Thank you so much, Mallory, for letting me interview you to talk about this wonderful new program offered at Saint Vincent College. Let’s dive right in!
NH: Can you briefly introduce yourself?
MT: Sure! My name is Mallory Trukenmiller, and I’m a senior English major at SVC where I am concentrating in literary translation. You can usually find me working in Dr. McDaniel’s office, with my laptop and a cup of tea, or running around campus as I try to finish up my last year with my head still on my shoulders. Over this past summer, I started interning with the Eulalia Books, and I’m really excited to share this incredible press housed by our beloved Saint Vincent.
NH: What is “Eulalia books?”
MT: Eulalia books is a small publishing press that exclusively publishes boundary-pushing, dynamic poetry that has been translated into English for the first time by talented translators. We are especially interested in bringing unheard of poetry to English readers from outside the scope of what we usually see on the shelves of Barnes & Nobles. We realize that a lot of incredible poetry is being written by unknown writers that have never been published in English before, and we want you to have access to them. Right now, we’re focusing on our first publication – a book called Eco del parque by Romina Freschi, who is this crazy awesome poet from Argentina who has like 13 publications in Spanish, yet has never been published in English. We’re really thrilled to introduce you to her! So, just to sum that up, we’re publishing books of translated poetry, and they’re awesome!
Pictured Above: Romina Freschi
NH: How did Eulalia first get started?
MT: The press was started by SVC’s own Professor Michelle Gil-Montero who is the director of the literary translation program, including a translation minor open to any students interested in literature and language. If you have never taken a class with her, you’re missing out! Her passion and warmth as a teacher will make you love writing, even if you can barely write the caption for your Instagram post.
Pictured Above: Professor Michelle Gil-Montero and Román Antopolsky, co-editors of Eulalia Books
Anyway, back to Eulalia. Professor Gil-Montero, and her husband Román Antopolsky have been wanting to start a press that supports both translators and poets who go beyond the norm and redefine expectations for the genre. They have been inspired by the Benedictine tradition of community, humility, and love and want to create a space on Saint Vincent that opens students and readers to cultures and art from around the world.
NH: What does the name “Eulalia” mean?
MT: One beautiful thing about our name is that it means something different to everyone on our team, and we loved that it is steeped in this rich ambiguity. I can definitely say that my favorite aspect of the name is that it means “Beautiful Speech” which to me really just captures the purpose of sharing new voices across languages. However, a quick Google search will also reveal that Eulalia was also this rockstar saint who stood for a lot of our values as a press. So, I love that too (go women!).
NH: What do you do as an intern for Eulalia books?
MT: As an intern, one of my responsibilities is working in social media, so I help curate posts while bringing Eulalia more of a presence in both the Saint Vincent and Pittsburgh community. Give us a like/follow; we’re really sociable! I also have a cool project at the moment in which I am designing a translation workshop for local high schools which will help them encounter literature in translation in a hands-on setting. However, Bridget Fertal and Christian Crowley are also interning with Eulalia at the moment and they’re doing some super awesome stuff. Bridget is working on grant writing (because she’s a genius with a head for both creativity and business), while Christian is working on outreach to local organizations in both Latrobe and Pittsburgh to create partnerships with our community. They are both killing it! Plus, we all have this priceless opportunity to work directly with Professor Gil-Montero to learn about the publishing industry in all of its complicated bits and pieces.
NH: How can students get involved?
MT: Well first, we would love for students to share in our excitement for this initiative by just learning more about us and checking out our projects, but, students who are interesting in publishing, literature, creative writing, or translation should definitely take Professor Gil-Montero’s new Small Press Publishing course which will allow students to learn about and work with the press, possibly leading to a stellar internship.
Wow. Eulalia Books sounds absolutely awesome. Thank you so much for having this interview with me!
Make sure to check them out, give them a like or follow, and stay updated on new major translation projects coming up!
Website: eulaliabooks.com/about.html
Twitter: EulaliaBooks
Instagram: eulalia.books
HCXO,
Norina