LibGuides: Translation and Interpreting Studies: Publishers & Works in Translation

About

image of a book unfolding in front of other books

This page provides resources and search advice on finding publishers and materials that have been translated into English.

In 2007, researchers at the University of Rochester discovered that just 3% of books published in the United States were works in translation (including non-fiction-- fiction represented .7%)-- and the University set up a site, called Three Percent, in order to address the issue. Three Percent is home to a database that shows the largest U.S. publishers of works in translation, the Best Translated Book Awards, a monthly podcast, and Open Letter Books, (University of Rochester's nonprofit, literary translation press).

On this page:

-How to Search the Library's Catalog

-More Books in our Catalog

-Poetry in Translation

-List of Publishers

-Still can't find it? Ask a librarian!

How to Search the Library Catalog

Starting your search:

If you have a publisher in mind, you can simply use that as a search term and search the catalog as normal (image links to catalog):

Limit your results:

You may find it easiest to limit the search results by using the left-hand column when you have a list of results-- Subject could be limited to Fiction and Translations (choose one, then the other when the results reload).

Search by Subject:

You can also choose a region, era, and so on. If you do not have a publisher in mind, you can always search for "Translations into English" as a Simple Search or "Translations into English" as a subject in Advanced Search with a country or genre, and narrow from there:

As you can see, there are nearly 15,000 volumes of works classified in this way. You can use the limiters on the right hand side to limit your results.

Publisher: AmazonCrossing

AmazonCrossing
AmazonCrossing is the dedicated Amazon publisher for translations into English. One of the largest publishers of translated works, it uses the same Amazon web design and offers a great variety of books to choose from.

Searching is made easy by the ability to sort by a variety of genres (including countries, international award winners, and genres like Literary Fiction).

In our catalog:

Publisher: Dalkey Archive Press

Dalkey Archive Press
One of the largest publishers dedicated to works in translation, Dalkey Archive Press is a publisher of fiction, poetry, and literary criticism.

Search categories include country, author, series, fiction, nonfiction/biographies/memoirs, literary criticism/philosophy and theory, poetry, and plays.

Publisher: Open Letter Books

Open Letter Books
Open Letter Books-- University of Rochester's nonprofit, literary translation press.

Searching is not very intuitive-- start with a known author, title, or country of origin (use "filter" on "books" tab).

Publisher: Europa Editions

Europa Editions
Europa Editions is an independent fiction publisher, and focuses on books of European origins.

The catalog search options include a map, showing that 130 titles originate from Europe, 27 from the North/Central Americas, 15 from Asia, and others from around the world. You can also search by author.

Publisher: Seagull Books

Seagull Books
Seagull Books is a publisher founded in Kolkata, originally for theater other arts. Since its founding in 1982, it has expanded to world translations and non-fiction works.

The homepage offers several categories, including works from African, Arabic, French, German, Italian, Indian, and Swiss authors. The fiction category contains over 130 books.