Spurred by the popularity of Swedish writer Stieg Larsson’s trilogy, which has sold more than 40 million copies world-wide, U.S. publishers are combing the globe for the next big foreign crime novel. While major publishing houses have long avoided works in translation, many are now courting international literary agents, commissioning sample translations, tracking best-seller lists overseas and pouncing on writers who win literary prizes in Europe and Asia. The result is a new wave of detective fiction that’s broadening and redefining the classic genre.
In the coming months, Minotaur Books, a mystery-and-thriller imprint of St. Martin’s, will publish new crime and suspense fiction from Iceland, Japan, Nigeria, South Africa and, naturally, Sweden. A few years ago, most of the imprint’s international authors were British.
The flood of imported crime fiction is striking given American publishers’ longstanding resistance to works in translation. Newly translated books still make up just 3% of titles released in the U.S., according to Bowker, a company that tracks the publishing industry, and translated fiction and poetry make up less than 1%. In many European countries, translated books account for 25% to 40% of titles.
In October, New York-based independent press Melville House will launch an imprint devoted to international crime fiction, featuring mostly works in translation.
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