Red Crosses by Sasha Filipenko praised by the press, to be published in 11 languages

»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

»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

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

Foreign rights sold:
Croatian (Bozicevic)
Czech (Pistorius)
Dutch (Meridiaan)
English/world (Europa Editions)
French (Éditions des Syrtes)
Hungarian (Európa)
Italian (Edizioni e/o)
Polish (Agora)
Russian original publisher: Vremya
Spanish (Alianza)

Spanish rights of Cold Blood sold

Salamandra has snapped up Spanish rights of Chris Kraus’ novel Cold Blood. The book is to be published in six languages so far.

Foreign rights sold:
Dutch (Signatuur)
English (Picador)
French (Belfond)
Italian (SEM Libri)
Spanish (Salamandra)

Living, Writing, Breathing by Doris Dörrie on the Spiegel bestseller list for more than half a year

This calls for a celebration: Doris Dörrie’s Living, Writing, Breathing has been on the Spiegel bestseller list for 29 weeks now, so more than half a year. In absolute figures, this means 80’000 copies sold.

»It’s rare to find such enjoyment in a how-to book.«
Rheinische Post, Düsseldorf

Chinese rights of Patricia Highsmith’s Diaries and Notebooks sold

Shanghai Translation (Shanghai Yiwen) has bought Chinese rights of Patricia Highsmith’s Diaries and Notebooks in an auction. So far, the book is to be published in nine territories:

Catalan: Navona
Chinese/CN: Shanghai Translation
English/North America: Liveright / Norton (editor: Bob Weil)
English/UK: Weidenfeld & Nicolson (editor: Lettice Franklin)
French: Calmann-Lévy
Italian: La Nave di Teseo
Portuguese/BRA: Intrínseca
Spanish/world: Anagrama

The full manuscript will be available by the beginning of April.

Just published: Shadows Cast

The debut novel by the author of the best- selling novel Jump is an unusual love story that proudly stands up to fear.

Praise by the press:

»A very enjoyable debut. Simone Lappert has something she absolutely has to say, and she can say it in such a way that it grabs you and holds you tight.«
Martin Ebel / Tages-Anzeiger, Zurich

»In her debut, Simone Lappert narrates an unusual girl-meets-boy story; one which is thoroughly morbid, yet also surprisingly tender.« 
KulturSpiegel, Hamburg

Just published: Bear and Hippo

This book marks the start of the picture book series about the animal friends Bear and Hippo. Handy cardboard format for the smallest readers. Witty. Rhyming. Genius. Get a first taste of the pictures in our book trailer.

Just published: Not Today

All the animals are blue today,
full of sadness and sorrow.
Will it get better? Not today,
maybe tomorrow!

Unforgettable rhymes and compelling illustrations – pictures and a soundbite of them can be found in our book trailer.

Upcoming: Sławomir Mrożek’s 90th birthday

Sławomir Mrożek would have turned 90 on 29 June 2020 – and his theatrical as well as prose works are still highly topical around the globe. Among these, we would like to highlight Emigrants (premiered in 1975), which has been performed by no less than 14 theatres in six different countries in the last two years.

Why is it still so topical? This play poses a question that has always been high on the agenda since it was first on stage because emigration and the conflicts resulting from it have increased: So, what does it mean, exactly, to be a foreigner? Mrożek’s answer is that it can be something entirely dissimilar, depending on the motives for which you left your native country. In Emigrants, an intellectual who fled his home due to political reasons, and a factory worker in search of making a fortune abroad share a flat. They wouldn’t have anything in common – if they hadn’t both washed up abroad and if they weren’t equally as desperate as the other. A dangerous mix.

Love in Case of Emergency to be published in 20 languages

Daniela Krien is keeping us busy. With Estonian rights sold to Varrak, we’re at 20 languages in total so far.

Foreign rights sold:
Catalan (Bromera)
Chinese/CN (Beijing October Literature & Art)
Danish (Arvids)
Dutch (Ambo|Anthos)
English/UK (MacLehose Press)
English/US (HarperVia)
Estonian (Varrak)
Finnish (Lurra)
French (Albin Michel)
Hebrew (Keter)
Hungarian (Maxim)
Italian (Corbaccio)
Lithuanian (Gelmes)
Norwegian (Forlaget Press)
Romanian (Humanitas)
Serbian (Booka)
Slovenian (Mladinska Knjiga)
Spanish (Grijalbo)
Thai (Library House)

This aside, her Italian publisher Corbaccio sent us a parcel full of marketing material. To avoid misunderstandings: this is not the limited deluxe edition, this is what their reading copies and marketing materials look like. On the photo you can see our hands – twenty fingers for twenty languages – and four hands applauding Corbaccio.

Muldental by Daniela Krien praised by the press

»Daniela Krien’s stories are neither loud and suspenseful, nor are they sensationalist or adorned with unnecessary stylistic devices. And that is what makes them such a joy to read.«
Andreas Schröter / Ruhr Nachrichten, Dortmund

»With Muldental, Daniela Krien has created a psychological profile of East German society, with all its hurt and frustration.«
Falk Schreiber / Berliner Morgenpost, Berlin

»Daniela Krien is a master when it comes to creating complex characters. In just a few scenes and sentences she is able to show why things happened the way they did.«
Monika von Aufschnaiter / BR2, Munich

Muldental entered the Spiegel bestseller list upon publication and until today has been on it for three weeks so far.

Trace Elements by Donna Leon on #10 of the NYT, #12 of the Sunday Times bestseller list

Donna Leon’s latest novel Trace Elements shot to #10 of the New York Times bestseller list and to #12 of the Sunday Times bestseller list upon publication.

Trace Elements is the 29th book in the series about Venetian police commissioner Guido Brunetti.

Just published: In the Middle of August

Murder on the most beautiful island in the world. Tense thrills in front of a beautiful backdrop: young policeman Enrico Rizzi investigates in the new Capri series.

Just published: We’ll Catch up on It Later

A child and a job – lots of love, not much time. A novel drawn straight from real life by best-selling author Martina Borger.

Just published: Hunkeler in the Wilderness

The long wait is over – Detective Hunkeler is back on the job. Albeit very reluctantly. The tenth case in the best-selling Hunkeler series.

Deep Water to be published in 14 languages

With the film version of Deep Water to be released soon, Deep Water has been or is to be published in 14 languages:

Catalan (Navona)
Croatian (Mozaik)
Danish (Lindhardt & Ringhof)
English/UK (UK, Little, Brown)
English (USA, W.W. Norton)
Estonian (Kirjastus Pegasus)
French (Calmann-Lévy)
Italian (La nave di Teseo)
Korean (Openhouse for Publishers)
Portuguese (Brazil, Intrínseca)
Romanian (Litera)
Spanish (world, Anagrama)
Turkish (Can)

What would Friedrich Dürrenmatt have said about the current situation?

While we cannot know, we believe this quote truly captures the current condition:

»Time has grown mightier than the city, for all her diligent deportment, it does with her what it will. And so we are neither the people we once were nor those we now need to be, we live at war with the present, do not want to do what we must do, obstinately never quite doing what must be done, but at best only doing things halfway, and even that grudgingly.«

from: The Execution of Justice, English version by Pushkin Press, translated by John E. Woods