We are thrilled to announce that North American Rights to award-winning senior reporter for CBC News, Omayra Issa’s debut archival work of creative nonfiction has been acquired by Haley Cullingham at McClelland & Stewart in a 2-book deal!
Omayra is the co-creator and co-producer of CBC’s Black on the Prairies, a groundbreaking collection of articles, personal essays, audio stories, images and more.
Currently based in Saskatchewan, she is also a William Southam Fellow in Journalism at the University of Toronto’s Massey College. Born in Morocco, raised in Niger, and living in Saskatchewan for two decades, Issa is fluent in five languages. Her groundbreaking interactive project, Black on the Prairies, brought to life stories detailing Black lives past, present and future in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Alberta. The project won several awards, including a national RTDNA and a Digital Publishing Award. Issa is a board member of the Canadian Association of Journalists. In 2019 she was named one of Canada’s top 100 Black Women to watch and was nominated for a YWCA Women of Distinction Award.
Chelene Knight at Transatlantic Agency represented Omayra in this deal.
Congratulations Omayra!