Charco Press facts for kids

Charco Press is a special book publisher located in Edinburgh, Scotland. They focus on taking exciting new stories from Latin America and translating them into English. This means more people can read amazing books from countries like Argentina, Chile, and Mexico!

The company started in 2016 thanks to Carolina Orloff and Samuel McDowell. Their main goal is to share new and important Latin American books with readers who might not know about them. They make sure the translations are very well done. Charco Press has become quite successful since it began. In 2019, they started sending their books to Canada and the US. Later, in 2021, they also began publishing new books written in Spanish. In 2022, they added a collection of original books written in English.

What Does "Charco" Mean?

The name "Charco" means "puddle" or "pond" in Spanish. This name comes from a common saying used in some Latin American countries. People use the phrase cruzar el charco, which means "to cross the pond."

This saying refers to traveling across the Atlantic Ocean between continents. It can also remind us of the many people who have traveled to and from Latin America over time. So, the name Charco Press shows their goal. They want to build a bridge between Latin America and the English-speaking world through books.

How Charco Press Started

Charco Press officially began in November 2016 in Edinburgh. It was founded by Carolina Orloff and Samuel McDowell. Carolina Orloff studied Latin American literature at the University of Edinburgh. She noticed that the same Latin American authors were always available in English bookstores.

She and Samuel McDowell wanted to change this. They decided to find new, impactful books from Latin America. Their goal was to make these stories available to English readers. In 2019, Charco Press teamed up with Consortium. This partnership helped them send their books to Canada and the US.

In 2021, Charco Press started publishing new books written in Spanish. Then, in 2022, they launched a collection of original English books. These English books often have a clear connection to Latin America. By 2023, Charco Press had published nearly 40 books from all over Latin America. Their work has even encouraged other publishers to translate more Spanish-language books into English.

Awards and Recognitions

Books published by Charco Press have won or been nominated for many important awards.

• International Booker Prize:
  • Elena Knows, shortlisted in 2022.
  • The Adventures of China Iron, shortlisted in 2020.
  • Die, My Love, shortlisted in 2018.

• Premio Valle-Inclán of the Society of Authors:
  • A Musical Offering, winner in 2021.
  • Two Sherpas, shortlisted in 2023.
  • Brickmakers, shortlisted in 2022.
  • Dead Girls, shortlisted in 2021.
  • Ramifications, shortlisted in 2021.
  • Fish Soup, shortlisted in 2019.
  • Die, My Love, shortlisted in 2018.

• PEN Translates Award:
  • The Distance between Us, winner in 2018.
  • Resistance, winner in 2018.

• Cercador Prize:
  • Of Cattle and Men, winner in 2023.

Other books were also nominated for awards like the Republic of Consciousness Prize, the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation, and the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction.

Charco Press itself has also received special honors. At Scotland's National Book Awards, Charco Press was named Publisher of the Year in 2023. Carolina Orloff was named Emerging Publisher of the Year in 2018. The company was also named Scotland's Small Press of the Year at the British Book Awards in both 2021 and 2019.

Authors Published by Charco Press

• Katya Adaui
• Selva Almada
• Ave Barrera
• Cristina Bendek
• Gabriela Cabezon Camara
• Sergio Chejfec
• Giuseppe Caputo
• Renato Cisneros
• Jorge Consiglio
• Jennifer Croft
• Diamela Eltit
• Federico Falco
• Rodrigo Fuentes
• Julian Fuks
• Margarita Garcia Robayo
• Margo Glantz
• Daniel Hahn
• Ariana Harwicz
• Andrea Jeftanovic
• Martin Kohan
• Brenda Lozano
• Ana Paula Maia
• Carla Maliandi
• Sebastian Martinez Daniell
• Daniel Mella
• Sylvia Molloy
• Claudia Piñeiro
• Giovanna Rivero
• Ricardo Romero
• Luis Sagasti
• Daniel Saldana Paris
• Karla Suarez
• Fernanda Trias
• Ida Vitale