Recent PhD student's debut novel acquired by Atheneum Publishers

Posted on 20 October 2025

Warm congratulations to recent English / CECS PhD, Sharon Choe, on the acquisition of her first novel!

Publisher's Weekly has announced that Atheneum Publishers have acquired the Young Adult debut novel by Sharon Choe, The Queen of the Spirit Woods, and a sequel. The novel is pitched as 'The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea meets The Cruel Prince', with publication scheduled for Autumn 2026.

In this epic Young Adult romantic fantasy inspired by Korean history, a girl who has faked her way into becoming a royal kitchen maid is embroiled in palace intrigue and forbidden love after stumbling into the mysterious Spirit Woods, and unwittingly becoming a vessel for 10,000 nature spirits.

Sharon was supervised by Prof Jon Mee (English/CECS), and is currently a Marie Curie Early Career Fellow at the University of Copenhagen.