Yale University Press announced today that it had received a “very significant” (but unspecified) gift to establish a new series dedicated to foreign literatures in translation. The Cecile and Theodore Margellos World Republic of Letters series, named for the couple who made the gift, will concentrate on “works of cultural and artistic significance previously overlooked by translators and publishers,” as well as fresh translations of canonical works of literature and philosophy.

John Donatich, the press’s director, said in a written statement that the press hoped to “help reverse the trend against literary translations, that virtual censorship that further insulates our culture.” The first books in the series will appear next year and will include fiction by the Chinese writer Can Xue and selected poems of the Syrian-born poet and essayist Adonis, often mentioned as a serious contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature. —Jennifer Howard