ABOUT ARQUIPÉLAGO PRESS

Welcome to ARQUIPÉLAGO PRESS

We are a new independent literary press dedicated to publishing emerging and established Luso North American authors and Portuguese literature in translation. There is always optimism when you start a new business—even amid a global pandemic where it seems focusing on doom and a shaky economic reality has become a familiar habit of mind. Arquipélago is a small repudiation of such glumness: we launched quietly—and at a disquieting time in history—in May 2021 with a reprint of Memoria: An Anthology of Portuguese Canadian Writers, originally published in 2013 and long out of print. This second edition of the anthology has nearly outperformed the first with copies purchased by readers all over Canada and the US. Thanks to friends in far places, the book also travelled to Porto–and to Paris where a copy is currently displayed on the bookseller’s shelf at Shakespeare & Co! Progress is going on behind the scenes with several books under contract in varying stages of completion for release in the year ahead. The first of these, Mary John, a beautiful coming-of-age illustrated novel by Ana Pessoa translated into English, was released in the Fall of 2022.

The aim of this small press is rather ambitious: We endeavour to publish meaningful literature by writers of Luso descent, regardless of national background, with a focus on developing and expanding a platform for underrepresented voices in traditional publishing. In doing so, Arquipélago can contribute to a community which accurately reflects the multiplicity and excitement of Lusophone literary production throughout North America and around the world. From authors as yet undiscovered in translation, to familiar names in Portuguese North American literary circles; from immigrant memoirs to short story collections to contemporary fiction, we will strive 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 forming projects and plans to support this rather lofty goal.