Swan Isle Press needs and welcomes your support for our mission to continue publishing inspiring literature in translation: fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. We are a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit literary and academic publisher. The fact that you’re here on our website indicates that you are a reader, that your interests in books and authors are expansive, not narrow, that you care about literature in translation, and recognize that books are an essential foundation of culture, not only in every country and region, but in every era and within a meaningful and diverse society.
There are many reasons to support Swan Isle Press, as well as many ways to show your support. Click here or on the PayPal Button to Donate.
Why does Swan Isle Press need your support?
There is no doubt that Swan Isle Press, an independent not for profit publisher, needs your support. We are dedicated to publishing exceptional works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry that will inspire and educate our readers, while enhancing their appreciation of literature, art and culture. We judge the manuscripts by their worth to society, not by the projected sales revenue, even if we do believe that every book we publish should attract considerable interest on many levels including sales interest.
Swan Isle Press is particularly passionate about world literature in translation and building bridges between people, cultures and ideas. In the US, less than 3% of the books available to us are works in translation and, more surprisingly, less than 1% of the books in translation are literature and poetry. Perhaps this is because for profit publishers expect a return on investment and publishing an unfamiliar author or a work of poetry is a risky investment when your mission is to reward shareholders.
As not-for-profit, Swan Isle Press has no shareholders. Some people think that a book publisher should thrive on book sales alone. However, exceptional literature is not always what sells to the public. Virtually all not for profit, independent publishers look to the public, in part, to help them fulfill a vitally important cultural mission.
Join Swan Isle Press in its mission.
Swan Isle Press set off on our mission in 2000 to publish literature in translation with a special interest in publishing books related to Spanish and Latin American literature. Since then we have published thirty books that were originally published in Spanish, Catalan, Italian, and French. More books on the way as we continue to grow with your support, and looking forward to expanding our book list with translations from other languages and cultures.
Since Swan Isle Press’s inception in 2000 our books have been marketed and distributed worldwide by The University of Chicago Press. Some of our books are issued in bilingual editions, in the original language with English translation. These bilingual editions as well as our single-language English translations make contemporary and classic texts more accessible to a diverse population. We are proud that many of our books are highly valued by educators who adopt them within the courses they teach at universities, colleges and schools.
We hope you’ll join the Swan Isle Press community of supporters and help us build on our mission throughout the year.
In fulfillment of our mission to publish exceptional works of literature, Swan Isle Press publishes diverse authors and translators. Several of our authors are deeply connected to the African Diaspora, such as Peruvian author Lucía Charún-Illescas and her novel, Malambo, Cuban author Inés María Martiatu’s brave collection of short stories, Over the Waves and Other Stories | Sobre las olas y otros cuentos, and Equatorial Guinean author Donato Ndongo’s acclaimed novel, Shadows of Your Black Memory. Indeed, Shadows of Your Black Memory is considered the first fiction book of fiction from an Equatorial Guinean author to have been translated and published in English. All three books are now well on their way to becoming classics in their own right.
Swan Isle Press’s book list includes a majority representation of women authors and translators because Swan Isle Press is focused on publishing literary works of excellence based on merit open to the world community of artists. While there are some in the literary community who despair that “translated fiction by women must stop being a minority in a minority,” there is no glass ceiling at Swan Isle Press.
Our authors represent works from Argentina, Chile, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, France, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Spain, and Uruguay, as well as the United States, with English translations from the original Spanish, Catalan, French, and Italian. Our French translation books were authored by Victor Hugo, God and the End of Satan | Dieu and La Fin de Satan and Satan and His Daughter, the Angel Liberty. Yes, even these great classic Victor Hugo works had not been published in as extensive translations until Swan Isle Press took on the projects. Remarking on God and the End of Satan | Dieu and La Fin de Satan, leading highly respected translators E. H. Blackmore and A. M. Blackmore to state: “The most serious gap in English translations of Hugo has now been filled.” Our focus on publishing classic and contemporary works in translation continue to bring life and lives to books that otherwise would not have been accessible to many readers.
Swan Isle Press is very grateful for the generous support we have received from universities, foundations, international organizations and the significant contributions of individual donors. We are thankful to our exceptional authors and translators for introducing us to new worlds and for the support of our readers, librarians, and educators who have been taking this journey with us. We hope you will join us by reading our books and contributing at any level.
If you would like to participate in and help fund this mission, please go to our Ways to Support Swan Isle page or directly to the Your Donation page to charge your donation to a credit card or PayPal. Thank you for considering Swan Isle Press among your charitable contributions to cultural organizations!