Carmen Boullosa on the International Dublin Literary Award Longlist

Congratulations to Carmen Boullosa & Samantha Schnee!

The first book we ever published, Carmen Boullosa‘s masterful Texas: The Great Theft, translated brilliantly by Samantha Schnee, has been longlisted for the prestigious International Dublin Literary Award 2016 (formerly known as the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award). The prize is €100,000, awarded to the author if the book is written in English, or, if the winning book is in English translation asTexas is, the author receives €75,000 and the translator, €25,000. The winner also receives a trophy provided by Dublin City Council and eternal glory and triumph!

It is an absolute honor for Carmen’s groundbreaking historical novel to land on this list of what is essentially the one hundred best novels published in the entire English language in 2014 as nominated by libraries and librarians from all over the world.

I picked Texas as the first book for Deep Vellum to publish not only because I thought it was important for a new Dallas-based publisher of translated literature to show our community and the world how important it is to publish literature from around the world as a way to promote dialogue and cultural understanding, and so I felt it vital to launch with a book about Texas from the Mexican perspective. And I’m so glad the world agrees, now Texas has made it to Dublin. Fingers crossed for Carmen and Samantha to make the shortlist in April!!

We love working with Carmen Boullosa so much that we have since signed five more books by her that will come out over the next four years, starting with Before in May 2016, which won Boullosa Mexico’s most prestigious literary award when published, and translated with poignant nuance by Peter Bush. We’ll follow that with Heavens on Earth in December 2016 translated by Dallas’s own Shelby Vincent, who translated this novel as part of her PhD at the University of Texas at Dallas! Three more books to come in 2017 and beyond from Carmen, more info on them soon! And the best part is, Carmen loves Deep Vellum too, as she discusses in a forthcoming interview with Aaron Bady:

I love to be in the hands of such a young and full-of-life publisher. It feels like I am young again, because when I was young and I started publishing, my editors and publishers were not doing business, they were doing books. And they were really reading the texts. I feel with Deep Vellum that I am again in a totally literary adventure. It is fantastic!

Past winners of the International Dublin Literary Award include Orhan Pamuk‘s My Name is Red (translated by Erdag Goknar), Michel Houellebecq‘s Atomised/The Elementary Particles (translated by Frank Wynne), Per Petterson‘s Out Stealing Horses (translated by Anne Born), plus amazing books by Jim Crace, Kevin Barry, Juan Gabriel Vásquez, and more! For more information on the International Dublin Literary Award, their FAQs are great start to learn about this amazing prize:

Q: What is the International DUBLIN Literary Award?

A: The International DUBLIN Literary Award [originally founded in 1994] is presented annually for a novel written in English or translated into English. The Award is an initiative of Dublin City Council the municipal government of Dublin which now retains full ownership of the award. The Award aims to promote excellence in world literature. Nominations are submitted by library systems in major cities throughout the world. The award is now in its 20th year. The Lord Mayor of Dublin is Patron of the Award.

Q: Who manages the nomination processes and liaison with publishers?

A: Dublin City Public Libraries manages the entire process of nomination which involves over one hundred public libraries in a unique international library cooperative effort. It also liaises with publishers of nominated works who provide copies for the judging process as a requirement of eligibility.

Q: Who can nominate books for the Award?

A: The nomination process for the Award is unique as nominations are made by libraries in capital and major cities throughout the world. Participating libraries can nominate up to three novels each year for the Award.Over 400 library systems in 177 countries worldwide are invited  to nominate books each year. Dublin City Libraries actively seek out and encourage nominations from countries  who have not previously nominated books for the award. Libraries interested in participating should contact the organisers for details.

Congratulations again & forever to Carmen Boullosa & Samantha Schnee! We are so honored to be your publisher!