Catapult Acquires Hawthorne Books, Home of ‘The Chronology of Water’

Fresh off the Cannes buzz for Kristen Stewart’s directorial debut, the indie publisher behind Lidia Yuknavitch’s cult memoir The Chronology of Water is getting a new home.

Hawthorne Books & Literary Arts, the Portland-based press that originally published Yuknavitch’s memoir, has been acquired by Catapult Book Group, an independent collective known for its literary imprints Catapult, Counterpoint Press, and Soft Skull Press. The deal folds Hawthorne’s list into Catapult’s ecosystem and shifts its distribution to Penguin Random House, dramatically widening the reach of its backlist. [Shelf Awareness]

Kristen Stewart’s Cannes Debut Supercharges a Cult Memoir

The timing of the acquisition is no accident. Stewart’s adaptation of The Chronology of Water premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes in May, marking her first feature as a director and earning warm critical notices that pushed Yuknavitch’s raw, fragmented memoir back into the spotlight. [Reuters]

The film follows a woman shaped by abuse, addiction, and destructive relationships who eventually finds a path through writing—closely echoing Yuknavitch’s own history. Imogen Poots stars as the Yuknavitch figure, alongside Jim Belushi, Thora Birch, Charlie Carrick, Susannah Flood, Kim Gordon, and Tom Sturridge. After its Cannes bow, the film secured international sales through Les Films du Losange, with the BFI set to release it in the UK and Ireland and The Forge handling the U.S. rollout.

It’s the latest sign that literary memoirs with jagged, confessional edges can make compelling cinema, joining recent adaptations like Denis Johnson’s Train Dreams, which is heading to Netflix. Netflix’s Train Dreams adaptation is part of the same wave of prestige, author-driven projects reshaping the book-to-screen pipeline.

Hawthorne Joins a Growing Indie Powerhouse

Catapult’s purchase of Hawthorne is part of a broader expansion strategy that has seen the company steadily grow its literary imprint portfolio and profile among indie presses. A recent announcement framed the move as a way to deepen Catapult’s bench of emotionally complex, voice-driven books while leveraging shared infrastructure and marketing muscle. [Catcapital]

Hawthorne brings a well-regarded backlist along with The Chronology of Water, including Poe Ballantine’s Love and Terror on the Howling Plains of Nowhere and Frank Meeink and Jody M. Roy’s Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead. [Comtex] Under the deal, Hawthorne’s distribution moves from Publishers Group West to Penguin Random House via Catapult, and the imprint will continue to acquire new titles, with its first post-acquisition release slated for fall 2026.

For readers, that means easier access to Yuknavitch’s work just as Stewart’s film sends new fans searching for the book. It also situates Hawthorne within a cluster of indies that have produced International Booker, Andrew Carnegie Medal, and National Book Critics Circle winners—positioning its authors for the kind of awards and media attention that can transform a niche memoir into a breakout hit.

This deal lands amid a wider boom in literary adaptations and rights deals, from Amazon’s planned film of Rebecca Yarros’ Variation to Sony’s optioning of James Islington’s fantasy saga. The Obamas’ adaptation of Rebecca Yarros’ Variation and other high-profile projects suggest that smaller presses like Hawthorne can increasingly expect their boldest books to live a second life on screen.

For now, Hawthorne’s future looks bigger, not smaller: a respected indie backlist, a breakout memoir boosted by a Cannes premiere, and a new berth inside an ambitious publishing collective betting that difficult, daring stories still have room to grow.