The Emma Press acquires Kwan Ann Tan’s dystopian debut novel, THE WAITER
The Emma Press is delighted to announce the acquisition of The Waiter, a provocative and haunting novel by Kwan Ann Tan exploring queer longing, consumerism and class.
In a dystopian London, The Waiter follows one displaced employee as they seek to understand who they once were, and who they might become. In this truly innovative debut, Kwan Ann Tan invites the reader to pick their own narrative path through a city, and a psyche, on the brink of collapse.
The Waiter is one of two titles The Emma Press selected for publication from 138 unagented submissions received during its February 2024 call for essay collections and novellas.
The Emma Press have acquired worldwide rights directly from the author.
What they said
Author Kwan Ann Tan said: “I’m incredibly grateful to The Emma Press for taking a chance on this slightly unconventional piece of fiction, especially because I’ve always been a fan of their work. Set in a parallel London, The Waiter is a book about choices and the unknown, loneliness driven by capitalism, and trying to find meaning in life while the world is ending around you. I’m excited for readers to explore this world.”
James Trevelyan, Director of The Emma Press, said: “We can’t wait to send readers across this near-future London of dark tunnels and building-swallowing maws. Kwan Ann has created a gloriously labyrinthine text giving the readers the agency to follow different story paths through a city and a planet on the edge of destruction. The Waiter is an inventive and deeply affecting debut about who we are and the decisions we have the power to take.”
The Waiter will be published by The Emma Press on 13 November 2025.
ISBN 9781915628480/Paperback/£10.99
About the author:
Kwan Ann Tan is originally from Malaysia but currently based in London. Her work has previously been published in The Offing, Joyland Magazine, and Sine Theta Magazine. She won the 2023 Bournemouth Writing competition and is an alumnus of the Tin House Winter Workshop.
About The Emma Press:
The Emma Press is an award-winning independent publishing house based in the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham. It was founded in 2012 by Emma Dai’an Wright and is dedicated to producing beautiful, thought-provoking books for adults and children, and to making publishing and literature more accessible and welcoming. The Emma Press publishes themed anthologies, illustrated chapbooks and children’s poetry and fiction, with a growing list of translations which includes titles from Latvia, Estonia, Indonesia, Spain and the Netherlands. In 2024, the Emma Press were shortlisted for the Bookseller’s Small Press of the Year (Midlands) and the Independent Publisher Guild Awards.
For further information, to speak to Kwan Ann Tan or to request a review copy, please contact:
Georgia Wall, Publishing Manager, The Emma Press: hello@theemmapress.com
Image credit: Kwan Wynn Tan
