About Us

Open Letter—the University of Rochester's nonprofit, literary translation press—is one of only a handful of publishing houses dedicated to increasing access to world literature for English readers. Publishing ten titles in translation each year and running an online literary website called Three Percent, Open Letter searches for works that are extraordinary and influential, works that we hope will become the classics of tomorrow.

Making world literature available in English is crucial to opening our cultural borders, and its availability plays a vital role in maintaining a healthy and vibrant book culture. Open Letter strives to cultivate an audience for these works by helping readers discover imaginative, stunning works of fiction and poetry and by creating a constellation of international writing that is engaging, stimulating, and enduring.

News

40% off for Women in Translation Month

Women in Translation Month is always an exciting time to discover, read, discuss, and celebrate books by women from around the world. It was created by Meytal Radzinski back in 2014, and has since spawned numerous articles, events, and even the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation.

We've decided to offer a 40% discount on all Open Letter titles written by women, along with any book translated by a woman, for the whole month of August. Discount applied AUTOMATICALLY at checkout.

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Announcing our 2019 Fall/Winter Titles

 

Our 2019 Fall/Winter books are now available for perusal and preorder! Featuring new work from Open Letter favorites Quim Monzó, Mercè Rodoreda, and Sergio Chejfec, the second part of Rodrigo Fresán's barn-busting trilogy, Israeli novelist and translator Michal Ben-Naftali, and brand spanking new translations of Rainer Maria Rilke.

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Open Letter's 10-Year Anniversary Fundraiser Is Live!

As part of the Open Letter community, we know that you're passionate about experiencing great works of world literature.

You can help us to expand our mission with a donation to Open Letter. Your support will allow us to reach even more readers with new, incredible works of literature.

Your support is what has made the last ten years possible. It's thanks to readers like you that we've been able to publish almost 100 works of international literature, launch the Three Percent website, create the Best Translated Book Award, the Translation Database, and the Reading the World Conversation Series, and offer internships to dozens of young translators. All of which has played a significant role in raising the awareness and appreciation of the art and craft of translation. 

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