TRAFIKA EUROPE CORNER with Clayton McKee: Five Publishing Houses to Check Out

At Trafika Europe, we prefer to receive submissions from authors and translators who have discovered a gem of European literature that has yet to be published. Oftentimes, we combine submissions with works recently published by publishing houses. It takes a lot of research to find pieces because there are numerous great publishing houses out there. For this week’s TE Corner, I thought I would share five of my favorites at this moment.

Héloïse Press

Héloïse Press spotlights emerging and established female literary talent. Their catalogue offers countless powerful narratives that are, without a doubt, quality literary works. Two of my favorite works that appeared on Trafika Europe this year came from this Press: Abandonment by Erminia Dell’Oro, translated by Oonagh Stransky, and The Wolves of Staro Selo by Zdravka Evtimova, translated by Yana Ellis. This press is highly recommended for European literature that features high-quality writing and female voices all year, rather than just during celebrations throughout the year. The perfect place to find something for Women in Translation Month this year!

Bloodaxe Books

Bloodaxe Books is a UK-based publisher of poetry in English and English translation. Their publications are of high quality. They publish a diverse range of poets from across the globe, meaning that there are various poetic traditions, cultures, and identities represented in their catalogue. And, while we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, I applaud Bloodaxe for having provocative covers that reflect the beautiful literature hidden just beneath.

Francis Boutle Publishers

Francis Boutle is another UK publisher. One of my favorite aspects of this publishing house is that they offer bilingual editions of some works. They also publish anthologies of lesser used languages of Europe, which is something near and dear to Trafika Europe. Check out Tim Saunders’ Fenten Feryl / Virgil’s Fountain in our Essential New Literature of Lesser-Known Languages of Europe for an example of Francis Boutle’s publications. Check out those anthologies from Francis Boutle here.

Orenda Books

Perhaps I’m late to the game, but I just discovered Orenda Books thanks to our most recent issue of Trafika Europe: Meta Mystery. Based in South London, this press publishes literary fiction, and I’ll quote from their website as they say it best, “with a heavy emphasis on crime/thrillers, and roughly half the list is in translation.” It is truly amazing to see such a heavy emphasis on translation. For those who are not huge on the noir/thriller genre, there are still plenty of options, but I would still recommend trying out their crime/thrillers because they are not just simple beach reads as most people believe. Check out an excerpt of Home Before Dark by Eva Björg Ægisdóttir, translated from the Icelandic by Victoria Cribb, and an excerpt of Son by Johana Gustawsson and Thomas Enger, both of which appear in TE’s Meta Mystery.

Europa Editions

Europa Editions is a U.S.-based publisher focused on international fiction. They began with an Italian publishing house before opening a U.S. publishing house focused on translated literature, and then they opened a U.K.-based office as well. They publish to inform and enlighten readers, so much of their catalogue strives to dialogue with diversity, culture, and open-mindedness. Despite a somewhat serious idea, their selection manages to do that in addition to being extremely entertaining. In addition to their regular catalogue, they have a collection of world noir, but that is not their focus.

All of these publishing houses are stellar independent publishers of such amazing literature. If you don’t know their work, I highly encourage you to check them out – be prepared to get lost in such amazing stuff! If you are familiar with them, take this as a post to remind you that they are there and to check them out if it has been a while. All of these publishers are constantly adding new works, so be sure to put them in your rotation of publishers to check out!

By Clayton McKee

Read previous posts in The Trafika Europe Corner series:

TRAFIKA EUROPE CORNER with Clayton McKee: 2025 EUPL mini-series

TRAFIKA EUROPE CORNER with Clayton McKee: VISA by Niels Hav

TRAFIKA EUROPE CORNER with Clayton McKee: Upcoming Submission Opportunities with Trafika Europe

TRAFIKA EUROPE CORNER with Clayton McKee: 2025 LITERARY PRIZES announced

TRAFIKA EUROPE CORNER with Clayton McKee: two poems by Maria Carbunaru

TRAFIKA EUROPE CORNER with Clayton McKee: two poems by Mark Murphy

TRAFIKA EUROPE CORNER with Clayton McKee: two poems by Tom Fleming

TRAFIKA EUROPE CORNER with Clayton McKee: THE POSSESSED by Witold Gombrowicz, translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones

TRAFIKA EUROPE CORNER with Clayton McKee: REGAINING RESISTANCE by Arno Bohlmeijer

TRAFIKA EUROPE CORNER with Clayton McKee: DESERT by Pèire Millet, translated by Clayton McKee