After weathering the rising cost of printing and distribution, Tilted Axis Press is reaching out to our community of readers, writers, and translators for help – so that we can continue doing what we do best: publishing trailblazing literature in translation from languages across the globe.
What we do
Tilted Axis Press is a ‘small but perfectly formed’ UK-based publisher of groundbreaking literature by Global Majority authors, either translated into or written in a variety of Englishes. Since 2015, we have published novels, memoirs, essays, poetry and short story collections translated from Korean, Hindi, Thai, Tamil, Vietnamese and Swahili, among numerous other languages.
Our publishing practice involves an ongoing exploration into alternatives outside the status quo – such as the hierarchisation of certain languages and forms of translation and the monoculture of globalisation – while at the same time building and nourishing a diverse community of Anglophone readers, be they in London, Dallas, Manila or Kolkata. Inspired by the Afro-Asia Writers’ Association, literary collectives, and grassroots organisation, we strive to develop collaborative and interdisciplinary projects to expand what constitutes literature and build on transnational solidarities.
Why Tilted Axis Press matters
TAP matters because we push the boundaries and tilt the axes of literatures in the English-speaking world: our authors and many of our translators represent the Global Majority and its diaspora; our catalogue is filled with marginal experiences resulting from colonial histories, migration and diaspora; our approach to literature is intersectional and the stories we publish reflect the true movement of people, language and imagination across imposed borders.
The figures speak for us:
- 91.3% of our books and chapbooks originate in non-European languages
- The 46 books we have published in the past nine years come from 19 different languages and 14 different countries across Asia and Africa
- 36 out of 46 of our books are written by women-identified authors
- 23.91% of our books are by queer authors or have queer narratives
- 20% of our books are about working-class experiences
What people say about us
Our books have been longlisted, shortlisted or won most major translation prizes, from the International Booker Prize and National Book Award to the Warwick Women in Translation Prize, and the Society of Authors First Translation Prize, among many others. Our authors have been reviewed in important outlets like The Guardian, London Review of Books, The New Yorker, Mekong Review, Words Without Borders, Asymptote, Asian Review of Books, Times Literary Supplement, The Financial Times.
In 2022, Tomb of Sand, written by Geetanjali Shree and translated by Daisy Rockwell, won the International Booker, becoming the first Hindi translation to win a major prize.
We have been internationally recognised in The Observer, Vogue Japan, Los Angeles Times Weekly, TANK Magazine, The Tokyo Shimbun, and Electric Literature, who recently said: ‘Based in London, Tilted Axis has an expansive vision that only seems to grow larger with every passing year. . . pair this relentless effort to broaden the literary horizons of English readers with a nose for beauty, wit, and experimentation, that’s Tilted Axis.’
Who we are
While the UK publishing industry remains predominantly white, with nearly 80% of the workforce identifying as such in 2022, our team is reflective of the Global Majority, and we publish from and for our communities. We are a small team of seven, who all work part-time.
Our Director, Kristen Vida Alfaro, is a second-generation Filipinx. Born in Canada, she has spent the last twelve years in New York and London. She is currently working on a project that sits at the intersection of Philippine food sovereignty, land, and literature with Faye Cura of Gantala Press.
Our Publishing Assistant, Phương Anh, is from Vietnam and translates authors and poets from Vietnam and its Francophone diaspora.
Our Graphic Designer, Amandine Forest-Aguié, has roots in France and Ivory Coast. Her practice is based around decolonising graphic design, putting forward African writing systems through editorial design and typography.
Our Managing Editor, Mayada Ibrahim, has roots in London and Khartoum, and translates contemporary poetry and fiction from Arabophone Africa.
Our Typesetter, Abbas Jaffary, has taught maths at schools, colleges, and non-profits in and around Chicago to learners of all ages, cultures, learning styles, and backgrounds. These days, he makes maths, poetry, literature, zines, and other forms of media accessible to users of assistive technology.
Our Rights Director, Julia Sanches, was born in São Paulo, Brazil, and has lived in the United States, Mexico, Switzerland, Scotland, and Catalonia, giving her an intimate knowledge of the languages, cultures, and literatures she works in as well as a global outlook on literature.
Our Marketing and Community Manager, Trà My Hickin, is also a community organiser and works with An Việt Archives, the largest known community archive of Brit-Viet history in the UK, among other grassroots organisations such as Kanlungan, SEEAWA, and ESEA Sisters.
Here is what Kristen Vida Alfaro said in an interview with TANK magazine:
'In the UK, the act of translation is fundamentally tied to Empire and colonialism. I think if you claim to be an anticolonial publisher, your responsibility extends beyond the book. Anticolonial publishing is itself an act of resistance and a method of challenging the institutional structures in which we exist. From how we talk about the book, to how we make decisions, it’s all part of what it means to be anticolonial. . .
Everyone working at TAP is part of the Global Majority and we are all part of a diaspora. That is important in terms of how we think about collaborations, and how we think about translation. If we’re going to publish a book from or promote Southeast Asian literature, we need to speak to publishers actually in Southeast Asia. These are questions of solidarity – everything is relational.'
What your donation will fund
Labour
Safeguard current positions at Tilted Axis. We are currently a small team of seven, all part-time. Help us offer everyone more hours and increase their pay to keep pace with inflation and the increased cost of living in the UK and the US.
With an unpredictable market and increasing cuts in arts funding, we need to diversify our income streams. Your support will safeguard our jobs and adjust to the market and shift our strategies.
