BCLT Publishers Panel: Why this book?

Online

Thursday 23 July, 1.30 — 2.45pm (BST)

In this panel, Anthony Bird (Honford Star), Hazel Millar (Bookhug Press) and Nariman Yousef (Chair) talk about how they select the books they publish.

As translators, how do we understand a publisher's taste, and mission, before approaching them with a pitch? What risks are publishers prepared to take in today's economy, and what makes them decide that a book is worth it?

Anthony Bird is a co-founder of Honford Star, a publisher of translated fiction from East Asia. After completing an MA in Publishing, he worked at various publishing houses in London before founding Honford Star. In 2022, Honford Star's title Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung (translated by Anton Hur) was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize, and in 2023, Ninth Building by Zou Jingzhi (translated by Jeremy Tiang) was longlisted for the International Booker Prize. Titles edited and commissioned by Anthony have also been listed for the National Book Award, the Philip K Dick Award, the Locus Awards, the Queen Mary Prize for Small Publishers, and the Lindsley and Masao Miyoshi Translation Prize.

Hazel Millar is the co-publisher and co-owner of Bookhug Press, an award-winning Canadian independent literary press working at the forefront of contemporary book culture. Bookhug Press is known for publishing daring and innovative literary fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and translated literature. Since entering the publishing industry in 2009, Hazel has been committed to bringing distinctive voices and stories from Canada and around the world to readers. Some international acquisitions she has helped oversee for the press include Olga Ravn, Maria Stepanova, Rune Christiansen, Mona Høvring, Balsam Karam, Hanna Nordenhök, Sybille Grimbert, and Anne Cathrine Bomann. She is a dedicated and passionate advocate for independent publishing and currently sits on the Board of Directors of the Association of Canadian Publishers and is Board Chair-in-Waiting for Livres Canada Books. She also serves on the International Visitors Programme committee and is a Past Chair of the Literary Press Group of Canada. Hazel lives in Toronto, Ontario.

Nariman Youssef is a cultural worker, literary translator, and Director of the Poetry Translation Centre. She founded the British Library’s first in-house translation team and has facilitated workshops for audiences ranging from young readers to professional translators. These days, she's translating Like Spirit by Sudanese author Ann el-Safi and pitching three novels by writers from Palestine, Kuwait, and Egypt.

Part of the BCLT International Literary Translation and Creative Writing Summer School, in collaboration

National Centre for writing.