Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Acquires Memoir By Iconic Singer Jessye Norman

BOSTON -- Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) announced today that the company has acquired STAND UP AND SING! by Jessye Norman, a memoir by the iconic singer that will discuss her family’s deeply American story of rich southern roots and modern rise, from political activism to professional success.  Her own flowering, from Howard University to the world’s greatest stages, working with conductors and artists of opera, lieder, and jazz and spirituals, through five decades, has been tied to her family and cultural roots at every step.  STAND UP AND SING! traces a classic American story.

HMH acquired North American rights, including audio and first serial, from literary agent David Kuhn.

Bruce Nichols, SVP and Publisher of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt said, “We are thrilled to be publishing Jessye Norman, whose story transcends its subject and whose personality is even more beautiful than her voice, if that’s possible.”

Commented Norman, “I am absolutely thrilled to be able to tell my own story, to celebrate my family's rich, diverse heritage, and to pay tribute to all those that have imbued my life with their resonance.  I am grateful beyond measure for everyone who has ever said 'Let's get Jessye to sing.’”

HMH will publish the work in late 2013.


About Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s Trade & Reference Division
With nearly two-centuries of award-winning history, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s Trade and Reference Division continues to publish some of the most renowned novels, non-fiction, children’s books and reference works in hardcover, Mariner Books trade paperbacks and ebooks.  Its distinguished author list includes eight Nobel Prize winners, 47 Pulitzer Prize winners, 13 National Book Award winners, and more than 100 Caldecott, Newbery, Printz, and Silbert Medal and Honor recipients. HMH publishes such distinguished authors as Philip Roth, Temple Grandin, Tim O'Brien, and Umberto Eco, as well as The Best American series®, The American Heritage® family of dictionaries, The Gourmet Cookbook and other culinary classics, the Peterson Field Guides and books by J.R.R. Tolkien. Along with a celebrated lineup of children’s authors, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children's Book Group is the publisher of some of the best-loved children's books and book characters including Curious George, The Little Prince and The Polar Express. For more information, visit www.hmhbooks.com.