Meeting House: Emma House speaks to inspiring bookwomen from around the world.
Sandra Tamele dreamed of being an Architect, but after three failed attempts to secure a job in this field she decided to pursue her other passions, translation, and languages, on a full-time basis. 2007 marked her debut as a literary translator, and she has since translated 21 works of poetry, prose, and children literature from English and Italian into Portuguese. She is passionate about her work and committed to promoting literary translation among young Mozambicans by hosting an annual competition that led to the establishment of the Publishing House, Editora Trinta Zero Nove (ETZN), the first Mozambican publisher dedicated to literature in translation. Her start-up publisher strives to give voice to debut, black, female authors, and writers with disabilities or from other minorities to work towards a more inclusive, loving society. In 2021 the initiative was awarded the London Book Fair International Excellence for Literary Translation. She was born in Pemba, but currently lives with her husband in Marracuene, where she plans to open the first bookshop/community library in the district of over 262 thousand inhabitants.
After Architecture, what motivated you to start a career in publishing as a literary translator?
I confess that I never planned to give up architecture. Becoming a literary translator was the fortunate outcome of an unexpected life changing event which meant that I had to give up my career after seven years studying for my degree. I consider myself fortunate because I had an alternative, I spoke Italian and English which enabled me to establish myself as a commercial translator and interpreter. Reading is a passion that I fostered from an early age and being able to read in five different languages it was fated that I would find a book that I wanted to translate. That book was Io non ho paura (I’m not scared) by Niccolò Ammaniti, and its story changed my narrative. Translating Ammaniti started as a school project, but my persevering to complete it catapulted me into being the first Mozambican to translate and publish literature. I have since translated 17 titles for fellow publishers both in Mozambique and overseas. I’m really honored to have joined PELTA, the Portuguese into English Literary Translators Association, and proud to be working towards the dissemination of new voices from Lusophone Africa.
What were the challenges in acquiring material to translate?
Unlike my fellow Mozambicans I’m among the lucky few that have consistent access to the broadband Internet and thus to have been able to join online forums and networks of publishers that are open to share their diverse catalogues, therefore there is no lack of materials to translate. The most important challenge is financial, having the funds to be able to pay writer advances or translator fees. Being a publisher from a small market like Mozambique I’m working to raise the awareness of overseas publishers and authors about the reality of the market I’m operating in – which is completely different from theirs. In my country 39% of the people are illiterate, and more than half live under the poverty line, both realities affecting women disproportionally, this means that the price of our books is much lower, and the print runs much smaller, so I often must negotiate on the terms of a token or no advance.
Having worked as a literary translator, what inspired you to start a Publishing House?
Again, this was not a planned move, in 2015 I started a literary translation competition aimed at promoting reading and literary translation among young Mozambicans. Three years later I had three beautiful books of short stories by authors unknown in the Mozambican market which I pitched several times to existing, established publishers. None of them was willing to publish the format or work in translation, this led me to decide to establish Editora Trinta Zero Nove. Trinta Zero Nove means September 30th, International Translation Day, and we are the first Mozambican publisher dedicated to translated literature. Our debut collection was published in 2019 with three titles translated into one language, and it has since grown into 37 titles translated into seven languages. This makes me very proud and inspires me to work further in Mozambique, a country with 42 spoken languages and one sign language, and I’ll do my best to represent most if not all of them in print.
How would you describe the Mozambican publishing industry today? What are the challenges and opportunities?
The fact that is, there is no publishing industry or infrastructure in Mozambique. There are no records or statistics available. A small group of publishers is now trying to set up the Mozambican publishers and booksellers association and their first task will be to run a census and find out how many players are there in the market. A market dominated by three multinational textbook publishers that, sometimes, publish fiction. When I started as a publisher it was one of those major players who told me that publishing fiction in Mozambique was an act of courage.
I’m very happy to have seen in the last couple of years the rise of indie publishers established by young writers which are bringing more diversity and quality, and interest to the literary scene in Mozambique.
I believe we all share the same challenge, the trade book market is too small with a poor distribution infrastructure, most of our potential readers cannot afford to buy books. Also, we face the deep-rooted belief that Mozambicans don’t read at all.
Being an optimist and drawing inspiration from similar projects in the region and internationally, I believe that we are at a turning point if we tap into digital resources, and we evolve like other markets did. That is why ETZN is publishing eBooks and audiobooks in local languages and in Braille and in Mozambican sign language; by making books more inclusive I believe that we can reverse this gloomy scenario.
Editora Trinta Zero Nove is the first Mozambican publisher dedicated to literary translation, what were the challenges of being a pioneer in this sector?
The greatest challenge is having a pool of translators to work with. As I mentioned before we are translating into Mozambican languages, eMakwa, ciSena and ciChangana and there are only a handful of translators into those languages in addition they are often unfamiliar with translating literature, which means that projects take longer because of training requirements.
