Melville House Books

“For many Jerusalemites, and no doubt for many visitors to the capital, there was a distinct sense of relief” at this year’s 22nd International Book Fair in Jerusalem, says Atira Winchester in a report for the Jerusalem Post. She says that “After the slump in previous years, both in the variety of publishing houses represented and the number of foreign literary agents, this year proved to be a turning point.” Winchester takes a close look at the wide variety of publishers present, such as Des Femmes, “a French feminist press that publishes literature by women from the developed and developing world,” the Polish translation house Polska 2000, and more. In the end, she says, “Visitors were clearly happy to have something to point to and say, “see, things can improve.”

Dennis Johnson is the founder of MobyLives, and the co-founder and co-publisher of Melville House.