I made arrangements in advance to visit and was greeted by Simona Olivito, e/o's production manager. She was so sweet and showed my husband and me around the offices where we learned a lot about what goes on behind the scenes. She was also very patient with my choppy Italian until we switched to English-which did not take long!
Here she's pointing out the Wall of Europas, as I call it. The top two shelves are filled with the "pocket size" books only published in Italian. I did not know these existed! On the other side on the top shelves are boxes filled with out of print books.
Here are some shelves filled with original editions of books that e/o has translated either into English or other languages.
Did you know e/o did translations into Italian of Tom Perrotta? I did not!
Here is one of the office mascots, one of the hedgehogs fans have sent in honor of The Elegance of the Hedgehog. The walls of the offices are also decorated with photos of e/o authors such as Massimo Carlotto, Muriel Barbery and others. Fun!
Then, Jeff and I got to meet Sandro and Sandra Ferri, owners and publishers of e/o and Europa! They offered us cappuccino and we chatted with them for a nice long time about Europa, publishing, bookselling and more. They were so welcoming and kind to us- as was everyone in the office. It was such a pleasure to meet them and get to see "where the magic happens" at one of my favorite publishing houses. They gifted us with two Europa tote bags and a copy of The Fugitive, the last remaining Carlotto I have to read, along with their upcoming catalogs for the Winter season and the catalog highlighting their World Noir series. I learned that Carlotto has a new one coming out from Europa, a sequel to The Goodbye Kiss. I can't wait! We had such a wonderful time and really appreciated their generosity and kindness. I'm going to send them some little gifts and a note soon. Mille grazie!!!
8 comments:
I've heard about the pocket-sized books (they're about the size of a credit card, right?), but I haven't seen one in person. I think they sound cool, personally.
Oh my, I bet that was heavenly for you!!
Aha, those mini-books are like the FlipBooks we get here in the UK, they're great for tucking in your pocket. I love my P&P flipbook. :)
How great to see behind the scenes of such a lovely office.
Oh, this must have been so much fun! You are so lucky to have gotten this chance to see the office where some of your favorite books are published in Italian!
What a fun opportunity! That's really great that they were so welcoming.
What a fantastic experience that must have been!
So much fun and what a dream come true, I'm sure! It sounds like everyone you met was so wonderful and kind and enthusiastic. What a wonderful time!
What an amazing vacation treat!
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