From 2026 Attila Hazai Literary Prize winner and Transylvanian writer Ilka Papp-Zakor comes Angel Dinner, a collection of short stories originally published in Hungarian and newly translated into English by Tímea Sipos. This is Papp-Zakor’s first complete book to be translated into English and available on the American market.

“If angels nested in our forests, would we eat their flesh? If our own child were evil, would we do their bidding? If we could turn into a woodland animal at will, for how long would we choose humanity?

“Angel Dinner presents a series of strange worlds where the line between sweet and sinister is all too thin. Malformed family ties and social norms are held squarely under the author’s microscopic lens, as downtrodden and disoriented characters attempt to navigate towns and forests inhabited by false healers, mad doctors and other unconcerned beasts. Continuing the strong tradition of Transylvanian magical realism, in these stories natural and social laws warp before our eyes, much like in horror and folklore. Ilka Papp-Zakor’s debut, in Tímea Sipos’ vivid translation, is a fantastically twisted collection of mysteries which leave us aching for more.”

— Owen Good, translator of Krisztina Tóth’s Pixel, Pál Závada’s Market Day, and Ferenc Barnás’ Other Death; editor at Hungarian Literature Online

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Page count: 131

Publication Day: October 27th, 2026

From debut author Ryan Lucas Henderson comes West from the Fallen Wall, a collection of short stories set in Europe, just before coronavirus and the Russian invasion of Ukraine—just before the post-Cold War era changed forever.

“And when my generation grows old and passes away, the memories of Pax Americana in Europe will pass away too. But at least there will be this book.”

— Ben Braddock, author of the book’s introduction

One almost never plans to ram a car through a makeshift barricade at a military training area, but Croatian First Lieutenant Kovač hadn’t expected to find himself between a U.S. Army live-fire exercise and a sleepy, Croatian village, either. Neither had a young, American paratrooper imagined he’d join an eccentric band of retired, Italian mountain soldiers on a hidden trail through the southern Alps. Nor, of course, was explosives expert Colonel Anderson prepared to team up with a group of archaeologists for an excavation in Normandy, much less prepared for what they'd find.

Nor did most Americans expect their country to station soldiers in Europe decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union. When vets return home from Europe, their countrymen, some surprised, some sneering, some earnest, some thumping their chests, often ask, “What’s the U.S. military doing in Europe, anyway?” There are as many answers to that question as there are soldiers and civilians. Here are nine stories. They’re fiction, and they’re a start.

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Page count: 271

Publication Day: June 25th, 2024