euskalkultura.eus

Bilbao, Bizkaia.  Laura Mintegi left today for Amsterdam to participate in the book presentation of her work Sisifo maite minez translated into Dutch.  Even though the book was featured at the Amberes Book Fair, its presentation was slated for Saturday at the Perdu Literary Foundation.

The event will feature the participation of Aitziber Renteria, sociologist, and Amsterdam resident, who will speak with Mintegi about “love and liberty,” says Zirimiri Press.  The Basque PEN-Club, chaired by Mintegi, will also be presented to the Dutch public. 

“I am really excited about this trip,” Mintegi told EuskalKultura.com. “I hope to be able to thank Zirimiri for all of its efforts.  It is a small publisher, but with great vision, and I know that they take great care in organizing these presentation.  I’m also looking forward to meeting Dutch authors and creators.”

A Gap to be Filled

Zirimiri Press is a a publishing company that specializes in fiction and essays in minority languages, founded by the Basque, Henrike Olasolo, and Catalan Cristina Richarte.  Last year it published another translation from Basque Emekiro, a collection or stories by Basque writers.

Now the publishing company is presenting Mintegi’s novel, which they hope will fill a gap in the Dutch literary scene: “We think that it will be very well understood.  Here there are many books that talk about love, but all of the “chick-lit” style.  Laura’s, though, is deeper and is an essay on indifference.”

A Risky Proposition

The trajectory of this book since 2001 has been surprising even to its author, according to Mintegi.  “There were many novels about love, but non about falling out of love.  In addition, since it is a book in which a woman talks about her love story…it ran the risk of becoming a Basque “Corin Tellado,” but I took the risk and it ended well,” says the writer.  “It is a novel that is moving at times, but as the author, it makes me sad that it touches a bit on the others, like for example on “Ecce homo.”

Nevertheless, even “Ecce homo” is finding its way little by little and Mintegi told us that it will be published in German in December or January.  “Petra Elser translated it and it will be published as part of a collection called, Zubiak by Pahl-Rugenstein Verlag Publishers.

More information: 

"Sisyphus verliefd"

Price: € 17.00

Publisher: Zirimiri Press

www.zirimiripress.com