Translation fees
Tilted Axis is one of few presses in the Anglophone world that offers translators royalties from first sale and a share of subsidiary rights. Though we currently pay translators in line with the TA observed rate, our aim is to always stay one step ahead.
Rights
Increase our chances of acquiring rights in works by authors who have not been translated into English from languages underserved in Anglophone publishing.
Expanded distribution
In 2025, we will begin distributing our titles in North America and investing more time and money in bolstering our presence outside the UK. At the same time, we want to expand our readership outside traditional literary circles in the UK and reach underserved communities. For this, we need to increase our outreach to indie booksellers across the UK.
Building business expertise
We plan to bring in a business consultant to help us expand sustainably in our current, unpredictable market and in light of increased cuts to arts funding.
On the Horizon
In October 2024, we are publishing our first title in the series Translating the Black Atlantic and the Black Pacific. Along with Translating the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Seas, this project brings together local and international creatives. Focusing on translated literature from West Africa, the Caribbean, and Latin America, Tilted Axis Press will publish six books from authors of each region. Your donation will support the acquisition and production of these titles, along with interdisciplinary community events in Brixton, London from 2024-2025.
Three of the six titles have been acquired and feature English language debuts by Astrid Roemer and Yuliana Ortiz Ruano:
On A Woman’s Madness by Astrid Roemer, translated from Dutch by Lucy Scott
On a Woman’s Madness tells the story of Noenka, a courageous Black woman trying to live a life of her own choosing. When her abusive husband of just nine days refuses her request for divorce, Noenka flees her hometown in Suriname, on South America’s tropical northeastern coast, for the capital city of Paramaribo. Unsettled and unsupported, her life in this new place is illuminated by romance and new freedoms, but also forever haunted by her past and society’s expectations.
Off-White by Astrid Roemer, translated from Dutch by Lucy Scott and David McKay
A moving portrait of a woman finding peace in the legacy that is her daughters and granddaughters, Off-White, keenly translated by Lucy Scott and David McKay, is also a searing and complex portrait of male violence, the legacy of colonialism, and a dismantling of what it means to be "white.” Written after a nearly 20-year break from publishing, Off-White is another masterpiece from the only Surinamese author to win the prestigious Dutch Literature Award.
Carnival Fever by Yuliana Ortiz Ruano, translated from Spanish by Madeleine Arenivar
Alive, corporeal, and sensory, Carnival Fever is a story told through the eyes of Ainhoa, a young girl growing up in the Afro-descendant community of Esmeraldas, Ecuador, in the 1990s. Ainhoa lives a protected life within the walls of her grandmother’s house, surrounded by a gaggle of aunts who love, correct, and teach her. As she narrates moments with them, with her mother, with her father, Ainhoa invokes the powerful presence of music and dance in her daily life – but especially at Carnival – as the expression of Afro-Ecuadorian culture.
Sublimely translated by Madeleine Arenivar, Yuliana Ortiz Ruano explores economic hardship, migration, and the spectre of male violence, as well as enormous cultural richness and the resilience of communities of women.
Our Translating the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Seas series will include:
Our City, That Year by Geetanjali Shree, translated from Hindi by Daisy Rockwell
From the author-translator winning duo of The 2022 International Booker Prize, a powerful, kaleidoscopic novel about a fractured society, loosely based on the gathering violence that led to the demolition of the Babri Mosque by religious extremists in 1992.
Annah, Infinite by Khairani Barokka
An experimental work of creative non-fiction functioning as a tale of art, struggling against colonial ableism, and reclaiming the spirit.
Khairani Barokka is a writer, poet and artist in London whose work centres disability justice as anti-colonial praxis. In Annah, Infinite, she challenges dominant narratives about Paul Gauguin’s painting Annah la Javanaise (c. 1893-94), suggesting it may depict a child in pain. With keen sensitivity and piercing intellect, Barokka uncovers how ablenormativity can obscure colonial abuses.
Andhar Bil by Kalyani Thakur Charal, translated from Bengali by Asit Biswas
An evocative novel – episodic, almost plotless – from one of India’s most hard-hitting writers.
In 1947 and 1971, mass migrations tore communities apart in South Asia as new borders reshaped nations. Kalyani Thakur’s evocative novel captures the Matua Dalits' struggle to rebuild their lives around Andhar Bil, a place that echoes the home they lost.
The Woman Who Climbed on the Roof by Park Seolyeon, translated from Korean by Anton Hur
Based on a true story, this novel follows Kang Juryong, a young woman in Japanese-occupied Korea, who becomes an independence fighter and labor activist. On May 29, 1931, she made history as the first Korean worker to stage a high-altitude protest, climbing atop Pyongyang's Eulmil Pavilion in a bold act of defiance.
Yñiga by Glenn Diaz
Winner of the Philippine National Book Award. Yñiga Calinauan’s quiet life is upended when a retired army general wanted for the murder of peasants and activists in the countryside is captured across the street from her house. Days later the neighborhood is burned to the ground in what some say is retaliation. With nowhere to go, she returns to M—, the small fishing town where she grew up and now hopes to regain the quiet life she has lost. But soon she discovers that the terror she thought she had escaped in the city is right on her trail, and she must face the “forest of history” that has long haunted her family.
You can also help by becoming a Tilted Axis Press 2024 print subscriber. You’ll receive all eight 2024 titles for a discounted price.
Tilted Axis Press needs your support to keep publishing literature by the Global Majority. Please donate what you can and share our Crowdfunder campaign so that we can continue to push the boundaries of translated literature.