An Intro: Fitzcarraldo Editions
International Klein Blue and experimental literature.
It’s July! and we’re starting a series of introductions to the publishers featured at Mehrab Bookstore. For the first round, we have Fitzcarraldo Editions, an independent publishing house launched in 2014 and founded by Jacques Testard in Deptford, Southeast London.
Fitzcarraldo, named after Werner Herzog’s film, began at Testard's kitchen table and has expanded to become an extremely influential literary presence. The press publishes a curated catalogue of titles across two forms of writing: literary fiction and long-form essays. It has a number of titles in translation, and is known for seeking out experimental, challenging, and incredibly ambitious writing by little known and neglected writers. Their editorial approach is known to prioritize literary quality and innovation over commercial trends.
The publishing house also has one of the most recognizable designs in publishing today. Fiction titles come in a striking blue colour (International Klein Blue) with white text while non-fiction titles invert this palette. The consistency, achieved through the work of designer Ray O'Meara, has created a signature association with literary seriousness and design integrity.
Fitzcarraldo has made remarkable success over its history, publishing works that awarded authors such as Svetlana Alexievich, Olga Tokarczuk, Annie Ernaux, and Jon Fosse, the Nobel Prize in Literature. Other authors of note include Fernanda Melchor, whose novel Hurricane Season has been published worldwide, and Claire-Louise Bennett, whose debut Pond received great acclaim. Fitzcarraldo has also published Brian Dillon, Daisy Hildyard, Paul B. Preciado, and others who challenge the boundaries of genre and form.
As a publishing house, Fitzcarraldo is known for its commitment to supporting writers over the long term, often working with them from the onset of their careers and using its infrastructure to benefit the emerging talent through the annual Essay Prize and biennial Novel Prize.
In just over a decade, Fitzcarraldo Editions has become a force in contemporary literature. With a distinct editorial vision, a commitment to translation, and a history of supporting innovative work, it is proof of the impact that small, independent publishers can have on the global literary landscape today.
Here’s a (official) synopsis of some of the titles we stock:
The City and the World - Gregor Hens, Tr. by Jen Calleja
Published 22 May 2025
In The City and the World, Gregor Hens explores the city in the twenty-first century – a space we shape and are shaped by in turn – and our place within it. Travelling from Berlin to Las Vegas, Shenzhen to Santiago de Chile…Blending memoir, travelogue and philosophy with photography and literary insights, The City and the World is a witty, captivating, illuminating and expansive journey into the heart of the modern city…
The Accidentals - Guadalupe Nettel, Tr. by Rosalind Harvey
Published 10 April 2025
When an albatross strays too far from its home, or loses its bearings, it becomes an ‘accidental’, an unmoored wanderer. The protagonists of these eight stories each find the ordinary courses of their lives disrupted by an unexpected event and are pushed into unfamiliar terrain: a girl encounters her uncle in hospital, who was cast out of the family for reasons unknown; a menacing force hovers over a fracturing family on a rural holiday… Deft and disquieting, oscillating between the real and the fantastical, The Accidentals is the brilliant new book from International Booker-shortlisted duo Guadalupe Nettel and Rosalind Harvey…
Brian - Jeremy Cooper
Published 24 May 2023
Perennially on the outside, Brian has led a solitary life; he works at Camden Council, lunches every day at Il Castelletto café and then returns to his small flat on Kentish Town Road. It is an existence carefully crafted to avoid disturbance and yet Brian yearns for more. A visit one day to the BFI brings film into his life, and Brian introduces a new element to his routine: nightly visits to the cinema on London’s South Bank… A tender meditation on friendship and the importance of community, Brian is also a tangential work of film criticism, one that is not removed from its subject matter, but rather explores with great feeling how art gives meaning to and enriches our lives…
Mehrab’s got updates!
We now stock titles from poetry from Copper Coin Publishing, subaltern literature from Forward Press, and India-based childrens’ book publisher Pickle Yolk Books.
Also come check out new titles from Tulika Books, Leftword Books, Three Essays Collective, Tulika Publishers, Little Latitude and Women Unlimited!
Till then, look at your toenails. It’s free.