Graywolf Press will publish two as-yet-untitled works of nonfiction by Story Prize winner and Booker Prize finalist Brandon Taylor. Editorial director Ethan Nosowsky acquired North American rights from Meredith Kaffel Simonoff at the Gernert Agency, which will handle translation and U.K. rights. Jonathan Cape will publish the books in the U.K.
"Brandon Taylor is widely regarded as a tremendously gifted writer of fiction, but many of us have for some time now felt that his critical writing—both in published reviews as well as his irresistible Substack—is required reading and that he is an equally talented literary and cultural critic," said Nosowsky in a statement. “We are thrilled to be working with him on what will be a major piece of book-length criticism as well as a craft book that will be responsive to the changing habits and tastes of younger writers."
The first book, Taylor’s nonfiction debut, is a "work of cultural and literary critique by one of the most significant young novelists of his generation," per Graywolf. In it, the publisher said, Taylor "will explain certain cultural trends—from autofiction to sprawling dramas to the vogue for speculative fiction—with the aim of articulating a new vision of ethics and morality in fiction." The book is tentatively slated for fall 2026 publication.
The second title, per the publisher, is "a craft book that grows from Taylor’s experience teaching creative writing," taking into account his observation "that the primary references for his students are often no longer novels or short stories but television and film" and aiming “to make the craft of fiction ‘more legible to the cinematic/visual writer.' " It is tentatively slated for release in fall 2027.
Taylor is the author of two novels, Real Life and The Late Americans, and one story collection, Filthy Animals, all published by Riverhead Books. In addition to his writing, Taylor has taught at New York University’s MFA program in creative writing. He is an acquiring editor at Unnamed Press, and, with Allison Miriam Woodnutt (née Smith), oversees the new Smith & Taylor Classics imprint.
"I’m thrilled and grateful to be working with Graywolf to shape these books and bring them to the world,"Taylor said. "Really looking forward to joining the party that is literary criticism and alongside a team who has brought some of the most urgent, ambitious, and brilliant nonfiction to readers for decades. Dream come true!"
