foreign rights
Please note—we only sell book rights.
At wo-men, we publish unique literary-artistic documentary books that amplify distinctive voices and themes within the society. Over the years, wo-men has cemented its name as the pioneer on the Czech art book scene—consistently publishing works that are niche, bold, timeless.
We have a strong focus on:
- Non-fiction & literary documentary
- Gender literature; topics of sexuality, intimacy, intersectional feminism, gender equity
- Social change; resilience of democracy, social justice, inclusion and equity, oral history, family politics
- Art books with strong messaging; experimental and photography books
Our books have received many Czech and international awards and shortlist placements such as Magnesia Litera, The Most Beautiful Book of The Year, Czech Grand Design, The Best Documentary Book of the Year, Vienna Photo Book Festival Award, or Les Prix du Livre shortlist.
We also attend international book fairs such as Frankfurter Buchmesse (Germany), Svět knihy (The Czech Republic), BRAK Festival Bratislava (Slovakia), The International Book Arsenal Festival in Kyiv (Ukraine), Tokyo Art Book Fair (Japan), Printed Matter's NY Art Book Fair (USA) and more.
Please note—the Czech Ministry of Culture offers a bi-yearly grant for international translation of Czech books that could support your license purchase. Their deadline is May 15 for books published in the same year, and November 15 for books published in the following year. For more information, consult this website, and don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions at barbora@by-wo-men.com.
Foreign Rights Catalogue
BOOK:
Soft
Barbora Baronová, Hervé Jakubowicz et al.
Coming 2025
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BOOK:
Resilient Society. Between Powerlessness and Tyranny
Alice Koubová, Barbora Baronová
Photography by Dita Pepe
2023
Co-published with the Czech Academy of Sciences
Awards?
shortlist: Best Documentary Book of 2023, Ji.hlava IDFF, Czech Republic, 2024
shortlist (Professional Literature): The Most Beautiful Czech Books of 2023
Why this book?
Because resilience is a political and social necessity in the time of permanent global crises. This book offers a rare, practice-based perspective on how democracies survive under pressure. Its interdisciplinary approach makes it highly relevant beyond Czech borders.
Target audience?
Scholars and students in social sciences, political philosophy, public policy, and democratic studies; NGO leaders; educators; civil servants; journalists; and readers interested in civic resilience and systemic change.
About this book?
Resilient Society: Between Powerlessness and Tyranny explores the concept of social resilience in the face of escalating global crises.
Through fourteen in-depth interviews with fifteen influential voices from contemporary Czech society—including experts in psychology, law, education, defense, media, ecology, social work, and minority rights—the book captures how experts working within complex systems confront crisis, cultivate adaptability, and sustain social cohesion. The interviewees offer practice-based and internationally adaptable insights into how resilience manifests in real-life situations.
Resilient Society is an urgent contribution to current global conversations on how communities can resist fragmentation and foster sustainable, humane systems.
Media features?
https://www.dokrevue.cz/clanky/alice-koubova-odolna-spolecnost-mezi-bezmoci-a-tyranii
Number of pages: 428
Keywords: Interdisciplinary non-fiction, interviews, democracy, systemic change, practice-based research
English excerpt?
coming soon
Rights available?
for all languages
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BOOK:
The Eagle from Diyarbakir
Hervé Jakubowicz
Translation Alžběta Stančáková, Sára Vybíralová
2023
Originally written in French
Why this book?
Because it offers a rare fusion of war reportage, autofiction, and visual narrative – illuminating how conflict shapes memory, identity, and art. A powerful, cross-genre work that resonates with today’s fractured global landscape.
Target audience?
Readers of literary fiction and autofiction; war and conflict journalists; academics in trauma studies, memory studies, and contemporary literature; fans of Winfried Georg Sebald, Charlotte Delbo, or Svetlana Alexievich
About this book?
The Eagle from Diyarbakir is a striking auto-fictional novel by French writer, photographer, and filmmaker Hervé Jakubowicz, tracing the inner journey of a war photographer haunted by the trauma of Rwanda and drawn once again into conflict—this time, into the bombing of Mosul. Blending documentary realism with layers of imaginative fiction, the novel spans Kurdistan, Sarajevo, New York, Paris, and beyond, capturing the emotional and geopolitical pulse of the years 1991–2017.
Based on Jakubowicz’s own powerful photographs and war reporting, this richly layered work follows in the spirit of Jakubowicz’s acclaimed film The Bullet Time, offering a unique literary vision that merges fact and fiction.
Number of pages: 288
Keywords: Autofiction, war and memory, documentary, hybrid genre, photographic narrative, post-conflict trauma
English excerpt?
coming soon in French (it is an original language of this book)
Rights available?
for all languages (not Czech anymore)
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BOOK:
Mařka
Adéla Marie Jirků
2022
Awards?
award for for Outstanding Illustration: The Hollar Association of Czech Graphic Artists, The Czech Republic, 2023
shortlist: Best Documentary Book of 2022 Ji.hlava International Film Festival, The Czech Republic,
shortlist (Book artwork by Adéla Marie Jirků): Czech Grand Design 2023, The Czech Republic
Why this book?
Because it offers a cross-generational portrait told through rare dialect and stunning visual storytelling. Mařka is a singular testimony to memory, creativity, and the quiet power of marginalized voices—told with poetic tenderness and artistic depth.
Target audience?
Readers of art books, literary non-fiction, and hybrid memoirs; curators and academics interested in outsider art, regional language, and visual culture; collectors of artist books.
About this book?
Poetic and visually striking, Mařka is an artistic and literary document written in the Wallachian dialect from the perspective of little Adéla Marie.
The story concentrates on the friendship of deaf-mute Mařka and a little girl, today a renowned painter and illustrator Adéla Marie Jirků. Mařka had been herding sheep in Wallachia all her life, but thanks to Adéla, she discovered wax crayons in her old age and began to draw art brut pictures. As an adult, Adéla felt the need to capture Mařka's pure world, because she realized that thanks to her deaf-mute aunt, her childhood was exceptional—as not everyone has their own Mařka.
The author's illustrations, created over sixteen years in the book, are accompanied by art brut pictures of Mařka herself.
Media features?
https://denikn.cz/minuta/1188040/
https://www.tka.cz/podcasty/s-vytvarnici-adelou-marii-jirku-o-dvou-markach
https://zl.patriotmagazin.cz/vytvarnice-adela-marie-jirku-se-meni-ve-svou-marku
Number of pages: 216
Keywords: Artistic book, visual memoir, regional dialect, oral history, art brut, intergenerational storytelling
English excerpt?
coming soon
Rights available?
for all languages
