Quercus launches paperback translated classics list, riverrun Editions

Quercus' literary imprint riverrun is launching a new paperback list, riverrun Editions, promising to showcase "the finest translations of classic novels" in "elegant new editions".

The aim of the list is "to bring great translations of classic texts to new generations of readers", with launch titles including volumes of Chekhov, Gogol, Madame de Lafayette, Maupassant, Dostoevsky, Jules Renard, Freud and Kafka among others. Complementing the "much-loved translations", introductions will feature from contemporary writers such as Selina Hastings, Janet Malcolm, Michael Hofmann and Michael Wood.

According to riverrun, marketing and publicity activity for the list will particularly celebrate the "undersung" achievements of female translators and include a social media campaign as well as traditional publicity.

Four titles will be published in 2019, and four in 2020. The three launch titles, all published on 23rd August 2018 in paperback priced £8.99, will be: The Princess de Clèves, a French classic by Madame de Lafayette, described as a Tudor-era Dangerous Liaisons, translated and introduced by Nancy Mitford with a preface from Selina Hastings; a selection of Anton Chekhov’s short fiction in The Lady with the Dog and Other Stories, translated from the Russian by Constance Garnett and introduced by New Yorker writer Janet Malcolm; and Italo Svevo's comic modernist account of one man’s life in early 20th century, Confessions of Zeno, translated by Beryl de Zoete and featuring a preface by Michael Hofmann.

Jon Riley, publisher of riverrun, said: "Our new list will showcase the finest translations of classic novels – translations that have often fallen out of print. A neglected strand within the rich story of literature in translation has been the role of women translators. Constance Garnett is the shining example – her efforts made Russian literature a part of English literature and altered the consciousness of the Bloomsbury circle among others. Other female translators pioneered independently in this area and many of their works will now be published in this handsome new series."