Berlin based author Nell Zink released her debut novel The Wallcreeper in October with independent micropress project Dorothy, and is set to hit the big time this year with her second novel, Mislaid, which sold for six figures in 2014.

Zink is championed by renowned author Jonathan Franzen, best known for Freedom and The Corrections, who was her literary agent for a period before passing her onto his own representation. Mislaid, about a gay professor and lesbian student who get married, tackles themes of sexuality and race, drawing on Zink's childhood in 1960s Virginia. Along with The Wallcreeper, it's set for release in July with 4th Estate.