Buzz Poole

Dairy Queen sign in South Portland, Maine, announcing reopening for the season

Groundhog shadows? Crocuses? Later sunsets? Here in Maine, the true first sign of spring is when Dairy Queen reopens for the season.

These ARCs are available. Interested? Get in touch.

Yes! @johnwilliams.bsky.social letting @robrubsam.bsky.social review Strange and Perfect Account from the Permafrost made a difference in sales for @sandorfpassage.bsky.social. Indies spend money on creating great books. It has become increasingly difficult to get readers to know about our books. 👇👇

Yes! @johnwilliams.bsky.social letting @robrubsam.bsky.social review Strange and Perfect Account from the Permafrost made a difference in sales for @sandorfpassage.bsky.social. Indies spend money on creating great books. It has become increasingly difficult to get readers to know about our books. 👇👇

The 10 Best Book Covers of January Another month of books, another month of book covers. In January, it was all about the text treatments. And also, for some reason, teal. Here are my favorites from the start of the new year: I&#821…

@literaryhub.bsky.social has dubbed Sarah Schulte’s hypnotizing cover for She Who Remains one of the 10 Best Book Covers of January! lithub.com/the-10-best-...

Boston's new Youth Poet Laureate, a queer novel in translation, potent North Shore poems New England Literary News

In this week’s New England Literary News, Nina MacLaughlin raves about She Who Remains: “The book is torrential, it is a spell, it moves in blood and death and deepest love . . . The prose gallops, a muscled thundering horse underneath you.” ninamaclaughlin.substack.com/p/bostons-ne...

March will be the fifth anniversary of our first release: The President Shop by Vesna Maric, hailed by @catherinelacey.bsky.social as “a marvelous, timeless book.” As always, @bradlisti.bsky.social got to the heart of the matter when he interviewed Maric.

Front cover of She Who Remains by Rene Karabash (tr. Izidora Angel)

Back cover of She Who Remains by Rene Karabash (tr. Izidora Angel)

@izidoraangel.bsky.social’s breathtaking translation of She Who Remains by Rene Karabash is out today! “Bold and visionary” in the words of Katrina Dodson, find out for yourself why Service95 has dubbed this landmark Bulgarian queer novel one of the 21 Must-Read Books to Have on Your Radar in 2026.

Front cover of advance reading copy of A Plan to Save the World by Hassan Akram (tr. Ibrahim Fawzy)

Back cover of advance reading copy of A Plan to Save the World by Hassan Akram (tr. Ibrahim Fawzy)

A Plan to Save the World by Hassan Akram (tr. Ibrahim Fawzy) gazes out through the eyes of a child, trying to make sense of the American invasion of Iraq in 2003. Surprising and beguilingly touching, an excerpt of this was included in Best Literary Translations 2025. ARCs available now!

Service95 graphic for the 21 Must-Read Books to Have on Your Radar in 2026, featuring all the covers of the books on the list, including She Who Remains by Rene Karabash (tr. Izidora Angel)

One week until the release of She Who Remains by Rene Karabash (tr. @izidoraangel.bsky.social). And we’re not the only ones excited about readers discovering this landmark Bulgarian queer novel. Service95 has dubbed it one of the 21 Must-Read Books to Have on Your Radar in 2026! #booksky

Wow! Service95 dubs Rene Karabash’s She Who Remains (tr. @izidoraangel.bsky.social) one of the 21 Must-Read Books to Have On Your Radar In 2026. #booksky service95.com/best-books-2...

Bob Weir got to live out his dreams from the age of 16 until today. We should all be so fortunate.

YouTube video by Grateful Dead Grateful Dead - Weather Report Suite (Winterland 10/18/74) (Official Live Video)

Essential Bob Weir. m.youtube.com/watch?v=ya6g...

YouTube video by Grateful Dead Has success spoiled the Dead?

Weir’s answer to the question “Has success spoiled the Grateful Dead?” always makes me smile. m.youtube.com/shorts/hvFv2...

A photo of A Strange and Perfect Account for the Permafrost the cover is purple with pinkish lettering

A photo of the cover of Underground Barbie a pink cover with a hand emerging from sand with a tattoo of a woman with a knife there are plastic army soldiers around the sand.

Two of my favorite books from 2025 were published by @sandorfpassage.bsky.social!

A copy of The Competition of Unfinished Stories and The Minister displayed on a placemat covered in colorful birds.

