The annual Guardian “hits and misses” feature, canvassing publishers about their high points and regrets of the year, always makes me wonder about what my friends and allies in the small-press world think about their own successes and failures. About whether they’d lament the same missed books and share the same triumphs as those in the corporate world. Or whether the small-press universe is entirely different. I put the questions to them once again and their replies were as intriguing as ever.



Sarah Davis-Goff

Co-director, Tramp Press

The book that made my year



Solar Bones by Mike McCormack: it won the Goldsmiths prize, the Bord Gáis Energy Irish book award for novel of the year, garnered rave reviews from impressive people, is appearing on all the end-of-year lists for best books of 2016, and is selling like mad thanks to great word of mouth – and somehow, we feel like it’s just getting going. We haven’t been able to submit it for some of our shared market’s big awards, but watch this space! More satisfying than any of this, however, is to see this cult Irish writer finally get some of the recognition he deserves.

Our book that deserved to do better

We are so proud to have published an Irish edition of Joanna Walsh’s eye-wateringly brilliant Vertigo earlier this year, to great acclaim (Julian Gough called it “terrific and terrifying”) – but in our eyes, a work as great as this can never do well enough.

I wish I’d published

Sarah Crossan’s One (Bloomsbury) is exceptional and Deirdre Sullivan’s Needlework (Little Island) is great; she’s seriously one to watch.

Philip Gwyn Jones

Editor, Scribe

The book that made my year



It was wonderful to see the acclaim pour down on Tommy Wieringa’s A Beautiful Young Wife, an immaculate dissection of a middle-aged man’s delusions, written with unsparing economy, a perfect ear for the unguarded remark, and unforgettable imagery. This newspaper was among many to sing its praises, describing it as “reminiscent of Updike at his very best”. Tommy is world class, and more and more readers in English are coming to realise it.

Our book that deserved to do better

The Sacred Combe by Thomas Maloney marries the familiar – a tale of a marriage imploding, a search for meaning, and a family battered by loss – with the unusual: a living argument between Enlightenment and Romance, embodied in an ancient house, its inhabitants and the landscape. And overlays it with allusion galore. Praised by good literary bloggers and notables such as Richard Holmes and Jim Perrin, it was largely ignored by the broadsheets and bookshops on publication this summer.

I wish I’d published

The book that left its teethmarks on me was Svetlana Alexievich’s Second-Hand Time (Fitzcarraldo), ugly-frank, full of a strange, cruel nostalgia, artless yet artful, and devastatingly real in baring a host of Russian souls chorally, in all their challenging complexity. The most beautifully uplifting book was Christopher de Hamel’s Meetings With Remarkable Manuscripts (Allen Lane).

Daniela Petracco

Director, Europa Editions

The book that made my year



Guapa, Saleem Haddad’s debut. Over the course of 24 hours, a young Arab gay man confronts questions of home and belonging after his grandmother catches him in bed with his lover. It’s a moving and wryly humorous novel that bridges cultures in all sorts of ways.

Our book that deserved to do better

Night Prayers by Santiago Gamboa, a story about the strength of the bond between siblings, a foretold mystery, and an account of a troubled time in the recent history of Colombia all rolled into one. We’re publishing Gamboa’s new novel in 2017, and I very much hope he starts getting the recognition he deserves.

I wish I’d published

Graeme Macrae Burnet’s His Bloody Project (Saraband). I read it earlier this year and loved it. It’s the kind of book that requires the reader’s complete participation, the sense of place is so strong you feel you inhabit the remote crofters’ community, and it bends and blends genres with apparent effortlessness.

Kit Caless and Gary Budden

Co-directors, Influx Press

The book that made my year

An Unreliable Guide to London. It was a real privilege to publish fantastic new short stories about our city from the likes of M John Harrison, Courttia Newland, Chloe Aridjis, Nikesh Shukla, Irenosen Okojie, Will Wiles and many others.



Our book that deserved to do better

The Foreign Passion by Cristian Aliaga (translated by Ben Bollig). Patagonian poetry in translation is never going to be a bestseller, but this book has a really insightful analysis of Europe told from the outer edges of Argentina.



I wish I’d published

Kit: I wish we had published Mama Can’t Raise No Man by Robyn Travis

(published by OWNIT!). It’s an excellent debut novel about black masculinity told through a series of prison letters. Publisher Crystal Mahey-Morgan has done amazing things this year and deserves serious recognition.



Gary: I wish we had published the second collection of short fiction from Livia Llewellyn. Like a feminine Thomas Ligotti with a very high sex drive, Furnace is a nightmarish wander through lust, violence and treacle-thick darkness. Its stories are lodged in my brain like a particularly unwholesome parasite.

