Wakefield Press acquires Jake Dean's debut story collection Flat Spell

The South Australian writer's collection, shortlisted in manuscript for the 2025 Richell Prize, is due out in July 2027.

Wakefield Press has acquired Australian and New Zealand rights to Flat Spell, the debut short story collection by South Australian writer Jake Dean, the publisher announced on 17 September.

The deal was done with agent Martin Shaw of Shaw Literary. Publication is expected in July 2027, and Polly Grant Butler, who announced the acquisition, will edit the book.

The collection gathers previously published and new stories about characters who are hapless, close to the edge and looking for meaning, with some pieces moving into surreal and absurd territory. The manuscript was shortlisted for the 2025 Richell Prize. The publisher likened Dean's work to that of Chloe Wilson, Elizabeth Tan, Paul Dalla Rosa, Kevin Wilson and Etgar Keret.

Butler said it was the dialogue that drew her in, which she described as true to life and revealing of character. Dean said his characters are "all searching for something", though each is aware that something important is missing.

Dean's stories have appeared in Griffith Review, Going Down Swinging, the Guardian, the Saturday Paper, Overland, Kill Your Darlings, Crikey and Surfing World. He has won the AAWP/UWRF Emerging Writers' Prize and the Microflix Best Writing Award, and has been shortlisted for the Griffith Review Emerging Voices Competition and the Newcastle Short Story Award. He lives and surfs on Kaurna Yerta in South Australia.