The policy of Varrak Publishers has always been to publish both the classical works and to introduce new and noteworthy contemporary European novels to Estonian readers. Since Estonian population is very small (1,3 million) and the number of our own writers accordingly small, translated literature has always played an immense role in the development of Estonian culture through our history, and continues to do so. However, our print runs have decreased significantly after the recession, which makes it rather difficult to continue publishing translations of literary fiction of high quality. Therefore receiving support that covers the translation costs helps us tremendously to make the price of the copy reasonable for the buyers. All three books selected for the project represent modern European fiction of 20th and 21st century. They have received warm welcome from the literary critics. These novels have not yet been translated into Estonian, therefore we feel that it is important for us to share this new European literature with Estonian readers.The authors we have chosen for this project, have in common the high quality of their work and the fact that they all deal with questions of both personal and European identity, history and memory. The books represent a selection of different source languages, both big and small (English, French, and Finnish.)Pierre Michon's "Vies Minuscules" is regarded as a masterpiece in contemporary French literature and the author has won several literary prizes (Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française, Petrarca-Preis). John Banville is one of the most renowned contemporary Irish writer, and his "Shroud" a masterpiece written in his trademark beautiful prose. Katri Lipson's "Jäätelökauppias" is Finland's winner of European Union Prize for Literature in 2013.