Tom Chivers

Director, Penned in the Margins

The book that made my year

Sunshine by Melissa Lee-Houghton has just been shortlisted for the Costa awards, which is a big deal for a small publisher like us. Melissa speaks about things we don’t want to talk honestly about as a society: suicide, mental health, pornography. Sunshine is incredibly hard-hitting, but also stylish, surreal and funny. It’s essential poetry reading right now.

Our book that deserved to do better

It’s still early days, but November’s Cenotaph South: Mapping the Lost Poets of Nunhead Cemetery deserves a wide audience. Chris McCabe is on an epic quest to uncover all the lost poets of London’s Magnificent Seven cemeteries, and this latest instalment is full of Blakean mysteries, strange encounters and unexpected delights.

I wish I’d published

I’m currently reading The Hatred of Poetry by Ben Lerner (Fitzcarraldo Editions). It’s both a love letter to and a critique of the genre we all love to hate. As someone who spends his days (and nights) embroiled in poetry, I would have published this in a flash.

Nathan Connolly

Director, Dead Ink

The book that made my year

This has to go to Harry Gallon’s The Shapes of Dogs’ Eyes after coming runner-up in Sabotage’s best novella category. Gallon captures a particular millennial malaise as his protagonist is caught between stasis and growing up. Gallon’s magic is in how he turns this into something both hilarious and subversive with his hypnotic prose.

Our book that deserved to do better

Described by WordRiot as a novel that “highlights the creative importance of small publishers”, Lochlan Bloom’s The Wave is impossible to describe succinctly as it moves through prose and screenplay, crossing realities as it shifts. It is a mystery that can’t be satisfied, and that’s sort of the point!

I wish I’d published

Vertigo by Joanna Walsh – and I’ll keep recommending it way past everyone getting tired of me doing so. As soon as I finished the first story I was green with envy that And Other Stories had published this and not Dead Ink. If you ask me this question next year, I might just give the same answer.

Kevin Duffy



Director, Bluemoose Books

The book that made my year

The Handsworth Times by Sharon Duggal: how one family struggles to cope after losing a son in the riots of 1981, when the National Front marched through the inner cities and communities fought against racism and injustice, struggling for their dignity.

Our book that deserved to do better

If You Look at Me I Am Not Here by Sarayu Srivatsa. Set in post-partition India, it is a saga about history, identity and loyalty. So far, so Rushdie, you may think – but what sets this apart is the deftness of touch, a true intimacy, and characters who are so much more than mere cyphers or symbols.

I wish I’d published

Moonstone by Sjón (Sceptre): One of the best writers around, simply sublime.

Becky Harrison



Engagement Manager, Comma Press

The book that made my year

Having only joined Comma at the final stages of production, working on Iraq + 100 was about as exciting a baptism of fire as I could get. The variety of coverage that the book received was incredible, and I loved the strange futures and darkly humorous stories that arose from the commission. Glass of blood wine, anyone?

Our book which deserved to do better

Scent: The Collected Works is a compendium of Dinesh Allirajah’s delicately understated short stories, his extraordinary, intellectually acrobatic blogposts, and his jazz-inspired poetry. As a writer who spent more time supporting others in the region than promoting himself, Din deserved to be better known in his tragically short lifetime than he was ; this book is our chance to redress that.

I wish I’d published

I recently finished The Power by Naomi Alderman and it certainly lived up to expectation. Its clever inversion of gendered society is as funny and dark and disturbing as it should be, and, as all good SF does, it invites you to take a long hard look at the world around you. I would have loved to be involved in its creation!

Sam Jordison

Co-director, Galley Beggar Press

The book that made my year



Publishing Feeding Time by Adam Biles was a joy. Partly because of the simple delight of helping bring something so good into the world and knowing how funny it was, how unsettling and how full of human warmth. But also because it got some stonking reviews and we were lucky enough to launch it in Shakespeare & Company. That was one of the proudest, and most enjoyable experiences of my career, let alone this year.

Our book that deserved to do better

Forbidden Line by Paul Stanbridge has only just come out, and, in all honesty, I’m hoping the best is yet to come. It’s already had some pretty astonishing praise and I’m crossing my fingers for good coverage in the new year. But, like every publisher, I think it should have been announced with trumpets in heaven, all traffic coming to a standstill and frantic announcements on the News at Ten. This book is incredible and I just want it to get the attention it deserves.