The other challenge is that translation is expensive, it adds to the cost of a book that is already expensive, so publishers are always challenged to find ways of making our books more affordable for the readers in our market. Distribution is also an issue because there is a deep-rooted belief that Mozambicans can speak the languages, but they cannot read in them, so trailblazing in this sector has many unknown variables and barriers, that we are striving to overcome.
Your Publishing House strives to publish diverse voices and authors. Can you talk about the initiative and its future?
Our motto is: giving stories (read people) a voice. We publish women, because female voices are often rejected and refused by cis male publishers who believe that women are incapable of intellectual, interesting, creative writing. We publish people with disabilities and their stories. We also publish LGBTQ+ narratives to make our books inclusive and relatable to all Mozambicans. These voices were all underrepresented or never published and are often people who ae discriminated against and abused. That is why the initiative is relevant at this moment in time. We have since published five titles about people with disabilities written by people with disabilities as well as titles by queer authors. We plan to expand and grow this number by cooperating with organizations that work for the rights of those minorities.
In 2021 you were awarded the London Book Fair International Excellence for Literary Translation. Did this award open new opportunities for you?
Yes and no. Yes, because the West recognizes the importance of such an award, and I am honored to be part of the group of seven organizations from around the world that I’ve won the same award. More so because I am a micro publisher from a developing country and my peers are all from rich Western countries with strong communities and/or governmental support, something that I do not have. No because my compatriots and publishers of the region fail to grasp the importance and magnitude of this historical award, I’m not sure if it is because I’m a woman or because I’m black or both.
Nevertheless, they cannot take from me the joy and honor of being the first publisher from the PALOP to have been awarded the International Excellence for Literary Translation. I was even happier when Yulia Kozlovets, from The Book Arsenal Festival from Ukraine, shared with me that this award meant being the best in the world in that year. it also meant increased interest and participation of young people in the annual literary translation competition, growing the number of applications from 50 in the previous year to over 250.
What have been the biggest challenges you have faced in your career and how have you overcome them?
Having given up a career 17 years ago, I am struggling every day to find new mechanisms to persevere in publishing. One of the biggest challenges is making it in this male dominated world. Mozambique is traditionally a country where female leaders were revered and respected, but our colonial past meant the assimilation of patriarchal and sexist values which make it difficult for a woman to be taken seriously or be seen as worthy of a leadership role. Being assertive is my strategy to counteract the initial perception of male collaborators, peers, and clients, and to make them see me as an equally ambitious, professional, and competent person.
Do you think that bringing in young people will eventually change the perception and how long do you think it will take before we start seeing some changes?
Yes, that is why children and young people are the focus of all my initiatives. I think that this is only natural in Mozambique, where more than half our population is under the age of 18. This means a large pool of youngsters that we need to inspire and empower to generate change.
It is not easy to give a timeline for when this change will be visible, my country is just 47 years old, and I am part of the first generation of native, black intellectuals. Again, because of the colonial past when black people were denied schooling past 6th grade. I can’t remember where I read that it requires at least two generations and I’m doing my part to impart on young women from my community all the values on which my personality and purpose are based on.
Have there been any women that have inspired you in your career in general and in your publishing career?
Yes, I do, and I am so happy that I found them. I am so happy that now technology enables easier connections among female publishers.
Richa Jha from India, who I met through Publishers Without Borders. She is a powerhouse, and the books that her publishing house is creating are amazing. And sometimes she, like me, does not see the business side of being a publisher. In fact, I’m struggling with the financial side of the business – I am more interested in the creative process of publishing books.
Colleen Higgs from South Africa, a neighbouring country. She is the one who makes me persevere. Her indie press, Modjaji Books, started like ETZN and is celebrating their 15th anniversary this year.
Last but not least, Dominique Raccah, the founder of Source Books, who grew out of her garage into the top 10 publishers in in the USA. I think of her every time I walk into my office/warehouse in my garage.
I am extremely happy to have found them and so happy with this network which is mutually supportive and gives me the chance to learn from them.
What does the future hold for you?
I’m becoming a bookseller. I dream of opening this bookshop/community library, a space where women and girls can come and read books to change their narratives. In Marracuene, where I live, a mere 26 km from the CBD of the capital city, Maputo, seems like a distant a rural area. Despite its population of 262,000 people there is not a single library or bookshop In the District. I know that most people cannot afford books, and this seemed the best model to ensure that low-income readers are not left out and are able to read ETZN’s and other books. I hope to include also digital resources because they can bring audiobooks to those who cannot read.
It will not be a brick-and-mortar store, but a giant book shaped wooden structure that can be placed at markets, public gardens, and schools. We’ll be able to go where our potential readers are, and offer them relatable, and potentially lifechanging stories to change their narratives, like Ammaniti’s book changed mine.
I love to tell this to every person I meet. Please read as much as you can and then follow the tree Ps: perseverance, patience, and practice. Don’t be discouraged because nothing is going to be easy, so you must find a way to cope. Perseverance is the key.
Emma’s always looking for more Meeting House interviewees. To take part please get in touch via Twitter, Facebook or info@womeninpublishing.org.
