Dead Ink Books have acquired ‘Blue Giant’ – the second novel from award-winning filmmaker Jordan Prosser, publishing in September 2026. Commissioning editor Harriet Hirshman bought UK + BCW (excl. Canada and ANZ) rights from Erin Sandiford at University of Queensland Press (UQP).
BLURB: Abby Horne used to think that she was destined for great things. But after high school, her short-lived career as an industry-disrupting fashion designer quickly evaporated, and her aspirations to become a world-renowned yogi and/or save the endangered Bengal tigers proved equally fruitless. Now she’s in her mid-30s with the burdens of adulthood and anonymity weighing her down. Abby feels as though she’s about to hit rock bottom, until one morning, after a drunken bender, she wakes up with an all-new, all-consuming purpose in life: to be the first human being on Mars. As luck would have it, a tech billionaire is advertising for people to join his mission to the red plant. And so begins Abby’s ill-fated quest to make the cut. ‘Blue Giant’ is a fever dream of late capitalism,where every sentence brims with the detritus and anxieties of life in the Anthropocene.
BIO: Jordan Prosser is an Australian author and filmmaker living in Naarm/Melbourne. His writing has appeared in Meanjin, Kill Your Darlings, The Guardian, The Age and Australian Book Review, while his short films and screenplays have won multiple international accolades. His short story Eleuterio Cabrera’s Beautiful Game won the Peter Carey Short Story Award in 2022. His debut novel, ‘Big Time’, released in 2024, was shortlisted for the ABIA Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year and the Aurealis Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.
Jordan Prosser said: “Last year I watched the UK release of my first book, ‘Big Time’, unfold from halfway across the world. I was amazed the whole time by the resourcefulness, playfulness, and overall reach of the entire campaign. That’s why I couldn’t be happier to have my second novel back in Dead Ink’s hands, as I know they’ll lavish just as much love and attention on my difficult second child as they did on my first. I’m anxious and excited for UK readers to meet Abby Horne – and thrilled to be once again working with such a fine independent publisher.” University of Queensland Press Publisher Aviva Tuffield said: “A hilarious journey through the self-delusions of youthful idealism that come crashing down even as our protagonist is literally reaching for the stars. Jordan Prosser has a luminous imagination, with talent to burn. I can’t wait for readers to encounter this giant of a book.”
Dead Ink Books Commissioning Editor Harriet Hirshman said: “I was astonished and delighted by Jordan Prosser’s debut novel ‘Big Time’ and I’m so pleased that his new novel is as propulsive and distinct. ‘Blue Giant’brings us into the mind of Abby Horne, a truly unique individual. Abby is a deeply flawed bundle of manic potential, and whether she’s overflowing with yearning or being unapologetically problematic, she’s impossible to look away from. Anyone who has ever pondered their place in the vast universe will see themselves in these gleaming pages.”