I wish I’d published

Scary Old Sex by Arlene Heyman (Bloomsbury). By some measures, this one possibly also deserved to do better and receive more attention here in the UK. But it is also brilliant and hilarious and true – and that’s what counts. People will be enjoying it for years to come and I’ll get a pang every time I see it.

Candida Lacey

Director, Myriad Editions

The book that made my year



It has been a joy to publish Elizabeth Haynes’s new novel, Never Alone. This is rural noir at its best – a woman alone, an isolated farmhouse, snow, dogs and delicious plotting. Haynes excels at placing ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances and, as with her bestselling debut Into the Darkest Corner, this novel is touching people’s lives.

Our book that deserved to do better

Will Volley’s masterly graphic novel, The Opportunity exposes the unforgiving world of door-to-door selling. Reviewers have likened it to David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross and heralded a modern-day Death of a Salesman but it hasn’t yet reached the wider audience it deserves.

I wish I’d published

Refugee Tales (Comma Press) takes its lead from Chaucer and charges modern-day storytellers, including Ali Smith, Chris Cleave and Patience Agbabi, to relate the plight of those held indefinitely at Gatwick’s airport’s immigration detention centres. With The Detainee’s Tale, The Lorry Driver’s Tale, The Dependant’s Tale and others, we cannot fail to be moved and better understand the fate of refugees.

Eric Lane

Publisher, Dedalus

The book that made my year



Wonders Will Never Cease by Robert Irwin: The Game of Thrones with real history or “a sort of marriage between AS Byatt and Terry Pratchett: one you can enjoy greatly on the first reading, but which will be even better second time round, as it’s so densely packed with learning and allusions. This is a lightning trip around 15th-century culture, European culture and indeed world culture. Bravo.” (Tibor Fischer in the Guardian).

Our book that deserved to do better

The Interpreter by Diego Marani (translated by Judith Landry): “The Interpreter isn’t merely the sequel to New Finnish Grammar and The Last of the Vostyachs: it is a singular and deeply felt thesis … Marani’s ideas are typically far-reaching and provocative.” (Thea Lenarduzzi in the Times Literary Supplement.)

I wish I’d published

The Transylvanian Trilogy by Miklós Bánffy (Arcadia).

Sam Mills

Co-director, Dodo Ink

The book that made my year



Our debut title, Dodge and Burn by Seraphina Madsen – a beautifully written, drug-infused, psychedelic road trip. Seraphina explores a literary territory that is usually dominated by male authors; she was influenced by Burroughs and Hunter S Thompson but has carved out a niche all of her own. We were very proud when it received rave reviews from book bloggers, was longlisted for the Republic of Consciousness prize and chosen by Foyles (Charing Cross) as a staff pick.

Our book that deserved to do better

Wood Green by Sean Rabin – a tale of a dangerous game played out between two writers in a strange, Twin Peaks-style town in Tasmania. The novel was originally published in Australia, where it has been shortlisted for several prizes. We pushed hard for reviews and were disappointed that we didn’t get more – but at least the coverage we did get was positive, such as a fantastic review in Bookmunch.

I wish I’d published

A Field Guide to Reality by Joanna Kavenna (Quercus). A kind of quantum Alice in Wonderland – intellectually playful, inventive, mind-bending, and involves a scene where the heroine gains insights into the universe via a psychotropic tea party. The Dodo is a big fan.

Adrian Searle



Director, Freight Books

The book that made my year

Laura Powell’s The Unforgotten is a psychological thriller set in 1950s Cornwall. It’s about a transgressive love affair between a 15-year-old girl and 30-year-old journalist, set against the background of a series of murders of young women. It’s a great page-turner, is brilliantly written and has sold strongly.

Our book that deserved to do better

Neil Mackay’s The Wolf Trial is a novel based on the true story of Peter Stumpf, the first convicted serial killer in history – who was tried as a werewolf in Germany in 1563. It’s a brilliant epic, combining elements of literary fiction and horror. While it has been successful, selling well in hardback and international sales, it received virtually no press interest outside Scotland. I hope the paperback, due in June, attracts the attention this fabulous work deserves.

I wish I’d published

It has to be Graeme Macrae Burnet’s Booker-shortlisted His Bloody Project (Saraband) for all the obvious reasons.

Deborah Smith

Director, Tilted Axis

The book that made my year



Panty by Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay, translated by Arunava Sinha. This condensed, surreal exploration of sexual politics and alienation in contemporary Kolkata got great reviews and has become a book-club favourite, meaning we sold out our first print run – of our first ever book! Cue a celebratory selfie with the author and translator at the wonderful Dhaka Lit Fest.

