For Immediate Release
Contact: Judith Platt
Ph: 202-220-4551
Archipelago Books Named 2008 Miriam Bass Award Winner
Washington, D.C., March 20, 2008: The Association of American Publishers (AAP) announced today that Archipelago Books, a Brooklyn-based not-for-profit literary press which specializes in world literature, is the recipient of this year’s Miriam Bass Award for Creativity in Independent Publishing. The award will be presented at BookExpo America in Los Angeles on Thursday, May 29 during the AAP Smaller and Independent Publishers Annual Meeting.
Given annually, the award, was created in memory of Miriam Bass to honor her many contributions to the independent book publishing community, and is co-sponsored by AAP, Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, and National Book Network (NBN). It carries a $5,000 cash prize, which is fully funded by Rowman & Littlefield and NBN.
A judging committee representing a cross-section of the book industry selected Archipelago Books in recognition of their commitment to enriching and broadening the American literary landscape through the publication of classic and contemporary literature by a host of distinguished international authors. Among the press’s most successful titles have been Gate of the Sun by Elias Khoury (named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year in 2006), A Dream of Polar Fog by Yuri Rytkheu, and Sarajevo Marlboro by Miljenko Jergovic. Two Archipelago books were finalists for the 2006 and 2007 NBCC awards in the poetry category (Miltos Sachtouris’ Poems 1945-1971 and Tadeusz Rozewicz’s New Poems) and the press will be bringing out Nobel Prize-winner Halldor Laxness’ The Great Weaver from Kasmir and Alan Paton Prize-winner Breyton Breytenbach’s All One Horse in the fall.
In an interview, Archipelago’s publisher Jill Schoolman noted that despite the self-perpetuating myth that “translations don’t sell,” she believes that “American readers are hungry to know what people are writing about and thinking about beyond our borders, especially now when our government is doing its best to alienate us from the rest of the world.” On learning that Archipelago was this year’s award winner, Schoolman said: “I couldn’t be more delighted. What a great honor.”
Jed Lyons, President of Rowman & Littlefield and Chief Executive Officer of National Book Network, who will present the award in Los Angeles, noted that “Archipelago is joining a distinguished list of past Miriam Bass award winners that includes Melville House, Akashic Books, and Soft Skull Press, which, while differing from one another in their publishing programs, share the common bond of literary excellence and creativity. I think Miriam Bass would have been very pleased and proud to have Archipelago’s accomplishments acknowledged in her name.” Lyons pointed out that announcement of the award is particularly timely since March has been designated as “Small Press Month.”
Nominees for this award may be engaged in any area of book publishing provided their publishing house is independent. The Award Committee judges consider a company's extraordinary creativity over the past year in any publishing role, including editorial, marketing, sales, finance, or production.
The Association of American Publishers is the national trade association of the U.S. book publishing industry. AAP’s more than 300 members include most of the major commercial publishers in the United States, as well as smaller and non-profit publishers, university presses and scholarly societies—small and large. The protection of intellectual property rights in all media, the defense of the freedom to read and the freedom to publish at home and abroad, and the promotion of reading and literacy are among the Association’s highest priorities.
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