Dörlemann Verlag

In 2003 Sabine Dörlemann founded her publishing house in Zurich, which now occupies a secure position in the landscape of independent German-speaking publishers with its extraordinary discoveries and careful translations.

Switzerland

Diogenes, Haffmans, Ammann – the three big names in the Swiss publishing scene are linked with the Dörlemann-Verlag in different ways. After her degree in English and American Studies, publisher Sabine Dörlemann began her career in the publishing business in 1992 at Haffmanns, later moved to Ammann as a proof-reader and finally in September 2003 founded her own publishing house in that same Merkurstraße in Zurich where Daniel Keel started up his publishing company Diogenes 50 years ago with the legendary shoebox under his arm.

Right from the start the publishing company’s sales mix was diverse and international, which at first glance seems unusual for a smaller independent publishing house with a programme that usually reflects the individual interests of its founders. Of course you can spot the preferences of publisher Sabine Dörlemann, such as her particular penchant for English-language authors, of whom she publishes for Canadian author Alice Munro or American Edith Wharton among others, yet right from the start the Dörlemann-Verlag spectrum was as broad as usually only a large publishing house with many employees and a long tradition can manage.

Russia, India, Australia

Ivan Bunin, Raja Rao, Tim Flannery – those were the three authors with whom the Dörlemann-Verlag started in 2003. Three names that even literature connoisseurs did not necessarily have on the tips of their tongues. Although Bunin was the first Russian author to receive the Nobel Prize in 1933, he was not a part of the classic Russian literary canon for the European readership unlike Tolstoy, Turgenev or Chekhov. Renowned translator Swetlana Geier made a gift of her translation of Bunin’s An Unknown Friend to Sabine Dörlemann as an encouragement when she founded the publishing company. In Autumn 2010 the fourth volume of the planned complete works edition in individual volumes will be published, which is planned to span the coming decade and will gradually close this gap in translated Russian literature.

One thing that Bunin may have in common with Raja Rao, the high-profile Indian author, is that both of them write about a country involved in a lengthy upheaval that is still underway, and that both of them view this country both from inside as well as from the perspective of an exile. However the premise from which they think and write are essentially two different types of literature, and it is precisely this juxtaposition that cannot be classified at first or second glance that characterises the unusual sales mix at Dörlemann.

After all Tim Flannery is not necessarily known by readers with a literary interest, because Flannery is an Australian biologist and zoologist. The publisher spotted the author with his book The Eternal Frontier: An Ecological History of North America and Its Peoples on a world trip that she made before she took the step into independence. Even though literature is without doubt the central focus of the publishing programme, Dörlemann keeps publishing non-fiction books, such as Flannery’s The Eternal Frontier, Edward Said’s Freud: And the Non-European or works by the British historian Roy Porter, non-fiction books that also always cross the boundary into literature.

The present

As well as the discovery of classics from other countries and cultures that are often unknown in German-speaking countries, such as Ivan Bunin or Louise de Vilmorin and Sabahattin Ali, contemporary new translations of titles that are already well-known are published at Dörlemann, for instance Tolstoy’s Family Happiness or Turgenev’s Klara Milic. But despite these involved projects the present-day authors don’t miss out either. Sabine Dörlemann describes her publishing activities in this respect as “shadowing”. These are young authors whose development is not yet complete but still to all intents and purposes promises direction changes, such as Norwegian author Mirjam Kristensen or Michael Schmid from Switzerland. Since the discoveries made by the publisher are not just restricted to German-speaking countries, translations play a major role here as well. Sabine Dörlemann not only values high quality, which can be seen from numerous awards including the Übersetzerbarke 2008, but she also reinforces the translator’s position for instance by publishing the translator’s name on the book cover alongside the author’s.

Onwards in the racy dinghy

With her involvement in the Swiss network of independent publishers (SWIPS), Sabine Dörlemann feels that her publishing house has a secure position in the German book market, which is where she generates 75 per cent of her turnover. Neither her programme nor her professional nature is any different to those of a large publishing company. The difference is more to do with flexibility. “Large publishers are like big tankers that have a braking distance of several kilometres. We’re fast and racy in our sailing dinghy”, says Sabine Dörlemann and adds: “We’ve found our niche, we’re flexible and can react quickly. Also, unlike many big publishers we are noticing significant interest from the press in our work. It’s like David and Goliath – the sympathies are on our side. Furthermore we have significantly lower overheads and as a result we can publish projects for which large publishers wouldn’t have the confidence. Our opportunity lies in the fact that large publishers only want to publish bestsellers these days, while many readers are heartily sick of the monotonous mush and are looking for unusual, new books.”