Kate Harvey, publishing director at Akoya, has acquired UK & Commonwealth (excluding ANZ & Canada) rights to Good Music: Letters on Art and Life by J. M. Coetzee and Andrew Ford, for publication on 8th April 2027. Coetzee and Ford are represented by Nicola Chang at David Higham Associates, who has also sold ANZ rights to Black Inc..

Good Music: Letters on Art and Life is a rich musical journey and a generous meeting of minds. Writing to one another over a period of months, Nobel Prize-winning novelist J. M. Coetzee and composer and radio broadcaster Andrew Ford share their ways of seeing, hearing and interpreting the world around them. Their exchanges take them from Bach to Bob Dylan and beyond, touching upon ideas of beauty, taste and culture. The two men discover new recordings, revisit old favourites, and think together – and from their different disciplines – about music, narrative and memory. Their warm rapport is its own invitation to listen, testament to the magic of minds opened and insights shared.

Kate Harvey says: ‘I was captivated by Good Music. It’s full of insight and discovery, and also - and just as importantly - a portrait of a friendship. How often do we have the privilege of reading a sustained correspondence like this one? John and Andrew are wonderfully free with their questions and ideas, and as readers we enjoy their creativity, reminiscences and recommendations, emerging revitalised. It’s an honour to welcome J. M. Coetzee and Andrew Ford to Akoya, and we’re excited for publication next spring.’

J. M. Coetzee and Andrew Ford say: ‘While it’s true that the two of us exchanged these letters with the idea of putting together a book, we never followed a plan. They are real letters that fly kites, go off on tangents, wind back to earlier topics and nag away at questions that are, ultimately, impossible to answer: how and why do we listen to music, and how can we tell if it’s good?’