Like every year, before our annual break in August, we like to look back at some of the books that were published during the first half of 2026 to continue to highlight and celebrate the achievements of Pontas authors this year so far.
January started off strong with Spanish author Mayte Uceda's new novel, Amores paralelos (Parallel loves) being published by Editorial Planeta. This is the follow-up to her internationally-acclaimed 2024 novel, El maestro de azúcar (The Sugar Master), which has been translated into several languages. Catalan author Blanca Busquets also had a new novel out with Proa/Grup62, Habitacions compartides (Shared Rooms), an elegant novel set in two hospital rooms where two lives become quietly intertwined. Tanzanian-American forensic anthropologist and crime author Clea Koff published the conclusion to the Jayne Hall & Steelie Lander Trilogy, Bones of evidence. Bones of evidence is out worldwide with Avon/HarperCollins and follows the first two novels in the series, Silent Evidence and Deadly Evidence.
The French market was also packed with Pontas titles in translations during this first part of the year. French translations included Spanish author Susana Fortes' Nada que perder (Nothing to Lose) under the title Les disparus d'As Covas (Éditions de l'Archipel) which has already been shortlisted for the 2026 Violeta Negra Occitanie Prize (given out by the Toulouse Polars Du Sud literary festival); a new edition of the late Catalan Maria Àngels Anglada's timeless classic El violí d'Auschwitz (The Violin of Auschwitz) published by the paperback imprint J'ai Lu under the title Le Luthier d'Auschwitz; and Indian debut author Bhavika Govil's Hot Water, which has been published in French by Éditions de la Martinière under the title Les Eaux brûlantes. Hot Water is forthcoming in English outside of Indian with Jacaranda Books, so we will be talking more about this novel in the months to come.
The first half of the year also gifted the world with a new title by acclaimed Indonesian author Eka Kurniawan in English, The Dog Meows, The Cat Barks (Anjing Mengeong, Kucing Menggonggong). Translated into English by Annie Tucker, as always, and published by New Directions in the US, Pushkin Press in the UK, Speaking Tiger in the Indian Subcontinent and Monsoon Books in Southeast Asia, the novella is "a deeply resonating examination of destructive familial bonds, the sincerity of religious piety, and the (not-so-)small rebellions the oppressed enact for sanity and survival", as Terry Hong put it for his review in Booklist. The work had also been published in French by Sabine Wespieser Editéur, and is forthcoming in German with Unionsverlag, Polish with Yumeka, and Turkish with Domingo.
April and May brought the publication of noteworthy and buzzy titles, like Spanish actress and author Elvira Mínguez's second novel, La educación del monstruo (The Education of the Monster), a haunting and deeply human story that explores how fear and memory can shape a life forever published by Espasa/Planeta and which won the prestigious 2026 Primavera Novel Award (Premio Primavera de Novela); the hit Catalan novel of the summer, La llibreria de les hores mortes (The Bookshop of Idle Hours) by Laura Autonell, published by Columna/Grup62, which has not dipped below the Top 10 spots on the bestseller lists for two months straight and counting, and is now on its second printing; and the UK edition by And Other Stories of Congolese author Fiston Mwanza Mujila's La danse du vilain (The Villain's Dance), originally published in French in 2020 and published in English for the first time by Deep Vellum in the US in 2024. The US edition was a 2024 National Book Award Finalist for Translated Literature.
Last but not least, some titles published in June include British-Maori author Jill Johnson's conclusion to the Eustacia Rose Mystery Novels series with Blood Root, the fourth and final title, published by B&W Publishing/Bonnier UK; American filmmaker and author John J. Healey's Spanish-language memoir Recuerdos del sur (Sketches of Spain) about his years spent living in Spain published by Editorial Renacimiento; and a new paperback edition of Indian author Dharini Bhaskar's literary dystopia Like Being Alive Twice published by Viking/PRH India.
All titles are linked and if you'd like to receive more information about any of the above titles, please contact Anna Soler-Pont (anna@pontas-agency.com).