About Us
An independent home for outstanding European and world literature, carefully crafted manuscripts and voices without borders.
The Hirondelle vision
Books are made of fragile matter. Making them takes empathy, patience and craftsmanship. Some would say that writing is mostly about inspiration, ambition and wide reading. We believe that, on top of all that, it needs that extra sprinkle, a glimmer, perhaps the trace of angel wings flying across the night sky.
Hirondelle is an independent publisher that connects Slovenian and world literature. We are drawn above all to stories that reach us from far away, to voices that for various reasons we have not heard often enough, and to literatures that open up different ways of seeing the world.
“Hirondelle is a place where creativity, expertise and an international perspective join forces, so that every book can shine in all its uniqueness and quality.”
Hirondelle Publishing · Ljubljana
A drawing and symbol of the manuscript’s inspiration
“We believe that literature does not exist outside the world. It reflects personal and collective histories, migrations, and questions of belonging, memory, language and identity.”
Our editorial programme
We publish original Slovenian and translated literature: novels, short stories, poetry, bilingual books, essays and other works that win us over with their literary power. We care not only about the story, but also about how it is told. Language, structure, the author’s distinctiveness and literature’s ability to unsettle or surprise us are essential to us. We see editing as a creative collaboration in which the author’s voice must remain recognisable and free.
International outlook
Translated literature is just as important. We see translation as a meeting of two linguistic and cultural worlds, in which not only words are carried across, but also rhythms, memories and ways of thinking. Bilingual editions therefore have a special place, letting the original and the translation live side by side and giving readers a more direct contact with the language the work was born in.
Hirondelle is also part of the international literary community. By taking part in book fairs, festivals and publishers’ meetings, we build connections that bring new literary voices into Slovenian, and we work to help Slovenian authors find their way to readers in other languages. We see the small size of the Slovenian book market as a circumstance, not a limit.
01 / Our approach to the text
Editing as a dialogue
A book does not come into being simply because a manuscript has been accepted. It takes shape through patient conversation, doubts, revisions and sometimes disagreement. A good editor does not write in the author’s place, but helps the text come alive in its most convincing, free form.
The author’s voice at the centre
02 / Voices of the world
Crossing borders
We pay special attention to women’s writing, to literature from the African and Arab worlds, to postcolonial perspectives and to places where cultures meet. We choose works that are not just aesthetics, but a perceptive reflection on our time and the people in it.
Translations with a signature
03 / Artefact & print
The book as an object
For us, a book is also a tangible physical object. We give every edition exceptional care – from the first reading of the manuscript to editing, translation, proofreading, design, the choice of paper, printing and presenting it to readers.
Typographic excellence
A literary meeting place
The magazine “Jantarna lastovka”
The literary magazine is a space of its own for in-depth critical thought, literary debate, portraits of authors and encounters between different literatures. It complements our publishing programme and makes room for texts, questions and voices that the book market often overlooks.
We believe that literature can contribute to a more open, thoughtful and sensitive society. Not because it should offer answers or explain the world to readers, but because it lets us step, at least for a while, into the experience of another.
Above all, we want making a book to be an experience of trust, professional collaboration and creative satisfaction for authors and translators alike. So that every book gets the time, attention and form it deserves.
About the institute
Hirondelle, zavod za kulturno dejavnost
Tavčarjeva ulica 4
1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Tax number: 98703668
Registration number: 9210784000
VAT registered: no
IBAN: SI56 0284 3026 4369 024
Management & contact
Director & editor-in-chief
Gabriela Babnik Ouattara
Writer, literary critic and translator