Flame Tree Publishing is delighted to announce the acquisition of worldwide rights for three new books by the award-winning African-Australian author Eugen Bacon.

Secured by Flame Tree Founder and Publisher Nick Wells, the 24-month agreement marks a significant deepening of the creative partnership between the publisher and the author.

The three upcoming releases showcase Bacon’s signature genre-bending, Afro-surrealist style:

  • Jintu (September 2027): A Norse murder mystery novella transposed in the heart of Australia
  • Betwixt (May 2028): Afro-irreal short stories featuring an introduction by Nuzo Onoh, a Nigerian-British ‘Queen of African Horror’
  • Children of the Storm: Sauútiverse Stories (September 2028):  Genre-bending stories set in the Afrocentric Sauútiverse with its award-winning stories.

Nick Wells, Publisher of Flame Tree, spoke of the depth and cultural resonance of Eugen’s voice:

“Some writing demands a larger global stage and we see this in Eugen’s work. She brings richness and newness to the literary landscape, encapsulating her hybridity as an African who is also Australian.”

Eugen Bacon expressed her enthusiasm for the continued partnership, highlighting the rare nature of the deal:

“I have an immense affection for the Flame Tree family. Nick Wells has fostered a culture that genuinely treasures authors within an environment of trust and mutual respect. This phenomenal agreement—signed directly with a trusted publisher—is a powerful testament to the agility and reach of modern global publishing alliances.”

This acquisition builds on a thriving, ongoing collaboration, following the January 2026 release of Sauúti Terrors—part of the Afrocentric Sauútiverse anthologies co-edited by Eugen Bacon, Cheryl S. Ntumy, and Stephen Embleton. Flame Tree is on track to publish Sauúti Horror in May 2027.

Before the new trio of books debuts, readers can look forward to the upcoming release of Eugen’s Black Dingo this October, a cross-genre miscellany of short stories threaded together by the elusive presence of the Australian dingo. Black Dingo is sponsored through Eugen’s 2024 Otherwise Fellowship awarded by the Otherwise Motherboard.

See also:

Eugen Bacon is an African Australian author. She’s a Solstice, British Fantasy, Locus and Foreword Indies Award winner, a twice World Fantasy and Shirley Jackson Award finalist, and a finalist in the Philip K. Dick and Ignyte Awards, and the Nommo Awards for speculative fiction by Africans. Eugen is an Otherwise Fellow, and was also announced in the honor list for ‘doing exciting work in gender and speculative fiction’. Danged Black Thing made the Otherwise Award Honor List as a ‘sharp collection of Afro-Surrealist work’. Visit her at eugenbacon.com.