Where Independent Publishers Live
Looking for books? We've got them. In fact, we’ve got an incredible array of fiction, poetry, politics, current affairs, children’s books, and just about everything else from over 100 independent publishers around the world. In representing this vibrant community of publishers, our mission is to get their books into the hands of the widest possible audience. Our publishers’ authors include Howard Zinn, Charles Bukowski, Elfriede Jelinek, Che Guevara, Tony Kushner, Pablo Neruda, and Arundhati Roy, and their honors include Pulitzer Prizes, National Book Awards, and Nobel Prizes (to name a few). These are great books from great publishers.
Consortium Welcomes
For the Spring/Summer 2009 season, Consortium would like to welcome our newest publishers:
NPR's Best Books of 2008!
Top Five Books of 2008
Picked by John Freeman, former president of the National Book Critics Circle
Blood Dazzler | Patricia Smith | Coffee House Press | 9781566892186 | $16.00 | Trade Paper
Best Foreign Fiction of 2008
Picked by Jessa Crispin
Metropole | Ferenc Karinthy; Translated by George Szirtes | Telegram | 9781846590344 | $14.95 | Trade Paper
Top Five Crime and Mystery Novels of 2008
Picked by Maureen Corrigan
Small Crimes | Dave Zeltserman | Serpent's Tail | 9781852429713 | $14.95 | Trade Paper
The Chinaman | Friedrich Glauser; Translated by Mike Mitchell | Bitter Lemon Press | 9781904738213 | $14.95 | Trade Paper
Click here to download an information sheet
Curbstone Press Author Wins 2008 Nobel Prize in Literature
Congratulations to J.M.G. Le Clézio, winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Literature! His most recent book, Wandering Star, was published in 2004 by Curbstone Press.
Wandering Star | J.M.G. Le Clézio; Translated by C. Dickson | Curbstone Press | 9781931896115 | $15.00 | Trade Paper
From Publishers Lunch:
Le Clézio: Make Books Available
Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio delivered his Nobel lecture this weekend. In a portion of the speech focused on publishers, he said that "to provide nearly everyone on the planet with a liquid crystal display is utopian." The Internet and "virtual communication" are "a good thing, but what would these astonishing inventions be worth, were it not for the teachings of written language and books?"
He argued that publishers should spread books themselves, and translations of voices and small, throughout the world:
"Culture on a global scale concerns us all. But it is above all the responsibility of readers—of publishers, in other words. True, it is unjust that an Indian from the far north of Canada, if he wishes to be heard, must write in the language of the conquerors—in French, or in English. True, it is an illusion to expect that the Creole language of Mauritius or the West Indies might be heard as easily around the world as the five or six languages that reign today as absolute monarchs over the media. But if, through translation, their voices can be heard, then something new is happening, a cause for optimism. Culture, as I have said, belongs to us all, to all humankind. But in order for this to be true, everyone must be given equal access to culture. The book, however old-fashioned it may be, is the ideal tool. It is practical, easy to handle, economical. It does not require any particular technological prowess, and keeps well in any climate. Its only flaw—and this is where I would like to address publishers in particular—is that in a great number of countries it is still very difficult to gain access to books. In Mauritius the price of a novel or a collection of poetry is equivalent to a sizeable portion of the family budget. In Africa, Southeast Asia, Mexico, or the South Sea Islands, books remain an inaccessible luxury. And yet remedies to this situation do exist. Joint publication with the developing countries, the establishment of funds for lending libraries and bookmobiles, and, overall, greater attention to requests from and works in so-called minority languages—which are often clearly in the majority—would enable literature to continue to be this wonderful tool for self-knowledge, for the discovery of others, and for listening to the concert of humankind, in all the rich variety of its themes and modulations."
Read the full lecture here: http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/2008/clezio-lecture_en.html
© THE NOBEL FOUNDATION 2008