Charco Press

Last updated

Charco Press is an independent publisher based in Edinburgh that specialises in translating contemporary Latin American fiction into English. It was launched in 2016 by Carolina Orloff and Samuel McDowell and has since enjoyed considerable success. Its professed aim is to introduce groundbreaking works of contemporary Latin American literature through carefully crafted translations to an audience that may be unfamiliar with its themes or narrative styles. [1] [2] In 2019, the house began distribution in Canada and the US. In 2021, it launched a collection of original works in Spanish, and in 2022, one of original works in English.

Contents

Name

The name "Charco", meaning "puddle" or "pond" in Spanish, derives from a colloquial expression used in some Latin American countries to refer to the Atlantic Ocean. [1] More specifically, the expression cruzar el charco ("to cross the pond") refers to the act of going overseas or travelling between continents, and may carry connotations of the migratory waves that moved to and from Latin America in different historical periods. [3] Thus, the publisher's name stands for its aim to act as a cultural and linguistic bridge between Latin America and the English-speaking world. [1]

History

Charco Press was launched in November 2016 in the city of Edinburgh by Carolina Orloff and Samuel McDowell. According to Orloff, who earned her PhD in Latin American literature at the University of Edinburgh, the Latin American authors who until the first decade of the 21st century were available in English-language bookshops and discussed in English-language academia were always the same. Thus, when she and McDowell started to develop their publishing project, they decided to seek out recent Latin American books of great impact and make them accessible to English-speaking readers. [3] In 2019, Charco partnered with Consortium, a brand of Ingram Publisher Services, to commence distribution of its titles in Canada and the US. [4] In 2021, it launched a collection of original works in Spanish, and in 2022, a collection of original works in English focusing on works of non-fiction and memoirs with a tangible link to Latin America. [5] By 2023, Charco's catalogue included almost 40 titles from all over Latin America and had influenced other houses to translate Spanish-language works into English.

Awards

Titles published by Charco have won or received nominations for various awards:

The house itself has also been distinguished at Scotland's National Book Awards, in which Charco Press was named Publisher of the Year 2023 and Carolina Orloff Emerging Publisher of the Year 2018, and at the British Book Awards, in which Charco was named Scotland's Small Press of the Year in 2021 and 2019. [13] [14] [15]

Published authors

Related Research Articles

Frank Wynne is an Irish literary translator and writer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alice McDermott</span> American writer, novelist, essayist (born 1953)

Alice McDermott is an American writer and university professor. For her 1998 novel Charming Billy she won an American Book Award and the U.S. National Book Award for Fiction. She was shortlisted for the PEN/Faulkner award for fiction.

Margaret Elisabeth Jull Costa OBE, OIH is a British translator of Portuguese- and Spanish-language fiction and poetry, including the works of Nobel Prize winner José Saramago, Eça de Queiroz, Fernando Pessoa, Paulo Coelho, Bernardo Atxaga, Carmen Martín Gaite, Javier Marías, and José Régio. She has won the Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize more times than any other translator.

The PEN Translation Prize is an annual award given by PEN America to outstanding translations into the English language. It has been presented annually by PEN America and the Book of the Month Club since 1963. It was the first award in the United States expressly for literary translators. A 1999 New York Times article called it "the Academy Award of Translation" and that the award is thus usually not given to younger translators.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Burnside</span> Scottish writer (born 1955)

John Burnside FRSL FRSE is a Scottish writer. He is one of only three poets to have won both the T. S. Eliot Prize and the Forward Poetry Prize for the same book. In 2023, he won the David Cohen Prize.

Scotland's National Book Awards, formerly known as the Saltire Society Literary Awards, are made annually by the Saltire Society. First awarded in 1937, they are awarded for books by Scottish authors or about Scotland, and are awarded in several categories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrés Neuman</span> Argentine writer (born 1977)

Andrés Neuman is an Argentine writer, poet, translator, columnist and blogger.

Oneworld Publications is a British independent publishing firm founded in 1986 by Novin Doostdar and Juliet Mabey originally to publish accessible non-fiction by experts and academics for the general market. Based in London, it later added a literary fiction list and both a children's list and an upmarket crime list, and now publishes across a wide range of subjects, including history, politics, current affairs, popular science, religion, philosophy, and psychology, as well as literary fiction, crime fiction and suspense, and children's titles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Bush (translator)</span> English literary translator

Peter R. Bush is an English literary translator. He has translated works from Catalan, French, Spanish and Portuguese to English, including the work of Josep Pla, Joan Sales and Merce Rodoreda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CLÀR</span>

CLÀR is a Scottish Gaelic publisher. Established in 1996, the company is run on a voluntary, independent basis and based in Inverness, Scotland. It was the publisher for the Ùr-sgeul project, specialising in new Gaelic fiction.

