems - is, again, definitely one of those. I look forward to hearing and taking part in the many conversations that will result when Beatrice and Virgil is published next year."
Louise Dennys, Executive Publisher of The Knopf Random
Canada
Publishing Group, who acquired Yann Martel's first collection of stories The Facts behind the
Helsinki
Roccamatios in 1993, commented, "Our long relationship with Yann is something we treasure because each book has been a joy, each more engaging then the last. Beatrice and Virgil is astounding - it has the imaginative reach and spirit that delighted readers of Life of Pi around the world, and is as highly original as Pi ever was, yet is altogether new, profound and exciting. Like those novels we love best, it helps us look at our world with fresh understanding and amazement. April is a month readers can look forward to in 2010."
Says Yann Martel, "A book is a part of speech, an element in an ongoing dialogue about life. I look forward to talking about Beatrice and Virgil with readers here in
Canada
and abroad."
Yann Martel was born in 1963 in
Spain
of Canadian parents. He lived and travelled in a number of countries (
France
,
Costa Rica
,
Mexico
,
India
,
Iran
, among others) and worked at odd jobs (dishwasher, tree planter, security guard) before turning to writing. He earned a Bachelor's degree in Philosophy from Trent University. He is the author of four previous books, the collection of short stories The Facts Behind the
Helsinki
Roccamatios, the novels Self and Life of Pi, and the collection of letters What is
Stephen Harper
Reading? He also has a blog, www.whatisstephenharperreading.ca. Martel lives in Saskatoon with his partner, the writer
Alice Kuipers
, and their son Theo. Yann Martel will be on tour in
Canada
for publication of Beatrice and Virgil in April and
May 2010
.
Knopf
Canada
is a Canadian publishing imprint of Random House of
Canada
Limited, the Canadian division of Random House, Inc., the world's largest publisher of general interest hardcover, paperback and audio adult and children's fiction and nonfiction books. Random House of
Canada
interacts with readers online at www.randomhouse.ca, www.booklounge.ca, www.bookclubs.ca and www.mysterybooks.ca. Follow Random House of
Canada
on Twitter http://twitter.com/RandomHouseCA
For further information: please contact Sharon Klein at [email protected]
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