Pushkin partners with All 4 video service on new novel series

Pushkin Press has partnered with Channel 4’s video on demand service Walter Presents for a series of "timeless novels with strong international appeal". 

Launched in January 2016, Walter Presents is a video on demand service based on Channel 4’s All 4 online platform, specialising in foreign language drama with English subtitles. The service is named after its curator, Italian film producer Walter Iuzzolino (pictured) and is now available in the US, Australia and a number of European countries.

Titles in the Pushkin Press–Walter Presents series are all handpicked by luzzolino from around the world, with personal stories about how he discovered them. "The striking series design has been done by Nathan Burton to create immediately recognizable, collectible flapped paperbacks with a slightly retro feel," Pushkin said.

David Foenkinos' The Mystery of Henri Pick will be the first title published in the new series and is described by Pushkin as "a fast-paced mystery enriched by a deep love of books". It has sold more than 500,000 copies in France, been translated into 17 languages and made into a successful French feature film, said Pushkin. 

Adam Freudenheim, publisher and m.d. at Pushkin Press, bought world English rights from Éditions Gallimard for The Mystery of Henri Pick which will be published on 7th May 2020 in paperback original. This will be followed by The Second Life of Inspector Canessa by Roberto Perrone later in Summer 2020 which more titles in the pipeline. 

Iuzzolino said: "In a world where we have so much choice, curation is becoming increasingly key. Walter Presents was first set up to champion brilliant drama from around the world and bring it to a wider audience. Now, in collaboration with Pushkin Press, we’re hoping to do the same thing for foreign literature: translating brilliant books into English, introducing them to readers who are hungry for quality fiction. 

"I discovered Henri Pick in a Parisian bookshop whilst waiting for a train. The characters and setting are quintessentially French and the mystery that lies at the heart of the book has instant international appeal. It’s a charming plot, full of twists and turns, which will keep you guessing to the very last page. A perfect first selection for the Walter Presents Library."

Freudenheim said: "I’m thrilled about our new collaboration with Walter Presents. I love Walter’s eclectic taste in foreign drama and comedy am excited about his first choices. The Mystery of Henri Pick is a hugely readable, charming novel that should appeal to anyone who loves reading."