Serpent's Tail is London-based independent

publishing firm Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

founded in 1986 by Pete Ayrton. It specialises in publishing work in translation, particularly European

crime fiction Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

. In January 2007, it was bought by a British publisher

Profile Books Profile Books is a British independent book publishing firm founded in 1996. It publishes non-fiction subjects including history, biography, memoir, politics, current affairs, travel and popular science. Profile Books is distributed in the UK ...

Publications

The firm publishes both fiction and non-fiction books. Boyd Tonkin, writing for

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

, has described the publisher's list: "from hard-boiled noir to gems in translation and left-field cultural reportage – often defines the meaning of 'cool'."

Noted writers

Derek Raymond Robert William Arthur Cook (12 June 1931 – 30 July 1994), better known since the 1980s by his pen name Derek Raymond, was an English crime writer, credited with being a founder of British '' noir''. Biography Early life The eldest son of a t ...

Elfriede Jelinek Elfriede Jelinek (; born 20 October 1946) is an Austrian playwright and novelist. She is one of the most decorated authors writing in German today and was awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize in Literature for her "musical flow of voices and counter-voi ...

* Elizabeth Young *

Herta Müller Herta Müller (; born 17 August 1953) is a Romanian-born German novelist, poet, essayist and recipient of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature. Born in Nițchidorf (german: Nitzkydorf, link=no), Timiș County in Romania, her native language is G ...

Jonathan Trigell Jonathan Trigell is a British author. His Debut novel, first novel, ''Boy A'', won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize 2004, the Waverton Good Read Award and the inaugural World Book Day Prize in 2008. Jonathan completed an MA in creative writing at Ma ...

Kathy Acker Kathy Acker (April 18, 1947 isputed– November 30, 1997) was an American experimental novelist, playwright, essayist, and postmodernist writer, known for her idiosyncratic and transgressive writing that dealt with themes such as childhood trau ...

Kenzaburō Ōe is a Japanese writer and a major figure in contemporary Japanese literature. His novels, short stories and essays, strongly influenced by French and American literature and literary theory, deal with political, social and philosophical issues, i ...

Lionel Shriver Lionel Shriver (born Margaret Ann Shriver; May 18, 1957) is an American author and journalist who lives in the United Kingdom. Her novel '' We Need to Talk About Kevin'' won the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2005. Early life and education Shriver ...

Nicholas Royle Nicholas Royle (born 20 March 1963 in Manchester) is an English novelist, editor, publisher, literary reviewer and creative writing lecturer. Literary career Author Royle has written seven novels: ''Counterparts'', ''Saxophone Dreams'', ''The Mat ...

* Stella Duffy

Noted debut novels

* ''Nineteen Seventy-Four'' by

David Peace David Peace (born 1967) is an English writer. Best known for his UK-set novels Red Riding Quartet (1999–2002), '' GB84'' (2004), ''The Damned Utd'' (2006), and '' Red or Dead'' (2013), Peace was named one of the Best of Young British Novel ...

* '' The South'' by

Colm Tóibín Colm Tóibín (, approximately ; born 30 May 1955) is an Irish novelist, short story writer, essayist, journalist, critic, playwright and poet. His first novel, '' The South'', was published in 1990. '' The Blackwater Lightship'' was shortlis ...

* ''Whatever'' by

Michel Houellebecq Michel Houellebecq (; born Michel Thomas, 26 February 1956 or 1958) is a French author, known for his novels, poems and essays, as well as an occasional actor, filmmaker and singer. His first book was a biographical essay on the horror writer ...

High Risk Books

High Risk Books High Risk Books was a book publisher, founded in New York City in 1993 as an imprint of Serpent's Tail Press of London. It was started by Ira Silverberg and Amy Scholder who was then an editor at City Lights Books in San Francisco. Its titles were ...

was an imprint of Serpent's Tail that existed from 1993-1997. It was founded by Ira Silverberg and Amy Scholder and aimed to publish innovative, provocative, and progressive literature (such as

and

William S. Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist, widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular cultur ...

), poetry (including

Jayne Cortez Jayne Cortez (May 10, 1934 – December 28, 2012) was an African-American poet, activist, small press publisher and spoken-word performance artist whose voice is celebrated for its political, surrealistic and dynamic innovations in lyricism and ...

), and non-fiction (including the collected journalism of

Cookie Mueller Dorothy Karen "Cookie" Mueller (March 2, 1949 – November 10, 1989) was an American actress, writer, and Dreamlander who starred in many of filmmaker John Waters' early films, including ''Multiple Maniacs'', ''Pink Flamingos'', ''Female Trouble ...

References

External links

*
The Fales Library Guide to the Serpent's Tail/High Risk Archives
{{Authority control 1986 establishments in the United Kingdom Book publishing companies of the United Kingdom Publishing companies established in 1986