dedalus books

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Dedalus Books is a British publishing company specialising in European literature. As stated on their website, Dedalus specialises in “its own distinctive genre, which we term distorted reality, where the bizarre, the unusual and the grotesque and the surreal meld in a kind of intellectual fiction which is very European.”

Established by Geoffrey Smith, Eric Lane and Robert Irwin, Dedalus was launched on November 30, 1983 with the publication of three novels including Irwin’s The Arabian Nightmare and Smith’s vampire novel The Revenants (bylined “Geoffrey Farrington”). Dedalus publishes novels and anthologies, featuring both contemporary and historical European works. Dedalus publishes both translations and original English language works. Dedalus brought a number of European writers such as Sylvie Germain and Herbert Rosendorfer into English for the first time, and also published numerous anthologies of fantastic literature, such as The Dedalus Book of Polish Fantasy (1996) edited by Wiesiek Powaga. Michael Dirda has praised Dedalus’ output, describing them as “the premier publisher of decadent, turn-of-the-last–century European fiction” and stating “there are superb Dedalus anthologies of Portuguese and Polish fantasy”.

Dedalus is partially funded by the Arts Council of England. Dedalus Books ought not to be confused with the Irish imprint, Dedalus Press (founded 1985) which publishes contemporary Irish poetry and poetry from around the world in English translation.

This post is also available in: English (الإنجليزية)