Interview with Anina Barandun, Editor-in-chief of the publishing house Rotpunktverlag in Zurich

Before coming to pure publishing, you worked in broadcasting. Can you tell us a bit about your path and the unique aspects of publishing work compared to other sectors of the cultural industry?

After university (I studied German and Italian literature) I worked for the cultural promotion of the Canton of Berne, but I soon switched from public administration to the world of theatre. Among other things, I was the assistant and interpreter of Alessandro Marchetti, an Italian actor-director (and “born into the arts”) who is an expert on Goldoni and the Commedia dell’arte. From 2005 to 2021, I was employed by SRF, Swiss German-language radio and television, as the person responsible for radio dramas and satirical programmes.

The basis of my work was always a literary text, but, in both theatre and radio drama, a text must ‘work’ according to the concrete criteria of staging. Over time, the conditions for the production of radio dramas became more and more difficult, the cost-saving goals harder and harder. That is why I left SRF and found what I was looking for in publishing work: the intensive collaboration with writers. At the publishing house Rotpunkt I can observe their projects (almost) from the beginning and accompany them on a journey whose destination is often unknown.

The literary market is increasingly looking for the immediately and briefly successful book: how do you deal with this phenomenon at Rotpunktverlag?

We also observe this trend, which worries us greatly. But as a publishing house known for books of high literary quality and political non-fiction we cannot (and do not want to) simply publish what the market demands (e.g. regional detective stories or ‘romance’ books). Rather, we try to intensify our press work and create events to present a new book or a young writer. However, this is very demanding work because the media value literary criticism less and less. On the other hand, it has to be said that despite the predominance of short successes, there are always the ‘longsellers’, in the case of Rotpunkt, for example, Fabio Andina‘s La pozza del Felice (in German Tage mit Felice) or Leta Semadeni‘s Tamangur . At the end of the day, all we can do is to publish the books we believe in and hope that, with intense promotion, we attract the interest of critics, booksellers and, first and foremost, readers.

A question on the perception of Italian culture in Switzerland, and especially in the German-speaking part of Switzerland: are there any specific characteristics compared to the rest of the German-speaking world? Our idea, as the Italian Cultural Institute, is that Italian immigration in Switzerland plays an important role.

I share this idea, yes, immigration is a very important issue. It immediately makes me think of ‘our’ authors, Vincenzo Todisco, Alexandre Hmine and Franco Supino. Perhaps one reason for this prevalence is that we have forgotten how the Italians came to Switzerland. We eagerly remember the Italian songs, Italian cuisine, Italian fashion that conquered our daily lives in the 1970s and 1980s, but we ignored the desperation of seasonal workers for too long. Only now do the clandestine children of that time, who have grown old, or their stories, remind us of it.
In Germany, it seems to me that a more idealised view of Italy prevails, almost a distant echo of Goethe’s famous poem: ‘Kennst du das Land, wo die Zitronen blühn?’ (‘Do you know the land where the lemons bloom?’). One of the reasons might be that in Germany the largest immigrant groups come from Turkey, Poland and Russia. So the critical and analytical eye will rather look there, while Italy remains a holiday destination. (I know there is some cliché in this answer, but I read that so many Germans still consider the Mafia to be a kind of folklore …)

Can you describe a couple of Rotpunkt’s plans for Italy?

With pleasure! We follow two paths, actually three: we are dedicated to the dissemination of our Italian ‘classics’, Gino Vermicelli (we have republished his novel on the resistance in the Ossola with a new introduction by Ferruccio Cainero) and Cesare Pavese (after the publication of four volumes of novels we are preparing a revised edition of his diary, Il mestiere di vivere). In the field of modern literature we are always on the lookout for new voices – the latest discovery was Valentina Mira (currently in the running for the Strega Prize). But of course we also follow Italian-language Swiss literature (a new novel by Fabio Andina is in the pipeline).
I would also like to mention our guidebooks, which are Rotpunkt’s third programme alongside literature and political non-fiction: northern Italy is very important to our reader-explorers. With our guides we invite them to go to the Val Grande, the Maira Valley, