Fewer than 3 percent of the 250,000 fiction and nonfiction books published in the US each year are works of translation, even though some have had lasting influences on our culture. Think of Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment" or Freud's "The Ego and the Id."

Open Letter, the UR's new literary publishing house, is committed to bringing more international authors to the US market, cultivating new audiences for translated literature, and training UR students in the art of translation.

"Reading a foreign author opens up possibilities," says Chad Post, Open Letter's director. "You get to experience a world or culture that's different and interesting; something that's new. And the more experiences we have with other cultures, the more understanding and well-rounded we are."

The publishing business is increasingly ruled by expectations of blockbuster sales. That makes foreign authors unlikely partners for large publishers, Post says. This is a niche, he says, for nimble, nonprofit presses, where six-figure sales aren't expected.

"Selling 3,500 to 5,000 is outstanding, and more than that is extremely rare," he says. "It's not a huge readership, but it's a loyal, dedicated one."

Finding a market is not the biggest problem for a small press. The Internet, Post says, has leveled the playing field for savvy publishers.

"A small press can cultivate an audience directly, and anyone living anywhere can order any book they want from Amazon," Post says.

There are really two challenges for publishers of translated literature. The first is narrowing down what to publish. Open Letter receives as many as 40 submissions a week and publishes 12 titles a year. Post also relies on a network of readers and what he calls "cultural ambassadors," who help identify work that should appeal to wider audiences.

The second challenge is matching the right translator to each book. Understanding what the writer is trying to say, Post says, is more important than knowing the language.

Open Letter's 2008 fall lineup includes authors from Croatia, Brazil, Lithuania, and Norway.