We’ve sold Spanish world rights of Diogenes’ spring 2020 top title Red Crosses by Sasha Filipenko to Alianza Editorial. Shueisha Inc. snapped up Japanese rights. This means that the book is going to be published in 12 languages. 

Here’s the list of rights sold of this title:
Croatian (Božičević)
Czech (Pistorius)
Dutch (Meridiaan)
English/world (Europa Editions)
French (Éditions des Syrtes)
Hungarian (Európa)
Italian (Edizioni e/o)
Japanese (Shueisha)
Polish (Agora)
Russian original publisher: Vremya
Spanish/world (Alianza Editorial)

Since its publication on 1 March until 23 April, we have sold 13’000 copies of Red Crosses.

Praise by the press:

»The author expertly interlaces the fictitious story with the original documents and transposes history into the present.«
Lerke von Saalfeld / Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Frankfurt

»One of the best books to be released this spring. A wonderful, gripping story with a touch of humour.«
Helmut Zechner / ORF 2, Vienna

»First, this book is very sophisticatedly constructed. Second, it tells an outrageous story.«
Peer Teuwsen / Neue Zürcher Zeitung am Sonntag, Zurich 

»The way in which Tatjana’s and Alexander’s fates become increasingly entwined and how their encounter gives rise to something new, something hopeful, is both mesmerising and beautiful.« 
Annegret Arnold / Bayern 2, Munich

»Sasha Filipenko has a talent for bringing his characters to life within the novel’s historical context.«
Anton Thuswaldner, Salzburger Nachrichten, Salzburg

»You learn something about the Stalin era, as well as about people’s suffering during and after the Second World War; this is powerful, impressive reading.«
Michael Opitz / Deutschlandfunk Kultur, Cologne

»A truly important book.«
NDR Kultur, Hamburg

»This is gripping contemporary history that exerts a unique pull on the reader.«
Ursula May / HR2 Kultur, Frankfurt

»Filipenko impressively demonstrates how it could hit anyone – and how, in spite of it, many tried to stay human.«
Brigitte, Hamburg

»He [the author] allows the injustice suffered by the woman to simply take hold – no explanations are necessary, particularly for the author’s compatriots.«
Torsten Kohlschein / Freie Presse, Chemnitz

»Sasha Filipenko expertly links past and present, building a bridge between intimacy and otherness.«
Kurier, Vienna

»Filipenko’s book is a tale of a poignant fate, interspersed with extracts from original documents.«
Ruhr Nachrichten, Dortmund

»In a captivating yet matter-of-fact way, Sasha Filipenko tells the story of the Soviet Union from beginning to end – and beyond.«
radio fm4 (ORF), Vienna

»With Red Crosses, comedian and author Sasha Filipenko has created a moving testament to Russian history.«
Gala, Hamburg

»With Red Crosses, Sasha Filipenko has written the novel of the Russian 20th century.«
Alemannò Partenopeo / literaturzeitschrift.de, Berlin

Sasha Filipenko has such a presence when he talks – and a lot to say about publishing politically sensitive content: during WWII, as depicted by him in his novel in Red Crosses, but also his own experiences as an author in Belarus today. You can catch a brief glimpse of this in our one-minute interview (Russian with German subtitles).