Archipelago Books

In 2023 Archipelago Books published, promoted, and distributed 16 works of international literature: tali girls by siamak herawi, translated from farsi by sara khalili; january by sara gallardo, translated by maureen shaughnessy and frances riddle; the golden pot: tales by e.t.a hoffmann, translated from german by peter wortsman; the end by attila bartis, translated by judith sollosy; a practical guide to levitation by jose eduardo agualusa, translated from portuguese (angola) by daniel hahn; the enlightenment of katzu nakamatsu by augusto higa oshiro, translated from spanish (peru) by jennifer shyue; my life as edgar by dominique fabre, translated from french by anna lehman; second star by philippe delerm, translated from french by jody gladding;(continued on schedule o)whale by cheon myeong-kwan, translated from korean by chi-young kim; eastbound by maylis de kerangal, translated from french by jessica moore; and the last pomegranate tree by bachtyar ali, translated from kurdish by kareem abdoulraman; and to the letter by tomasz rozycki, translated from polish by mira rosenthal. We published five titles through our children's imprint, elsewhere editions: rosie runs, written and illustrated by marika maijala (finland); who will make the snow? By taras and marjana prokhasko, translated from ukrainian by boris dralyuk and jennifer croft, and paperback editions of claude ponti's my valley and hiznobyuti (france).critics and readers responded to our 2023 titles with enthusiasm. Both eastbound and the picture book who will make the snow? Made it into the new york times book review's best ten Books of the year. To the letter was a finalist for the griffin prize, jennifer shyue received the american translators' literary association's debut translation prize for her rendering of the enlightenment of katsuo nakamatsuo, whale was shortlisted for the booker prize, the end won the european bank for reconstruction and development literature prize, the last pomegranate tree was a finalist for the nbcc's gregg barrios prize, and tali girls was shortlisted for the american library association's andrew carnegie medal for excellence in fiction, and peter wortsman's golden pot by e.t.a. Hoffmann was a finalist for the helen and kurt wolff prize this year. Our Books received praise in the new york times book review, the Washington post, harper's magazine, the los angeles times, the tls, the nyrb, among other publications, which helped our Books find an ever-broadening audience. Our membership program has steadily grown to a community of close to 400 members, and our readings and book events, hosted by bookstores across the country and beyond attracted receptive audiences. In 2023, Archipelago and elsewhere acquired fourteen new titles from europe, asia, south america, the middle-east, africa, and canada. For each book released in '23, we printed 200-400 advance review copies to share with book critics, editors, booksellers, writers, bloggers, educators, librarians, writers, and book show producers, and reading groups. We tailored these lists to each book, ensuring that every title reached those who were most likely to discuss the book, write about it, and help us spread the word. We also solicited pre-publication blurbs from writers who we felt would appreciate the book. Our marketing budget also included the production and dissemination of 7000 print catalogs. 2023 was a year of growth for the press. Our book sales were up from 2022 (as were our royalty obligations!) Individual donors amounted to about one-third of our contributed income. We received grants from the carl lesnor family foundation, the firehouse fund, the maslow foundation, the omaha community foundation, the national endowment for the arts, the new york state council for the arts, nyc's department of cultural affairs, among others. We collaborated with boston university, the literature translation institute of korea, the dallas contemporary art museum. We orchestrated a three-city book tour for cheon myeong-kwan (new york, los angeles, dallas). Elsewhere editions organized book events for finnish illustrator marika maijala in three cities. Maijala worked with the celebrated printer and publisher gary lichtenstein at mass moca (north adams, ma) and presented her original artwork and rosie runs to a captivated audience. We welcomed two new board members to the organization and our elsewhere editions' advisory board welcomed two new members. We are doing everything we can to sustain our publishing program creatively and energetically, and to place our Books in the hands of a wide array of readers of all ages and walks of life.