The end of a publishing era

[ANDREW WACHTEL]

RIP - Writings from an Unbound Europe
 
The editors of Northwestern University Press have decided to end the run of
Writings from an Unbound Europe, the only more or less comprehensive book
series devoted to translated contemporary literature from the former
communist countries of Eastern/Central Europe.  The final title in the
series, the novel Sailing Against the Wind (Vastutuulelaev) by the Estonian
Jaan Kross (1920-2007) will appear in a translation by Eric Dickens some
time in 2012.  With that title Unbound Europe will have published 61 books
since its inception in 1993.  Among the highlights of what has been
published over this twenty-year period are the first English-language
editions of David Albahari, Ferenc Barnas, Petra Hůlová, Drago Jančar,
Anzhelina Polonskaya, and Goce Smilevski.  By far the best selling title in
the series is Death and the Dervish (Drviš i smrt) by the Bosnian writer
Meša Selimović (1910-1982), which has sold close to 6000 copies since it
appeared in 1996. In recent years, however, changes in book-buying habits
and diminished interest in Eastern/Central Europe in the English speaking
world have led to significantly lower sales, even for masterpieces by such
major writers as Borislav Pekić and Bohumil Hrabal.  I would like to thank
the series co-editors Clare Cavanagh, Michael Henry Heim, Roman Koropeckyj,
and Ilya Kutik as well as several generations of Northwestern University
Press editors and directors for their work on this project.  Most of the
books published in the series remain in print and will continue to be
available on the Northwestern University Press backlist.
 
Andrew Wachtel
General Editor
Writings from an Unbound Europe

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