The Premio Valle-Inclán is a literary translation prize. It is awarded by the Society of Authors (London) for the best English translation of a work of Spanish literature. It is named after Ramón del Valle-Inclán. The prize money is GBP £3,000 and a runner-up is awared £1,.000.

Freight Books was an independent publisher based in Glasgow. It published books for an English speaking readership, including award-winning literary fiction, poetry, illustrated non-fiction and humour. Freight Books was named Scotland's Publisher of the Year 2015 by the Saltire Society. Freight Books published the debut novel of Martin Cathcart Froden, the winner of the 2015 Dundee International Book Prize.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jennifer Croft</span> American author, critic and translator

Jennifer Croft is an American author, critic and translator who translates works from Polish, Ukrainian and Argentine Spanish. With the author Olga Tokarczuk, she was awarded the 2018 Man Booker International Prize for her translation of Flights. In 2020, she was awarded the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing for her autofictional memoir Homesick.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margarita García Robayo</span> Colombian novelist and writer (born 1980)

Margarita García Robayo is a Colombian novelist and writer. She was born in Cartagena on the Caribbean coast. She has written several novels and short story collections as well as a book of autobiographical essays. Her book Cosas peores won the Casa de las Américas Prize in 2014. Her work has been translated into English, French, Portuguese, Italian, Hebrew, and Chinese.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ariana Harwicz</span>

Ariana Harwicz is an Argentine writer, screenwriter, playwright and documentary maker. She earned a degree in performing arts from the University of Paris VII and a Master's in comparative literature from the Sorbonne. Her first novel, Mátate, amor (2012), was translated into English as Die, My Love and was longlisted for the 2018 Man Booker International Prize. La débil mental (2014) was translated as Feebleminded. Her works have been translated into more than ten languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fernanda Melchor</span> Mexican novelist

Fernanda Melchor is a Mexican writer best known for her novel Hurricane Season for which she won the 2019 Anna Seghers Prize and a place on the shortlist for the 2020 International Booker Prize.

The Republic of Consciousness Prize for Small Presses is an annual British literary prize founded by the author Neil Griffiths. It rewards fiction published by UK and Irish small presses, defined as those with fewer than five full-time employees. The prize money – initially raised by crowdfunding and latterly augmented by sponsorship – is divided between the publishing house and the author.

Megan McDowell is an American literary translator. She principally translates Spanish-language works into English. Originally from Kentucky, she studied English at DePaul University in Chicago. Upon graduation, she worked at the Dalkey Archive Press. She then moved to Chile, moving back to the US after three years to study translation at the UT Dallas. Her first work of translation was Alejandro Zambra's The Private Lives of Trees. Since then, she has collaborated with Zambra on several more books.

Sophie Hughes is a British literary translator who works chiefly from Spanish to English.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Latin American Gothic</span>

Latin American Gothic is a subgenre of Gothic fiction that draws on Gothic themes and aesthetics and adapts them to the political and geographical specificities of Latin America. While its origins can be traced back to 20th century Latin American literature and cinema, it was in the first decades of the 21st century that it gained particular relevance as a literary current.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "About". Charco Press. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  2. ↑ "Publisher spotlight: Charco Press". Publishing Scotland. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  3. 1 2 Mango, Agustín (2023-09-03). "Charco Press: A love of Latin American literature across the pond". Buenos Aires Herald. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  4. ↑ "Charco Press signs North American distribution deal". The Bookseller. Retrieved 2024-03-18.
  5. ↑ "Charco Press Catalogue 2022 (UK)". Charco Press. Retrieved 2024-03-18.
  6. ↑ "Full list of International Booker Prize winners, shortlisted authors, translators and books | The Booker Prizes". thebookerprizes.com. 2023-01-09. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  7. ↑ "Spanish – Premio Valle Inclán - The Society of Authors". 2020-05-08. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  8. ↑ "PEN Translates awards showcase writers from seventeen countries". English Pen. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  9. ↑ "Cercador Prize". Cercador Prize. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  10. ↑ "PEN Translates awards showcase writers from seventeen countries". English Pen. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  11. ↑ "The Warwick Prize for Women in Translation Announces the 2023 Shortlist". News & Events. 2023-11-09. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  12. ↑ JCARMICHAEL (2023-10-16). "2024 Winners". Reference & User Services Association (RUSA). Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  13. ↑ "Scotland's National Book Awards 2023 Announced". The Saltire Society. 2023-12-07. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  14. ↑ "Scotland's National Book Awards 2018: Emerging Publisher Shortlist". The Saltire Society. 2021-01-06. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  15. ↑ "The British Book Awards 2020: Small Press of the Year". The Bookseller. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.