😍📚 Small Press Editors recommend their big wins <women for women with women>
#absurderecs by Editors of your favorite small presses
“Woman to woman. Not enemies. Not rivals. If not friends, then allies.”
― Tiffany Reisz, The Priest
I have spoken to (or tried to at least) over 50 small presses that are doing amazing work in the field of translation. I have been an avid reader all my life and I was shocked out of wits at the number of AMAZING publishers I had no idea about, even though I have read some of their books.
A short introduction to why we celebrate Women In Translation Month (in case you are new here) :
For the most ridiculous and well-documented reasons, the work of women, in general, and in publishing, in particular, has been neglected to such a preposterous extent that you’re missing out on the CREAM of literature and you’d probably never experience the beauty of those magic makers - had you not stumbled upon this caffeine-fuelled rambling of a queer disabled woman of colour.
I asked my beloved editors two questions:
What is their favorite WIT project of all time?
What is their recent WIT triumph?
Here, femmes and lads, I present to you - Editors Choice WIT Recs 🎉✨
1. Parthian Books | Managing Editor - Carly Holmes
I got to speak to Carly who is the kindest person you’ll ever meet. I loved our bookish conversation and am looking forward to more of those. Here are some of her favorites (which honestly are becoming my favorites, I have already finished two of these).
I would have to answer - and this is based on my personal pride as I edited it - the novel, Hana
, by Alena Mornštajnová
which we published last year, I take particular pride in. It tells such an important story and was longlisted a few months ago for the EBRD Literature Prize1. It was wonderful to work with the translators Julia and Peter Sherwood on it as well. I'd worked with Julia previously on The Night Circus and Other Stories
by Uršuľa Kovalyk
and she's fantastic.
Probably our most recent translation triumph would be the novel Death Drives an Audi
by Kristian Bang Foss
, brilliantly translated by Caroline Waight. Published in May, it's garnering a lot of really good reviews and it's a great read.
2. Charco Press | Director & Publishing Editor - Carolina Orloff
The most adorable and admirable part of talking with people who create books (in any capacity) is how they brim with affection when they talk about their work. Charco Press already has badges of honor under their belt, chances are you have already read something by them. Hear it from Carolina.
Die, My Love
by Ariana Harwicz
, a book that I also co-translated. When we published that book, it had only been translated into Hebrew. Thanks to our publication, and to the success it had (it was longlisted for the Booker International among other prizes), it has now been translated to over 20 languages and a film is being produced based on Charco’s translation.
The Adventures of China Iron
by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara
(tr. Fiona Mackintosh and Iona Macintyre) was shortlisted for the Booker International Prize. This made history for us. And it meant the book has sold over 15.000 copies here and in North America.
3. Frayed Edge Press | Publisher - Dr. Alison M. Lewis
Dr. Alison was prompt and passionate in her conversation and I am very grateful to have gotten in touch with her. These recommendations are pure gold and you will not want to miss them!
Yearning for the Sea is Selma Marks' translation of Esther Seligson's Sed de mar
, so both a woman author and woman translator. Seligson was an important Mexican feminist writer and I believe this is the first work of hers translated into English. She really ought to be more widely known.
We've also worked with translator Esther Greenleaf Murer, who has translated much of Norwegian author Jens Bjorneboe. So, woman translator, but male author. The two works we've put out are earlier works of Bjorneboe's. Winter in Bellapalma is a relatively light read but deals with the kind of social commentary he addresses in later works. Ere the Cock Crows is more difficult; it deals with Nazi medical experiments, common people caught up in fascism and other moral issues that still ring true today.
And, we also published a short work by a French author, Jean-Bernard Pouy. He has been called "untranslatable" (mostly due to his writing with a lot of slang and idiomatic language) but we managed to get him translated, with a team of three translators, one of whom is a woman.
4. Fum d'Estampa Press | Alice Banks
Publishing Assistant
I would say that a translated book from Fum d’Estampa that I take the most pride in would be our most recent publication FORTY LOST YEARS, by Rosa Maria Arquimbau, tr. Peter Bush.
Not only is it a PEN Award winner, but it is an incredibly important piece of writing from a female perspective of the Spanish Civil war - something that is not often seen, or is overlooked.
Our most recent translation triumph would be THE SONG OF YOUTH by Monsterrat Roig, translated by Tiago Miller
. This is the first book-length publication of Roig in English, and she is an incredibly important and powerful feminist voice.
4. Comma Press | Zoe Turner - Editorial Assistant
I think we all take a lot of pride in Thirteen Months of Sunrise by Rania Mamoun, translated by Elisabeth Jaquette, as this is such a uniquely authentic woman's perspective on life in Sudan today.
My own personal translation triumph is The Book of Barcelona, as I've just finished co-editing that with Manel Olle, but collectively I think it is the forthcoming anthology The American Way.
5. Istros Books | Managing Editor and Publisher - Susan Curtis
I am going to go ahead and call Susan - a friend. I had the most wondrous time working on a piece on Istros and I am in awe of the colossal amount of work Susan has put in for South Eastern European literature.
1. A translated book published by you that you take the most pride in:
Because Drndić was already ill with cancer that would already take her life when this book was signed, and it gave her joy because it was her favorite "ugly little book", and also because I am proud to have co-translated it with the great Celia Hawkesworth. It was shortlisted for the Republic of Consciousness Prize and brought new readers to this amazing writer.
2. Your most recent translation triumph
Snapping Point
by Aslı Biçen
, translated from the Turkish by Feyza Howell
The editing of this delightful, beautifully written book sustained me through the dark days of the last lockdown. The gorgeous prose is expertly translated into the most natural English by Feyza Howell, and we've had a lot of positive feedback from readers charmed by the good old fashioned storytelling and by the parallels to be found in this story of an island set afloat without direction in the Aegean Sea, and the politics we've been experiencing recently in the UK.
The EBRD Literature Prize champions the literary richness of our regions of operations, which include almost 40 countries stretching from Morocco to Mongolia, Estonia to Egypt. The Prize also aims to illustrate the importance of literary translation and to introduce the depth and variety of the voices and creativity from these regions to the English-speaking public and a wider global audience.