toutes les choses qu'elle a dit
Kaycie Hall on small presses
Helloooo,
In March, I went to AWP for the first time which for you non-freaks is an annual writers conference where thousands of writers descend upon a city like birds from hell to be awkward and wreak havoc. I actually had a great time, in no small part because I spent almost the entire weekend with my friend Kaycie Hall, who is a brilliant writer, amazing friend and most toxically, a book buying enabler. When we went to the official AWP book fair, which is like… adult Scholastic vibes, I literally blacked out and came back with over twenty books which I had to get very creative about flying home with. (They were Great deals! I whispered to myself as I crammed another book into my computer case, weeping). She is also my favorite editor who makes my writing better, a friend who I can text in any situation, a great thrifter and someone who has made my book collection way cooler. Sometimes she also gives me bags of books she’s getting rid of which is like Christmas to a book hoarder like myself. She has introduced me to so many books I adore (A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G. Summers, Siempre Susan by Sigrid Nunez and Ongoingness by Sarah Manguso off the top of my head).
In addition to being a beautiful writer (I particularly love this essay Indignities and this one, Things I Have Lost), Kaycie is also a fairytale expert and translator and during her maternity leave translated an entire book from French into English very casually. Like, what. Kaycie is also an indie book queen who knows all the coolest presses and I asked her to put together a list of her favorite indie presses for me. I mean us.
So please enjoy this very special edition of ~ toutes les choses qu'elle a dit ~
When Ariél asked me if I would write a guest post on indie presses, I was more than happy to oblige. Time got away from me with my almost two year old and my family’s search for a new place to live in NYC and a new skunk taking up residence under our sunroom in Kingston, NY, and then months passed, and here we are!
I think at least 50% if not more of what I read these days is being published by independent presses. By independent I mean places that aren’t part of the big 4 or 3 or however many there are now that they keep trying to buy each other and merge into one mega publishing house that can treat their employees shittily and pay all of the big bucks to politicians to “write” their memoirs, but I digress. What I mean to say is that there is some really amazing literature being published by people who are out there starting their own thing, publishing cool shit, and if you’re not reading them, you’re missing out.
Below I’m going to give you a rather long list of my favorites and a few of the titles I’ve read and loved from them.
This press focuses on books in translation — both new works and classics that are often new to me, having been missed by my standard English literature canon classes.
I’m currently reading Eline Vere, which was sold to me as the Dutch answer to Madame Bovary and it does not disappoint.
If you’re looking for something even more risqué, try Incest by Christine Angot.
Though founded in 1936, New Directions feels very new and fresh. I think I discovered them by wandering McNally Jackson and pulling intriguing looking titles from the shelves only to find that many of them were from the same publisher.
The list of ND titles that I adore is long, but here are some hard-hitters.
The English Understand Wool by Helen DeWitt - I’ll ready everything DeWitt writes, so I picked up this novella the moment I saw it on the shelf. This book is part of ND’s Storybook series which I recommend if you’re in a reading slump and want something short and compelling from a familiar writer. Plus, they look cool on your shelves, like an adult version of Little Golden Books.
An Inventory of Losses by Judith Schalansky (translated by Jackie Smith) - a beautiful book of essays about loss
Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au - one of my favorite books of the past few years
I’d be remiss if I failed to mention that Sam Bett (friend to me and Ariél) has worked with ND on two great translations - Star by Yukio Mishima and most recently No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai.
One of my absolute favorites - I think I own a copy of each book that they’ve issued and I’m especially excited for their 2023 releases (including Kate Brigg’s novel). On top of being great literature, Dorothy Project books are beautifully designed and the perfect shape, lovely to look at, easy to carry in your bag.
Here are a few titles to get you started:
A Horse at Night by Amina Cain - Amina Cain’s first nonfiction book, a beautiful meditation on reading and writing
Natahalie Lèger’s triptych about women who “through their oeuvre, transform their lives into a mystery” (ELLE) - Exposition, Suite for Barbara Loden, and The White Dress (translated by Natasha Lehrer)
Wild Milk by Sabrina Orah Mark - A book of fairy tales from the mind of poet Sabrina Orah Mark
Full disclosure I have worked with AS to translate Isabelle Nicou’s latest book Stricture and it was a pleasure to translate and publish with them. Editor Philip Best really cares about his writers and is doing the work for the love of great writing.
Check out Isabelle Nicou’s other books Paresis and Genesis 0
Or try the beautiful and haunting novel Forever by Thomas Moore or dive into Audrey Szasz’s oeuvre with Zealous Immaculate.
Founded in 2015, Transit Books has landed some big international writers and helped usher them into the arms of the American literary scene (thinking of Jon Fosse).
I love Joanna Walsh’s rumination on Godard (part of the publisher's Undelivered Lectures series) and the chilling novel, also loved by Chris Pine, The Birthday Party by Laurent Mauvignier (translated by Daniel Levin Becker).
Founded by Michael Wheaton as an offshoot of the Autofocus Lit mag, this is a press to watch.
I adore XO by Sara Rauch and am very much looking forward to Aaron Burch’s forthcoming titles A Kind of In-Between and How to Write a Novel.
P.S. I’m the lead editor for the Autofocus Lit mag and we’re open for submissions. Send me your work.
Fitzcarraldo Editions is based in the UK and every time I travel to London for work, I search for their titles. They look beautiful on your shelves—minimal covers in cream (for nonfiction) or blue (for fiction). They often have the UK rights for titles that are published in the U.S. by another independent press so there is some overlap (Jessica Au’s Too Cold for Snow, for example, is published in the UK by Fitzcarraldo). You can find their titles online if you don’t have a day job that ships you out to London once a quarter.
They have the UK rights to Annie Ernaux’s titles if you’re so inclined to collect those in slim cream colored editions.
Some Fitzcarraldo nonfiction titles that I love are Alice Hattrick’s Ill Feelings, This Young Monster by Charlie Fox, and This Little Art by Kate Briggs.
I will say that it makes me sad when I toss these beautiful books into my bag and they inevitably become scuffed and marked up with pen but that’s just evidence of a well-loved book, right?
This is a press that I’m so excited about — founded by Chelsea Hodson (a writing mentor of mine and an all around lovely person), Rose Books is releasing their first title this year. Preorder Someone Who Isn’t Me by Geoff Rickley here. I trust Chelsea on all things writing and reading so I’m sure that Rose Books is going to be putting great books into the world.
Talking to Kaycie makes me feel like I’ve never read a book in my life- I’ve personally only read a couple of these titles and am excited to delve into these! Thank you Kaycie for sharing your immaculate taste with us!!!!
In other news I interviewed the author of Thirst for Salt Madelaine Lucas for The Millions about how she writes such good sex scenes, the love of dogs and why writing women’s stories is also political. I also recently joined the literary journal No Tokens as an assistant editor so fellow writer girlies please send your work!
I have another very special guest lined up for later this month so keep your eyes out for that.
I hope this week brings you good news, good coffee and good meals -
xo,
Ariél
This is so informative, thank you for sharing this! I feel like sometimes we need a reminder to support the publishers who are doing great work in addition to the authors.
opened so many new tabs from this