OLGA GARDNER GALVIN grew up in Moscow (then USSR), in the 1960s and 1970s, the only child of a book editor and a graphic designer who, between the two of them, could conceptualize and produce any printed matter, from a book to a theater poster — and did it all the time, in a small apartment crammed with books.

By the late 1970s, Olga developed a habit of openly reading forbidden literature on public transportation, which resulted in her parents’ decision to relocate to the USA, since they found her attempts at rebellion disturbingly dumb. (OK, so, looking back now, they were right. She should have figured out that anorexia thing instead.)

After several half-hearted efforts to get away from the ivory tower of her upbringing and try other careers — from a production assistant to a film critic to a barmaid to a journalist to a stand-up comedienne to a translator — Olga gave up and, as soon as her command of English permitted, followed in her parents’ footsteps, making her freelancing way into American mainstream publishing, where her clients now include some of the biggest publishing houses and literary agencies in New York. Olga gained editorial experience working on books by such authors as Michael Crichton, Ursula Le Guin, Terry Pratchett, Steven Saylor, Matt Ruff, Dennis Miller, Gao Xingjian, A.M. Homes, Lionel Shriver, and Michael Marshall Smith, to name just a few.

ENC Press is a result of Olga’s finally finding herself in possession of all the skills necessary to publish books she’d like to read that don’t make it to the big publishing houses’ rosters — for reasons explained in more detail in Letter from the publisher and on About ENC page — because she still likes to make her own decisions about what to read.

Read Olga Gardner Galvin’s opinions “A Few Lessons Learned From Publishing in America” and “Get Back in That Box!”

Listen to the podcast of a two-part interview with her.

Read a short but fun interview with her.