# Is "Flights" by Olga Tokarczuk (trans. Jennifer Croft) a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Flights by Olga Tokarczuk (trans. Jennifer Croft) (Fitzcarraldo Editions, 2017) is identified by: First English edition, Fitzcarraldo Editions 2017 (Jennifer Croft's translation of 'Bieguni'), in Fitzcarraldo's signature blue flexible card wrappers with french-fold flaps (paperback original, no dust jacket), with 'First published by Fitzcarraldo Editions in 2017' on the verso. The Polish 'Bieguni' (Wydawnictwo Literackie, 2007) is the true first of the work; the Fitzcarraldo 2017 is the true first in English (Croft translation) and the prize-winning edition.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First English edition, Fitzcarraldo Editions 2017 (Jennifer Croft's translation of 'Bieguni'), in Fitzcarraldo's signature blue flexible card wrappers with french-fold flaps (paperback original, no dust jacket), with 'First published by Fitzcarraldo Editions in 2017' on the verso
- The US Riverhead hardcover followed in 2018
- 2018 International Booker Prize winner
- Publisher imprint reads Fitzcarraldo Editions
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Olga Tokarczuk (trans. Jennifer Croft) |
| Publisher | Fitzcarraldo Editions |
| Year | 2017 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First English edition, Fitzcarraldo Editions 2017 (Jennifer Croft's translation of 'Bieguni'), in Fitzcarraldo's signature blue flexible… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
First English edition, Fitzcarraldo Editions 2017 (Jennifer Croft's translation of 'Bieguni'), in Fitzcarraldo's signature blue flexible card wrappers with french-fold flaps (paperback original, no dust jacket), with 'First published by Fitzcarraldo Editions in 2017' on the verso. The US Riverhead hardcover followed in 2018. 2018 International Booker Prize winner.

## Is this the true first?
The Polish 'Bieguni' (Wydawnictwo Literackie, 2007) is the true first of the work; the Fitzcarraldo 2017 is the true first in English (Croft translation) and the prize-winning edition. The blue-wrapper Fitzcarraldo first is highly collected, with interest heightened by Tokarczuk's later Nobel Prize in Literature.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The Riverhead US edition is distinguished by imprint and format (hardcover). Later Fitzcarraldo printings state additional impressions on the verso. No book-club edition.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Flights* by Olga Tokarczuk (trans. Jennifer Croft) a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/flights
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.