Celebrate Indie Presses This Independence Day!

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary to find a new book to read, and to seek out new exciting writers outside the handful represented in the major newspapers, one must seek out indie presses.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all readers are created equal, that they are endowed with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of great literature. That, to secure these rights, presses are instituted among people, deriving their just powers from the consent of the dedicated readers who buy their books.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that readers flock to presses that are mighty and powerful, with large catalogues and advertising space abundant.

But, when this system means that the most exciting, daring literary voices are neglected for the more marketable ones, it is our right, our duty, to seek out alternative presses, to support them by buying, reading, reviewing, and recommending their books to our friends.

We, therefore, at the Center for the Art of Translation and Two Lines Press, do wholeheartedly salute our fellow indie presses! We further declare that as small and independent presses we have full power to publish original, daring, and groundbreaking work, and to do all other things that free and independent presses may of right do. — And in the spirit of this Declaration, we pledge to actively seek out work by underrepresented and emerging presses, authors, translators, and books.

Here are some of the many indie presses worth discovering this holiday!

Argos Books(opens in a new tab)
Try: White Blight(opens in a new tab) by Athena Farrokhzad, translated by Jennifer Hayashida

Canarium Books(opens in a new tab)
Try: The Collected Poems of Chika Sagawa(opens in a new tab), translated by Sawako Nakayasu

co•im•press(opens in a new tab)
Try: I Am a Face Sympathizing with Your Grief: Seven Younger Iranian Poets(opens in a new tab), edited and translated by Alireza Taheri Araghi

Dorothy Project(opens in a new tab)
Try: The Complete Stories of Leonora Carrington(opens in a new tab)

Kaya Press(opens in a new tab)
Try: Lament in the Night(opens in a new tab) by Shōson Nagahara, translated by Andrew Leong

Kenning Editions(opens in a new tab)
Try: Style(opens in a new tab) by Dolores Doreantes, translated by Jen Hofer

Les Figues Press(opens in a new tab)
Try: Antígona González(opens in a new tab) by Sara Uribe, translated by John Pluecker

Octopus Books(opens in a new tab)
Try: Noontimes Won(opens in a new tab) by Tristan Tzara, translated by Heather Green

Restless Books(opens in a new tab)
Try: Temporary People(opens in a new tab) by Deepak Unnikrishnan

The Song Cave(opens in a new tab)
Try: Nioque of the Early-Spring(opens in a new tab) by Francis Ponge, translated by Jonathan Larson

Ugly Duckling Presse(opens in a new tab)
Try: Before Lyricism(opens in a new tab) by Eleni Vikalo, translated by Karen Emmerich