Publishing in Lowercase
We're turning twenty-five, and when it comes to taking stock, we discover that one of the highlights is having been able to learn in the most intense way possible, even immersed in the shocking events of recent decades (economic crisis, digital transformation, pandemic, etc.): through experimentation. Over the years, our understanding of what publishing entails has become denser and more complex, and also more ambitious. If we had to highlight something we've learned, it would be three things. The first is that publishing involves articulating, over time and through a catalog, a point of view (on literature, of course, but also on society). The second is that every editorial action (from the selection of the text to the book reaching the hands of whoever, we hope, will read it) has consequences; in other words, it is a communicative process. And third, that to practice this profession, you have to learn to live with the unknown.
The characteristics of the collections may give a clue as to how, over these twenty-five years, the catalog has remained remarkably faithful to the publisher's original concerns. From the beginning, we have tended to organize our catalog based on criteria somewhat different from those established. (For example, we have never distinguished literary essays from fiction, as our readers well know.) Over time, the collections have reached six, and all of them, even the most recent ones, are the result of that same unorthodox desire, which is now probably more established in bookstores.
Books are living beings; they have a character, each one arouses a different enthusiasm and poses different challenges. They are not comparable. But of the total of two hundred that have so far seen the light of day under our imprint, perhaps those that marked a turning point in the publisher's history could be mentioned. Verde agua, by Marisa Madieri, was certainly our letter of introduction; It's one of our first titles, and it gave us the satisfaction of introducing a writer and confirming that the enthusiasm we feel for her work is shared by many readers. Years later, we had the same experience with Giani Stuparich's The Island. Something similar can be said of LTI: The Language of the Third Reich, by Victor Klemperer, which has become an essential reference for addressing the manipulation of language in everyday life under Nazism. Worthy of special mention are the six volumes of The Kolyma Tales by Varlam Shalamov, a titanic undertaking for a publishing house of our size, and the recovery of the work of Shirley Jackson.
Over these twenty-five years, we've kept in mind several tutelary figures, patron saints of publishing from different eras and traditions. It's crucial to know the history of the craft and its high points, also because there's always someone who's done it (whatever it is) before you.
I mentioned three things I've learned before. In fact, there are four. It goes without saying that the editorial process is collective and that the professions involved are diverse. To all those involved, and of course to our readers, thank you.
Valeria Bergalli

Distinctions
Jocelyne Saucier, Plovien ocells, Premi Llibreter 2025 Altres literatures
Nona Fernández, Mapocho, Premio Cálamo Extraordinario 2020
National Prize for the Complete Works of a Translator to Selma Ancira.
5th Esther Benítez Translation Prize to Daniel Najmías for Paris France, by Gertrude Stein.
National Prize for the Complete Works of a Translator to Adan Kovacsics.
On August 24, 2010, in the Russian city of Elábuga, Selma Ancira received the 3rd Marina Tsvetaeva Literature Prize for her translations of the poet.
Tendències Award for the Emerging Cultural Industry
12th Ángel Crespo Translation Award to Selma Ancira for her translation of Viva voz de vida by Marina Tsvetaeva
2009 Qwerty Award for Best Editorial Work
2008 Qwerty Award for Best Translation to Ricardo San Vicente for his translation of Kolyma Tales, Volume I, by Varlam Shalamov
Knud Romer, He Who Blinks Fears Death, Cálamo Otra Mirada Award 2008
2007 FAD Medal

This is a publishing house committed to environmental sustainability. It prints its copies in Catalonia.