Welcome to ARQUIPÉLAGO PRESS

Arquipélago Press is an independent literary press dedicated to publishing both emerging and established voices from the Portuguese North American community, as well as Portuguese literature in translation. We launched in May 2021 with the reissue of Memória: An Anthology of Portuguese Canadian Writers. Originally published in 2013 and long out of print, the anthology’s second edition has already reached more readers across Canada and the United States than its first. With the help of friends near and far, copies have even found their way to Porto—and to Paris, where a copy resides on the shelves of the iconic Shakespeare & Co.

In Fall 2022, we released our second title: Mary John, a luminous coming-of-age illustrated novel by Ana Pessoa. Since then, our catalogue has grown to include four more titles: The Hyphen and Other Thoughts from the In-Between by MJ Maciel Jorge; Homecoming by acclaimed Portuguese author José Luís Peixoto, Here & Elsewhere: An Anthology of Portuguese Canadian Writers; and Olinda Beja’s The Shepherd’s House, a short story collection edited by renowned translator Margaret Jull Costa.

The aim of this small press is ambitious: we strive to publish meaningful literature by writers of Luso descent, regardless of their national background, and to develop and expand a platform for underrepresented voices in traditional publishing. In doing so, Arquipélago can contribute to a community that accurately reflects the diversity and vibrancy of Lusophone literary production throughout North America and around the world. From authors yet to be discovered in translation, to familiar names in Portuguese North American literary circles, from immigrant memoirs to short story collections and contemporary fiction, we aim to publish compelling new and established voices and original perspectives that reflect the full spectrum of our vibrant heritage.  One could say our mission is to “Write (and read!) the Lusophone World,” and we are developing projects and plans to support this ambitious goal.