Found in translation — an Irish publishing success story

Bullaun Press, which started life on the Aran Islands and published its first book only three years ago, has been named on the longlist for the International Booker Prize

The nod from the Booker Prize committee came as a shock to Bullaun Press founder Bridget Farrell: 'It came as a big surprise because we’re such a small press, we’re not even eligible to submit.'

• There’s a Monster Behind the Door 
• Gaëlle Bélem 
• Translated by Karen Fleetwood and Laëtitia Saint-Loubert
• Bullaun Press, €14.95

Being recognised by one of the world’s most prestigious literary prizes is a big deal for any publisher and something that can take years to achieve, for even the longest-established presses. 

So for Irish publisher Bullaun Press, which started life on the Aran Islands and published its first book only three years ago, to be named on the longlist for the International Booker Prize is an astonishing feat.

There’s a Monster Behind the Door by Gaëlle Bélem, translated from French by Karen Fleetwood and Laëtitia Saint-Loubert, is one of 13 titles chosen for the list. 

It is only the fourth book to be published by Bullaun, the first press in Ireland to be dedicated to the art of translation. 

For founder Bridget Farrell, the nod from the prize committee came as a shock, especially as the book was accepted for consideration relatively late, due to the introduction of a secondary method of submission.

“It came as a big surprise because we’re such a small press, we’re not even eligible to submit.

“Last year, the rule was you had to have two books published by different authors within a 12-month period, and we didn’t quite fit that rule.

“But then they introduced the call-in system, where you could say, ‘we’ve got this really good book, and we think you might like it’. Then they tell you if they want to call it in.”

So it was very much towards the end of the process when they decided they even wanted to look at it.

It is also the first time an Irish publisher has had a book longlisted for either the International Booker Prize or the Booker Prize since the submission rules were changed in 2018.

Farrell, who now runs the press from her base in Sligo, is characteristically modest about the achievement, ascribing it to “pure luck”. 

However, it’s clear that she has excellent instincts — There’s a Monster Behind the Door has also been shortlisted for the highly-regarded Republic of Consciousness Prize, which recognises small presses.

In addition, Bullaun’s third publication, Forgottenness by Tanja Maljartschuk, translated from the Ukrainian by Zenia Tompkinshas, was recently shortlisted for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Literature Prize and the Tadeusz Bradecki Prize, a new award for imaginative works that blend fiction and non-fiction.

There’s a Monster Behind the Door is set in the French territory of Réunion in the 1980s, which is reckoning with the legacy of postcolonialism, and centres on a young girl seeking refuge from her violent and chaotic home in books and the realisation that she can write her own life story.

Bullaun published their first book, I Am Lewy, a translation by Mícheál Ó hAodha of Eoghan Ó Tuairisc’s 1977 book An Lomnochtán, in April 2022, and afterwards put out a call for new projects. 

Laëtitia Saint-Loubert and Karen Fleetwood got in touch with their pitch for a translation of There’s a Monster Behind the Door.

“They put together a proposal with a little sample, and they sent it to me. I speak French, and when I read the book, I said ‘yes, let’s do it’ and bought the rights from Gallimard and commissioned the translators,” says Farrell.

The English translation of author Gaëlle Bélem’s novel ‘There’s a Monster Behind the Door’ has been longlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2025. Picture: Francesca Mantovani

As any translator will testify, pitching a book can often be a thankless task, involving a significant amount of work in putting together a sample, without any guarantee of a commission at the end of it. 

It means that such projects are often a labour of love, as was the case in this instance. 

The translators were bowled over by the book when it came out in 2020; Saint-Loubert was in Ireland at the time doing postdoctoral research on translation in Caribbean literature.

“Laëtitia and Karen put so much into it. It was risky — it’s not the easiest book to translate for quite a few reasons and the fact they were doing the translation together would have put some publishers off.

“But I had a feeling that it was going to work. I liked the idea of giving it a go, doing something different, and supporting the translators. We’re very happy with how it turned out,” says Farrell.

For her, the process is very much a collaborative one and the translator is a key element. 

“The translators are such a big part of it all, they’re involved as much as possible. Their names are on the cover, and they get oversight of any changes that are made.”

Farrell also acknowledges the outside support that has helped Bullaun bring such work to a wider audience.

Arts Council financial backing

“This is also a good news story for the Arts Council, because they’ve backed us financially from the beginning.

“This book had other sponsors, including the French government, but in general, we wouldn’t be going if the Arts Council hadn’t been funding us over here.”

The timing of the International Booker Prize news was opportune, coming when the initial print run for the book had just sold out. 

The challenge is to get more books off the press to capitalise on the interest generated by the announcement.

“I’ve had to reorder two print runs since it was announced — Waterstones, for example, in the UK, took in a big order, which is fantastic,” says Farrell.

While interest in fiction in translation is growing, it can still be a tough sell. Farrell says prize listings can help get books into the hands of readers. 

What does she think could be done to encourage more people to read fiction in translation?

It’s a bigger question about encouraging people to read more widely. It’s about putting books in front of people.

“If you walk into a bookshop and you only see the usual suspects, like the top 20 books that you’d expect, you gravitate towards that. So I think booksellers have a big part to play in showing you new and different things.”

At a time when social media means more people occupy echo chambers and information silos, the benefits of broadening our horizons through reading fiction in translation have never been more necessary.

“It’s one of the ways of discovering the world, it can be very insular, and very comforting, maybe, just to read the same type of story with the same type of characters, you’re not opening up to everything else that’s out there,” says Farrell.

In another example of perfect timing, Bullaun’s next release is Gaëlle Bélem’s second book, The Rarest Fruit, which will be published next month and is also translated by Fleetwood and Saint-Loubert.

Before that, fingers will be crossed that There’s a Monster Behind the Door will make the International Booker Prize shortlist, which could make for a double celebration as the main awards ceremony will also take place in May.

While there are many challenges involved in publishing in general, and especially in publishing fiction in translation, Farrell’s passion for what she does continues to inspire her.

“I just love it. I moved back to Ireland in 2015, I had been living in France and Belgium, and it really struck me how little literature was being published here in translation.

“I realised that everything I was reading was being published in the UK.

“Even in Scotland and Wales, they had small presses that were doing literature and translation — I couldn’t understand why we weren’t.

“I wanted to put Ireland on the map for publishing translation. This is a good start.”

• The International Booker Prize shortlist will be announced next Tuesday, April 8, with the winner announced at a ceremony at London’s Tate Modern on May 20

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