Our book that deserved to do better

One Hundred Shadows by Hwang Jungeun, translated by Jung Yewon. An award-winning novel by one of the rising stars of South Korean literature; a spare, beautiful tale of romance in the age of violent gentrification. Praised by Han Kang and compared to Murakami – what higher recommendation can there be?

I wish I’d published

The Empty Space by Geetanjali Shree, translated by Nivedita Menon. Seagull Press’s new India list provides a thrilling window on to the very best of contemporary literature from the subcontinent; this fragmentary Hindi bildungsroman about the aftermath of a suicide bombing is truly outstanding.

Jacques Testard

Director, Fitzcarraldo Editions

The book that made my year



Second-hand Time by Svetlana Alexievich, translated by Bela Shayevich, an extraordinary book about the collapse of the Soviet Union and its aftermath by the winner of the 2015 Nobel prize in literature. It has been by some distance our biggest success in the just over two years Fitzcarraldo Editions has been running, and rightly so.

Our book that deserved to do better

Bricks and Mortar by Clemens Meyer (translated by Katy Derbyshire) is a polyphonic novel about the emergence of a sex trade in a big city in the former GDR, from just before 1989 to the present day. It pays homage to modernist, East German and contemporary writers such as Alfred Döblin, Louis-Ferdinand Céline, Wolfgang Hilbig and David Peace. But the author uses his own style and almost hallucinatory techniques. I cannot emphasise enough how much I would like more people to read this novel.

I wish I’d published

Sudden Death by Álvaro Enrigue, translated by Natasha Wimmer. This is one of the best novels I’ve read all year. It is, on the surface, about a tennis match between the poet Quevedo and the painter Caravaggio in Rome in the 16th century. But it’s also about the conquest of Mexico, sex, art, the novel, the Catholic church, the history of tennis. You’d be hard-pressed to find a book that was at once so bold in style and ambitious in structure and so much fun to read.

Stefan Tobler

Director, And Other Stories

The book that made my year



I must mention a 2015 title, Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera, translated by Lisa Dillman. Apart from continuing to woo many readers this year, it won the 2016 best translated book award. And I would love Trump to read it: a short novel that takes you, with a great writer’s flair, right into the head, heart and life of a strong Mexican woman who crosses the border to the US and to a new hybrid identity.

Our book that deserved to do better

Wolfgang Bauer’s Crossing the Sea: With Syrians on the Exodus to Europe (translated by Sarah Pybus) is the first time a journalist has actually been smuggled by sea and reported on it. Many people loved it, including Robert Fisk, the UNHRCR spokesperson Melissa Fleming and the novelist Nell Zink, but we expected more coverage.

I wish I’d published

Second-hand Time by Svetlana Alexievich. I’d seen this in Suhrkamp Verlag’s catalogue a few years ago and thought it looked amazing, but at the time we weren’t publishing nonfiction. Well, it is amazing. Reportage by oral testimony is a great form and she’s a master.

François Von Hurter

Director, Bitter Lemon Press



The book that made my year



A Fine Line by Gianrico Carofiglio was the opportunity to resume our love affair with Guido Guerrieri, defence lawyer of lost causes. This is the latest in the series and in it Guerrieri tangles with judicial corruption and its toxic seepage not only through a single court but through the rule of law itself.

Our book that deserved to do better

Exhibitions by Richard Dorment. A reasonably priced, beautifully designed and illustrated book that brings together a selection of more than 100 forthright, scholarly, bold, vivid and fascinating critical essays by the former art critic of the Telegraph. Should be at the top of the nonfiction lists.

I wish I’d published

The North Water (Scribner) by Ian McGuire. The tale of an opium-addicted 19th-century Irish surgeon who encounters a vicious psychopath on board an Arctic-bound whaling ship. Beautifully written, often violent, but somehow always lyrical.

Meike Ziervogel

Publisher, Peirene Press

The book that made my year



breach by Olumide Popoola and Annie Holmes. A series of connected stories about life in the Calais refugee camp. Peirene’s first commissioned fiction book addressing urgent political topics via literature.

Our book that deserved to do better

The Empress and the Cake by Linda Stift. A chilling, quirky, Austrian psycho-thriller about the obsessions of the mind, Empress Elisabeth and cake, of course. Continental readers loved it, British readers seem to be bewildered. Interesting indeed.

I wish I’d published

A World Gone Mad: The Diaries of Astrid Lindgren 1939–1945 (Pushkin Press). A riveting insight into the world of the creator of Pippi Longstocking. It’s also a compelling chronicle of the second world war from a Swedish point of view – a country that remained neutral throughout. An intelligent, entertaining read.