In yesterday's mail two from @sandorfpassage.bsky.social! The Competition of Unfinished Stories by Sener Ozmen; translated by Nicholas Glastonbury is out now and The Minister by Stefan Boskovic; translated by Will Firth lands in May.

Our Most Anticipated Queer Books for January 2026 New year, new queer books!

Thrilled to see She Who Remains by Rene Karabash (tr. Izidora Angel) as one of @autostraddle.bsky.social’s Most Anticipated Queer Books of January! www.autostraddle.com/our-most-ant...

Cover of The Minister by Stefan Bošković (tr. Will Firth)

Back cover of an advance reading copy of The Minister by Stefan Bošković (tr. Will Firth)

Hot off the press here in #maine: ARCs of The Minister by Stefan Bošković (tr.Will Firth). Sharp, unsettling, and bitingly relevant, it is a portrait of a society where truth is slippery, power is dangerous, and survival demands moral compromise. Let us know if you want a copy. #booksky

Spun Purple Mountains earlier today, forever in awe of Berman’s turns of phrase. And also happened to think about Ryan and some of his Berman stories. If I were in New York this weekend, I would not miss this.

This huge Europa hit, a Deep Vellum book making Obama's book list...I can't help feeling like publishing's woes could open up an opportunity for readers to understand that independent press books (by US authors and in translation) are not only vital literature but also...as good, as big 5 books?

Preparing the Body carcinomas slumber under the unkind nurses' tongues

Today's Featured Poem:

"Preparing the Body" by Monika Herceg, translated from the Croatian by @marinaveverec.bsky.social from Closed Season published by @sandorfpassage.bsky.social

Read here:
poems.com/poem/prepari...

Preparing the Body carcinomas slumber under the unkind nurses' tongues

Monika Herceg’s “Preparing the Body” from Closed Season (tr. Marina Veverec) is featured @poetrydaily.bsky.social today. poems.com/poem/prepari...

Have you read The Serial by Cyra McFadden? It gets Marin in the ‘70s as well as this image gets Marin . . . forever and always?

Anyone need an original iPod charged? I’ve got you.

Unreliable Narrator, Unreliable Translator: Nicholas Glastonbury on Sener Ozmen’s The Competition of Unfinished Stories - Asymptote Blog . . . if we can unmake or destabilize the novel, we might similarly destabilize the nation, which warrants or conscripts the novel.

@gayadorno.bsky.social on translating Sener Ozmen’s The Competition of Unfinished Stories in a new Asymptote interview: “One thing that did feel joyful or exciting about doing this project was getting an opportunity to think of myself more as a writer.” www.asymptotejournal.com/blog/2025/12...

Book cover for Strange and Perfect Account from the Permafrost by Donald Niedekker (translator: Jonathan Reeder)

Good luck to @sandorfpassage.bsky.social !

Image of the front covers of Sandorf Passage’s 2025 releases: Underground Barbie, Bedbugs, The Competition of Unfinished Stories, Strange and Perfect Account from the Permafrost, Closed Season, and Soiled with Earth, Drunk on Air. And the first 2026 release: She Who Remains.

Image of the spines of Sandorf Passage’s 2025 releases: Underground Barbie, Bedbugs, The Competition of Unfinished Stories, Strange and Perfect Account from the Permafrost, Closed Season, and Soiled with Earth, Drunk on Air. And the first 2026 release: She Who Remains.

2025 has been awful, but our six releases this year are evidence that books still surprise and delight, and are more necessary than ever. We’re so proud of these books and are thankful for the teams behind them. 2026 promises more great fiction and poetry, starting with She Who Remains. #booksky

Stellar Selections | Best Books 2025 Throughout the year, LJ’s expert reviewers consider thousands of books, reading titles across a myriad of genres and subjects. These are the nearly 800 works they judged as the best, most notable, sig...

More end-of-year love for Underground Barbie. @libraryjournal.bsky.social includes it in “Stellar Selections: Best Books of 2025”! www.libraryjournal.com/story/Stella...

The Ministry of Culture with Buzz Poole Podcast Episode · Library Pizza · 12/11/2025 · 1h 45m

This week @buzzpoole.bsky.social, cofounder of @sandorfpassage.bsky.social and the person most responsible for Mike's first book being published in a defensible state, visited the library for a discussion of publishing literature in translation and more. Listen anywhere that pods are known to pod.

Thanks, Mike—it was a blast talking shop with you, and learning the inspiration behind the podcast’s name!