Five Indie Presses Quietly Reshaping Translated Fiction

If you want to read the most interesting fiction in English right now, stop looking at the front table and start looking at the spine. A handful of small presses have spent years building lists so good that following them is its own reading plan. Here are five worth knowing.

New Directions

The grandparent of American literary risk-taking, and still the most reliable. If a book feels like nothing else you've read, there is a fair chance this is the colophon on the spine. Start with: The Rings of Saturn by W.G. Sebald.

Fitzcarraldo Editions

The blue-and-white covers are a promise: serious, ambitious, frequently translated, occasionally difficult, almost always worth it. Start with: Pond by Claire-Louise Bennett.

Archipelago Books

A nonprofit devoted to world literature, in editions so beautiful they make the case on the shelf alone. Start with: Love by Hanne Ørstavik.

Transit Books

Small, sharp, and unerring — short novels that punch far above their page count. Start with: Such Small Hands by Andrés Barba.

NYRB Classics

Not new, exactly — but a rescue operation for great books the culture forgot. The list is a masterclass in what "overlooked" really means. Start with: The Door by Magda Szabó.

Want a match tuned to your taste rather than a list? Try The Underread — tell it a book you love and it will find the deeper cut.