A nonprofit press devoted to contemporary & classic world literature in translation
“Archipelago transformed my reading life.” – Zadie Smith
Featured Titles
In Memoriam
Elias Khoury (1948 - 2024)
“Unwavering” is perhaps the word that best characterizes Elias. He was unwavering in his commitment to social justice, in his criticism of the corrupt Lebanese state and Arab dictatorships, in his championing of the Palestinian cause, and in his love for life despite all the horrors he bore witness to in his writing. He also offered unwavering support to his loved ones.
– Yasmina Jraissati, his niece and agent at Raya
Read Yasmina’s full remembrance, and learn more about the life & work of Elias Khoury.
“Literature in translation is essential to the growth and development of writing in the United States. Without the breadth of styles and ideas about form that we get from Europe, Asia, and Africa, we are a crabbed small thing. That’s why I work hard to read what’s available from abroad. And I know of no press operating now that does a better job of packaging and promoting literature in translation than Archipelago Books. Their every release is a gift in my mailbox, and I look forward to them as such.” – Rick Moody
Memberships
Join our community and receive exceptional international books all year long.
Islet Membership
All of our books delivered to your doorstep before they hit bookstores, and a 25% discount on books on our website.
Constellation Membership
One additional book from our backlist in each package – chosen by you or curated by our staff.
Gift Membership
Take a friend on a global literary tour and give the gift of exceptional reading all year long.
Digital Membership
Our latest titles land in your inbox with a link to download the eBook – plus members’ discounts.
Bookseller Picks
Some backlist gems recommended by booksellers from indie shops around the country.
“I’m reading Bill Johnston’s translation of Jean Giono’s Ennemonde, and have come to love the way Giono nestles a kernel of a story inside descriptions of the natural world and its inhabitants, human and otherwise. These plots are organic; they grow out of the soil.”
– Stephen Sparks, Point Reyes Books
“Another stunning translation from Maureen Freely. Soysal was unflinching when looking at the issues of her time (and ours): misogyny, corruption, and violence. This nuanced novel follows a group of dinner guests over the course of one night from serving raki to being interrogated in a prison cell. Absolutely sparkling with clarity, intelligence, and subtle hope.”
– Laura Graveline, Brazos Bookstore
“First published in 1931-32, this freshly translated masterpiece is an Icelandic Grapes of Wrath, focusing on the plight of struggling fishing families in a tiny village, particularly on the hardships facing women like Salka, who, alone without a family, works and educates herself, becoming an effective seamen’s union organizer . . . Absorbing, inspiring, surprisingly humorous – a great read.”
– Lisa Howorth, Square Books
“Vesaas reflects on nature as if writing from a time before cities conquered the earth; it cannot be beautiful because it is not yet lost . . . For us, nature cannot return to the state before it was named, it cannot return to a time before cities conquered the earth, it can only come within an inch. Vesaas closes this final inch.”
– Tommy Cunningham, Unnameable Books
“Hanne Ørstavik crafts an atmosphere of unease out of the ordinary. An old man giving a young boy a pair of skates, a man inviting a woman over for coffee, in Ostavik’s hands these seemingly harmless moments become filled with an underlying sense of dread. Longing and loneliness fill these pages, while always there is a sense of the impossibility of real understanding and connection between people. Ørstavik is a true observer of human nature and Love is her masterpiece.”
– Emily Ballaine, Green Apple Books
“A devilish wit and a tender longing lurk beneath the stark naturalism. These poems, intensely grounded in the real, brush against something bigger, a realm not so much mystical as transcendental.”
– Alex Brooks, Troubled Sleep
“In deeply moving and beautiful prose, Mukasonga writes semi-autobiographically of the power of women and family and the resilience of the Tutsi people. You see and feel everything in Mukasonga’s prose, translated by the renowned Jordan Stump, the scents and sounds of the cows and the solemn, spiritual moment of milking, the warmth of the sun, and the inconceivable pain, but also resolve, of a survivor.”
– Pierce Alquist, Brookline Booksmith
