New from Europa Editions & Iperborea
THE PASSENGER
«for explorers of the world»
Dedicated to telling the story of a country or city and its people
The first two titles — Japan & Greece — coming in May 2020
Europa Editions and Iperborea will co-publish THE PASSENGER, one of the most successful publishing projects in recent years, with sales and distribution by PGW/Ingram in the United States and the Independent Alliance in Britain/worldwide.
The first titles in the series include contributions by acclaimed authors such as Ryū Murakami, Banana Yoshimoto, Petros Markaris, Richard Lloyd Parry, Ian Buruma, Matteo Nucci, Brian Phillips, Amanda Petrusich, and Rachel Howard, will be released in May 2020 in the United States and June 2020 in the United Kingdom.
Two further titles dedicated to Brazil and Turkey will be published in the second half of 2020.
Each volume has been conceived and edited by Iperborea, which launched the project in Europe last year. Europa Editions, with more than fifteen years of experience in the English-language market, will be responsible for the translation, publicity, and global distribution of the English editions.
Pietro Biancardi, Publisher at Iperborea, commented: “Sandro Ferri, publisher of Edizioni EO and Europa Editions, is a legend, and Europa Editions is one of the most daring and successful book publishing undertakings in recent years. The fact that Sandro and Eva launched into this project which such enthusiasm practically guarantees its success; to collaborate closely with them is a dream come true.”
“I greatly admire the work that Iperborea has done in recent years in Italy, where the press’s vision and courage has contributed to a sea change in publishing” said Eva Ferri, Publishing Director of Europa Editions UK. “I believe that The Passenger is a wonderful and unique project, and I can’t wait to bring it to the world together with the team at Europa Editions and our amazing collaborators, Independent Alliance in the UK/Export and PGW in the United States. I also think this project offers the opportunity for an interesting, mutually enriching, and fruitful collaboration between independent publishers.”
Sandro Ferri, Publisher of Edizioni E/O and co-founder of Europa Editions with his wife Sandra Ozzola commented: “Europa Editions is joining forces with Iperborea to bring The Passenger everywhere there are curious readers: independent bookstores, bookstore chains, museum bookshops, concept stores. All over the world, in English, with solid international distribution.”
What is THE PASSENGER?
The Passenger collects the best long-form essays, investigative journalism, literary reportage, and visual narratives in order to tell the story of a country or city and to portray its shifting culture and identity, its public debates, the sensibilities of its people, its burning issues, conflicts, and open wounds. Taken together, these fragments form a novel, complex picture.
Each volume of The Passenger contains 10-12 long-form pieces, an eclectic mix of original essays (commissioned from renowned local authors, journalists, international experts on each country/city) and vital previously published writing, either translated or reprinted (from anthologies, books, local and international magazines and newspapers).
A series of regular “sections” complements each title, contributing to its vitality, readability, and appeal. These include inventive infographics, original illustrations, book and film recommendations, a section of “false myths” debunked, a country-specific Spotify playlist, and more.
Thanks to a collaboration with Prospekt (a documentary photography and visual storytelling agency), each title includes an original photo essayspecifically commissioned to internationally renowned photographers.
Since its launch in Italy last year, all six titles in The Passenger series have appeared on the bestseller list and are proving to be long-sellers.
What are the origins of THE PASSENGER?
«Is Norway as green as they claim? Why doesn’t anybody let the passengers off the train first in the Athens subway? Why is the sky above Saõ Paulo dotted with helicopters? Why are people in Japan crazy for African-American music?»
Specializing in literary translation for over 30 years, Iperborea has always looked outwards, to the world beyond national borders. But the members of its eclectic team could never find a publication that told the full story of a place and its people. The many travel guides, periodicals, websites, and apps attempted to answer the hows, wheres, and whens, of a destination. The question nobody seemed able or willing to answer was: what is this place?
After two years of research, discussion, and planning by a multi-national team, the first volume of The Passenger was published. The desire to innovate and experiment on the part of the Iperborea team resulted in a product that is half book, half magazine, that combines the contents, editorial, and printing quality of the former with the vivacity, readability, and sleek aesthetics of the latter.
About IPERBOREA
One of Italy’s most renowned independent presses, Iperborea was founded by Emilia Lodigiani in 1987 with the aim of bringing northern European literature to Italian readers. Today, the press publishes approximately 30 titles a year by authors ranging from Nobel Prize winners to the most talented new voices in contemporary adult and children’s literature. In 2018, Iperborea launched The Passenger in Italy, and since 2014 it has organized I Boreali festival dedicated to Nordic cultures.
What does THE PASSENGER look like?
Designed by TomoTomo, a Milan-based graphic design studio with years-long experience in illustrated books and magazine publishing, the design of The Passenger is clean and sleek. Each piece is accompanied by tables, maps, annotated glossaries, biographies, and chronologies, giving readers all the tools they need to understand the context of each self-contained article.
The Passenger’s logo depicts Huginn e Muninn, two ravens from Norse mythology. Sent off by Odin at dawn, the crows would return each night to sit on the god’s shoulders, whispering into his ears whatever knowledge and wisdom they had gathered from the far corners of the world. In Old Norse, Huginn means “thought” and Muninn “memory.”
Technical Specs
Paper weight and other specs Fedrigoni Brossulin 290 gr (cover) – Arctic Paper Munken Pure 120 gr
Trim size 16X24 cm
Average number of illustrated pages: 60
Average number of infographics: 15
Number of pages: 192
