The Mookse and the Gripes discussion

From the New Vessel website (https://newvesselpress.com/):

New Vessel Press, founded in New York City in 2012, is an independent publishing house specializing in fiction and narrative nonfiction in translation.

In bringing books from other countries to English-speaking readers, we offer captivating, thought-provoking works with beautifully-designed covers and high production values. We scour the globe looking for the best stories, knowing that only a fraction of the books published in the United States each year are translations. That leaves a lot of great literature still to be discovered.

At New Vessel Press, we believe that knowledge of a multitude of cultures and literatures enriches our lives by offering passageways to understand and embrace the world. We also regard literary translation as both craft and art, enabling us to traverse borders and open minds. We are committed to books that offer erudition and enjoyment, that stimulate and scintillate, that transform and transport.

And of course, what matters most is not where the authors hail from, or what language they write in. The most important thing is the quality of the work itself. And hence our name. We publish great books, just in a new vessel.

This press has been around for about a decade and focuses on translated works. It was a bit of an oversight for me that I wasn't familiar with the company until Pollak's Arm was featured on the Across the Pond podcast.

This is also the US publisher of Of Saints and Miracles, which was published by Peirene Press in the UK.

The current catalogue (including their backlist) can be found here: https://newvesselpress.com/wp-content...

Thanks for setting up this thread, David. I’m hoping the USRofC, which I know leaves out Canada, but their Twitter name is @USRofC, will introduce us to many more US indie presses and we won’t have to pay all these damn shipping costs.

The ROC is already fulfilling its mission. Definitely a good idea for the ROC to highlight small presses outside of the longlist/shortlist announcement.

Having finished Pollak's Arm, which is quite incredible, I went to the New Vessel website and saw at least a dozen translated books there that I want to read.

If only we all had endless amounts of money and time for every book we see. I’m excited to find another US Press with so many promising books. We’re very UK indie press focused here, not a complaint-I love Galley Beggar, Fitzcarraldo, Peirene, etc., but it will be nice to buy books and get free shipping.

WndyJW wrote: "If only we all had endless amounts of money and time for every book we see. I’m excited to find another US Press with so many promising books. We’re very UK indie press focused here, not a complain..."

If it helps I envy you for New Directions, Feminist Press at CUNY, Transit, Dorothy, Graywolf etc

I think we will find with the RoC (North America) that we have excellent small presses in the US that will be new to many of us.

I have a lot of New Directions titles, but not as many Greywolf. My issue is I’m not familiar with authors published by Feminist Press, Dorothy, or recent Transit so I check the sites but don’t order any. I’m really hoping the USRofC helps me find publishers that I trust like the UK presses I’ve been supporting.

But, yes that does make me a little bit happy, Alwynne :)

I recently heard of this press due to one of Marc's weekly questions in the 21st Century Lit group. (And he, in turn, had heard of New Vessel from this group. Lol.) In the meantime, I am woefully behind in all my groups.

I just finished New Vessel's The Missing Year of Juan Salvatierra by Pedro Mairal, trans. from the Spanish by Nick Caistor & enjoyed it. I will definitely be reading more from them.

(Fyi, for others in the US who may be on a tight book budget like me, I have found New Vessel books through Hoopla, if your library offers that. Plus Hoopla has the great feature of being able to do a search by publisher.)