Barrington Stoke makes its Bucket List

Edinburgh-based Barrington Stoke is expanding its offering with the launch of Bucket List, an imprint for diverse, translated and unknown stories.

The indie publisher has previously concentrated on books accessible to children who struggle with reading, engaging well-known authors such as Michael Morpurgo and Malorie Blackman to pen accessible titles.

“Essentially, Bucket List is the first chance for us to look at new voices because the Barrington Stoke list is about established voices,” said m.d. Mairi Kidd. “Children who don’t engage with reading don’t want to be stigmatised, they want to be in the same landscape as everyone else. But with this we will be looking much more to develop voices ourselves.”

The list, which will be edited by Emma Baker, will publish six to eight books in 2017 but will launch with two titles this year: Alpha, illustrated by Barroux and written by Bessora, translated from French by Sarah Ardizonne (to be issued in August); and Girl Detached by Manuela Salvi, translated from Italian by Denise Muir (published in September).

Alpha is a graphic novel about a refugee’s journey from Africa to Europe, while Girl Detached is a YA novel; it was banned in its native Italy because it touches on the subject of grooming children.

Kidd said Bucket List will consider books for any age and is “not thinking of a specific readership”, but is instead looking for titles that “challenge and engage”. Alpha, for example, eschews the idea there are “good” and “bad” immigrants, while Girl Detached is described as a “stunning” book about a girl’s journey to adulthood.