Type Of Publisher
Press
Year Established
2005
Address
Middlesex, TW3 3AL
Name
Naveen Kishore
Title
Publisher
Mission Statement / Editorial Focus
Seagull Books began in 1982, in a publishing environment that was dismal, not in terms of the readership—there is a vast market for English-language publishers in India—but in terms of the craft of making books. We decided very early on that we would use the best paper, design, binding and block-making for our titles. Seagull’s first books were exclusively letterpress. With regard to content—we chose to document theatre, films or art. So right from our first few titles, the aesthetics of both content and form were in place. Not out of a formal learning or strategy or vision but, rather, out of intuition and a desire to make good books.
Many years later, in 2005, we set up Seagull Books London Limited. The idea was to focus on translation of a certain kind of world literature. We felt that over the last two or three decades, translations of literary fiction and poetry and a certain kind of non-fiction, the kind that focused on the human condition through the social sciences, had become a low priority for major world publishers. This became our editorial focus. Over the last 10 years, almost 500 books from different languages have been published.
If there is anything that makes Seagull stand out it is our list of translated literature from various Indian and European languages. That, and the quality of both our editorial choices and the design aspects. We make beautiful books.
Accepts Unsolicited Submissions
No
