and very sensitively put together, and fun”. All of the editorial content will be the same as that used in the original Italian series, commissioned and edited by Iperborea, as will the highly stlised layouts, with each volume taking on a different colour. Freelance editor Simon Smith, formerly of Peter Owen, has been hired to co-ordinate the English-language edition. Europa Editions will be responsible for the translation, publicit and global distribution of the English editions, while sales and distribution are to be handled by the Independent Alliance in Britain and worldwide and by PGW/Ingram in the US. The Passenger represents a rare foray into non-fiction for Europa Editions, which is primarily known for its translated fiction, in particular as the UK publisher for Elena Ferrante (although last year it launched the Europa Compass imprint, focusing on travel, contemporary culture, popular science, history, philosophy and politics). Despite this, Petracco is confident that the new series will appeal to the publisher’s core audience—given that its fiction already has “a strong sense of place”—as well as those tempted to pick the titles up for their giſt/coffee- table book qualities. She says: “It should fit quite well with our readership, and also go beyond it and bring more people to fiction in translation too.”
Europa predicts The Passenger will do well in the
Europa Editions will publish Japan—Volume 1 and Greece—Volume 2 in paperback for £18.99 on 7th May 2020.
export market and upmarket airport and travel shops. The publisher is also talking to distributors and non-traditional sales channels such as giſt shops, museums and galleries, and is open to collaborating with relevant organisations. Iperborea has released six The Passenger titles in Italy so far, all of which have appeared on the country’s best- seller lists. Europa Editions UK is deciding the publishing schedule for the series based on the topicalit of the content, although Petracco also highlights the “timeless qualities” of the essays included. One of the first titles—Japan—is publishing just ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in July, and Petracco is already in talks with festivals about speaking opportu- nities for the volume’s contribu- tors, which include the Times’ Asia editor Richard Lloyd Parry, the author of the collection’s first essay on the 2011 tsunami and
how it sparked a renewed “cult of the dead” in the country. A volume on Greece will be published simultaneously, and two further titles, dedicated to Brazil and Turkey, are coming in the second half of 2020. In keeping with the timely publishing of the series, Petracco promises that the Brazil volume taps into the conversation around the current climate crisis, with content about the destruction of the Amazon rainforest and a “really arresting” front cover that defies expectations.
Although digital has hit the general travel publishing market hard, Europa Editions does not think this will be the case with The Passenger books, partly due to their aesthetic appeal. Petracco says: “I don’t think you could have this digitally, it just wouldn’t be the same… Paper still has its place.”
TheBookseller.com 37
Europa’s timeline
2005
Europa Editions founded as the English-language imprint of Rome- based indie publisher Edizioni E/O
2006
The first Europa title is released in the UK, Elena Ferrante’s Days of Abandonment
2011
Europa Editions UK is launched 2012
Ferrante’s My Brilliant Friend—the first of her Neopolitan novels—is published in English
2015
Ferrante’s breakout year in which she sells £1.6m through BookScan
2018
Author and former Fourth Estate publisher Christopher Potter is hired to head Europa UK
2019
Europa joins the Independent Alliance and launches the new non-fiction imprint Europa Compass
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