‘Inspiring, essential, honest and deeply humane… This brilliant collection takes readers on a brave journey into our beloved continent’ – Elif Shafak
28 women each represent one of 28 EU countries, and share their vision for the future of Europe from across disciplines such as literature, business, science and the arts
Featuring both fiction and non-fiction from acclaimed writers and thinkers, including Leïla Slimani (author of Lullaby), Kapka Kassabova (author of Border), entrepreneur Hilary Cottam, actress Lisa Dwan and activist Janne Teller
Introduced by English feminist writer Laura Bates, founder of the Everyday Sexism project
Published in collaboration with Hay Festival as part of a global project, with Hay Festival Europa28 to be held in Rijeka, Croatia, 3-5 June 2020
Spring UK book tour scheduled to begin in London, 19 March 2020
Emmanuel Centre, London, 19th March
AyeWrite Festival, Glasgow, 20th March
Golden Hare Books, Edinburgh, 21st March
Bristol Women’s Literature Festival, 27th March
Words Weekend, Salford, 29th March
Published 12th March 2020
‘To be European,’ writes Leïla Slimani, ‘is to believe that we are, at once, diverse and united, that the Other is different but equal.’
Despite these high ideals, however, there is a growing sense that Europe needs to be fixed, or at the least seriously rethought. The clamour of rising nationalism – alongside widespread feelings of disenfranchisement – needs to be addressed if the dreams of social cohesion, European integration, perhaps even democracy are to be preserved.
This anthology brings together 28 acclaimed women writers, artists, scientists and entrepreneurs from across the continent to offer new perspectives on the future of Europe, and how it might be rebuilt. Featuring essays, fictions and short plays, Europa28 asks what it means to be European today and demonstrates – with clarity and often humour – how women really do see things differently.’
Featuring: Julya Rabinowich (Austria), Annelies Beck (Belgium), Kapka Kassabova (Bulgaria/UK), Asja Bakic (Croatia), Nora Nadjarian (Cyprus), Apolena Rychlikova (Czech Republic), Janne Teller (Denmark), Maarja Kangro (Estonia), Saara Turunen (Finland), Leïla Slimani (France), Yvonne Hofstetter (Germany), Sofía Kouvelaki (Greece), Zsofia Ban (Hungary), Lisa Dwan (Ireland), Silvia Bencivelli (Italy), Nora Ikstena (Latvia), Carine Krecke (Luxembourg), Zydrune Vitaite (Lithuania), Caroline Muscat (Malta), Gloria Wekker (Netherlands), Bronka Nowicka (Poland), Ana Pessoa (Portugal), Ioana Nicolaie (Romania), Tereza Nvotova (Slovakia), Renata Salecl (Slovenia), Edurne Portela (Spain), Karolina Ramqvist (Sweden) and Hilary Cottam (UK).
Sarah Cleave is the publishing manager at Comma Press and is the editor of Banthology: Stories from Unwanted Nations (2017).
Sophie Hughes has translated novels by several contemporary Latin American and Spanish authors, including Best Translated Book Award 2017 finalist Laia Jufresa (Umami). Her translations, reviews and essays have been published in The Guardian, The White Review, the Times Literary Supplement and elsewhere. She has been the recipient of a British Centre for Literary Translation mentorship and residency, a PEN Heim Literary Translation grant, and in 2018 she was shortlisted for an Arts Foundation 25th Anniversary Fellowship.