Last week, Hanna Suni, co-founder and graphic designer of the Le Plurali Publishing House, visited her old stomping grounds at AUR. Ms. Suni, who worked for years in Student Life and Admissions, was welcomed warmly by EWLP students, faculty, and staff who were eager to hear about her company’s recent publication: an Italian translation of Maya Angelou’s last autobiography, Mom & Me & Mom.
Le Plurali describes itself as feminist, independent, intersectional, and curious. It publishes books exclusively by female authors, and its motto reads “feminist books for curious minds.” “Minds” is genderless, Ms. Suni noted during the lecture, because although its publications tell women's stories, everyone is encouraged to read and learn from them.
While Le Plurali publishes a wide range of original fiction and non-fiction, they also re-publish pre-existing works, specifically those that do not exist in Italian. Mom & Me & Mom, the last of Angelou’s seven autobiographical novels, was originally published in English in 2013. It tells the story about Angelou’s complicated and deeply moving relationship with her mother, Vivian Baxter, as well as her own experience becoming a mother at age 17.
Ms. Suni read passages in English and from the newly-released Italian version, which was translated by Beatrice Gnassi. She discussed the difficult decisions that often come along with translation, including the challenging ones that must be made in order to keep genderless English words also genderless in Italian. She explained that even the title, Mom & Me & Mom, didn’t translate well, so Le Plurali decided on Lei che mi ha liberata, or, “She Who Freed Me.”
The lecture, which ended with a Q&A session, provided EWLP students valuable insights into into the world of both publishing and translation, as well as the importance of branding and vision. But, perhaps most of all, Ms. Suni’s visit served as a reminder of the immense power of words, and the importance of making diverse voices accessible.
Photos taken by Kathy Bemis