Laertes, a Press for Literary Translation

Laertes, a Press for Literary Translation Laertes is an independent press committed to literary translation — to the furthering of that particular art.

Our aim is also to relay works from far and wide, in any genre, that render the full human weight.

Soon to go to press, a collection by Karen Malpede, whose plays, from the keenest human concerns, aim toward the thrivin...
09/14/2025

Soon to go to press, a collection by Karen Malpede, whose plays, from the keenest human concerns, aim toward the thriving of the world. With a glorious rendering by Biba Kayewich and stunning design by Maxine Mills.
https://www.laertesbooks.org/4-by-malpede

At long last a collection devoted to Goran Stefanovski — with all the human depths and intricacies that such an antholog...
08/12/2025

At long last a collection devoted to Goran Stefanovski — with all the human depths and intricacies that such an anthology implies — is on the brink of its entrance into the world. Greatest thanks to Pat Marsh, Igor Stefanovski, Jana Nightingale, Slobodan Unkovski, Chris Torch; and to Maxine Mills, Biba Kayewich, and Margaretta Yarborough as always.
https://www.laertesbooks.org/4-by-stefanovski

Arising in these next months, preorders being received, the encompassing anthology: The Insulted Plays by Andrei Kureich...
08/11/2025

Arising in these next months, preorders being received, the encompassing anthology: The Insulted Plays by Andrei Kureichik, translated by John Freedman, brilliance upon brilliance. To Maxine Mills, Valerie Price, Margaretta Yarborough, Valleri Robinson, Alisa Lin, and Bryan Brown, great thanks!

Laertes is an independent press committed to literary translation — to the furthering of that particular art. Our aim is also to relay works from far and wide, in any genre, that render the full human weight.

A beautiful review of No One is on the Line in conjunction with the Eric Hoffer Prize. With Mohsen Mohamed, Sherine Elba...
06/10/2025

A beautiful review of No One is on the Line in conjunction with the Eric Hoffer Prize. With Mohsen Mohamed, Sherine Elbanhawy, and Seán Swanick.

US Review of Books - a top online book review site for professional book reviews, fiction book reviews, novel reviews, memoir reviews, or any review of books.

An IPPY award for cover design for NEW MOON: DAY ONE, a photorealistic oil painting by Biba Kayewich Art, held perfectly...
05/28/2025

An IPPY award for cover design for NEW MOON: DAY ONE, a photorealistic oil painting by Biba Kayewich Art, held perfectly in design by Maxine Mills.

For a glorious project, Golden Shrapnel by Almir Imsirevic, translated from the Bosnian by Ellen Elias-Bursac, a glowing...
05/27/2025

For a glorious project, Golden Shrapnel by Almir Imsirevic, translated from the Bosnian by Ellen Elias-Bursac, a glowing, glorious cover: illustration Biba Kayewich Art, design Maxine Mills.

The Eric Hoffer Prize Committee awarded Laertes the distinction of Best Micro Press of 2025, for NO ONE IS ON THE LINE, ...
05/15/2025

The Eric Hoffer Prize Committee awarded Laertes the distinction of Best Micro Press of 2025, for NO ONE IS ON THE LINE, by Mohsen Mohamed, translated by Sherine Elbanhawy. (A "micro press" is one that publishes less than 24 titles in a year.)

An exquisitely beautiful, brilliant essay and contemplation by Alice Rose Whitmore on translation and the work of Xhevde...
05/10/2025

An exquisitely beautiful, brilliant essay and contemplation by Alice Rose Whitmore on translation and the work of Xhevdet Bajraj. With Vjollca Bajraj, Fadil Bajraj, and Ani Gjika.
http://cordite.org.au/essays/ghost-writing-tdr/?fbclid=IwY2xjawKMiz1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFkRUJuRVNrS2tmM2lLWW5xAR6tlZ9GR_6GXyhChHDJbtLfsTd7NhhHttG7C8doklsIJIKMqatAa4hZDDEcsw_aem_ZaZHYp_iSprMHAReME4uTw

On 22 June, 2022, I lost my poet. He wasn’t really mine, and I didn’t really lose him, but we belonged to one other in that particular way that translators and poets do, and his death extinguished …

Happy World Theatre Day with these new beauties! With Almir Imsirevic and Ellen Elias-Bursac.
03/27/2025

Happy World Theatre Day with these new beauties! With Almir Imsirevic and Ellen Elias-Bursac.

Forthcoming from Egret Acting Editions: If This Were a Movie, by Almir Imsirevic, translated by Ellen Elias-Bursac. With...
03/05/2025

Forthcoming from Egret Acting Editions: If This Were a Movie, by Almir Imsirevic, translated by Ellen Elias-Bursac. With Maxine Mills and Biba Kayewich Art.

A wonderful new review of I Want a Country, for the City Garage Theatre production in Santa Monica. With Ανδρέας Φλουράκ...
03/02/2025

A wonderful new review of I Want a Country, for the City Garage Theatre production in Santa Monica. With Ανδρέας Φλουράκης and Eleni Drivas.

Spoilers ahoy! A quick apology--I have been over-worked and over-stressed otherwise this and other reviews would have already appeared. My ...

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Our Story

Laertes is an independent press committed to literary translation — to the furthering of that particular art. Our aim is also to relay works from far and wide, in any genre, that render the full human weight.

We strive to publish keenly human documents – literature that catches the fullness of our experience and situation in the world, from Cavafy’s solitary notes, at the start of the twentieth century, that bear on homosexual lack of agency, (together with the poems that came to birth in the same period), to a play set during the war in Kosovo and the NATO bombings; from the poetry of Pascoli on the brink of the twentieth century, embedded in rustic life and the natural world, to the work of engaged poets, playwrights, and prose writers who grapple in distant places with the crises of our times.

We seek to hold a lamp to difficult human circumstances, obscure moments of history, and dimensions of life on earth that seem to be escaping us. Literary translation is that lamp – the beautiful instrument of such illumination.

Laertes is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) humanities organization.