Bitter Lemon Press launches Labyrinth imprint for international fiction

U.K.-based Bitter Lemon Press has launched Labyrinth Press, a new imprint for ambitious international literary fiction. The first titles are set to appear in early 2027, Publishing Perspectives reported on 17 September 2026. It is a literary offshoot from a small independent house long associated with crime in translation.

An imprint is a distinct list with its own name inside an existing publisher. Labyrinth will publish largely, though not exclusively, books in translation, meaning books first written in another language and then rendered into English. Publisher and co-founder François von Hurter said the list will focus on “international fiction you enter at your own risk, that gets under your skin before it lets you go.”

The first book is already named. Labyrinth will lead with Ósmann, Ferryman of the North by Joachim B. Schmidt. It is scheduled for February 2027 in the U.K. and March 2027 in the U.S.

Bitter Lemon Press acquired world English rights, meaning one publisher controls the book in every English-language market, from Swiss publisher Diogenes Verlag. A second title is also set. Labyrinth will publish Une forêt by Jean-Yves Jouannais in 2028.

The parent house describes Labyrinth on its own website as an imprint dedicated to exceptional international literary fiction, according to the company announcement. Under its own name, Bitter Lemon Press specialises in high-quality thrillers and other contemporary crime fiction from abroad. The company launched in January 2004 with an initial list of six books. It was shortlisted for Best Crime & Mystery Publisher in the Crime Writers’ Association 2026 Dagger Awards.

For readers, this means a clearer split on the shelf. Crime stays with Bitter Lemon. Broader literary writing moves to Labyrinth. The organisation remains small. In 2017 it was described as a three-person team overseen by von Hurter.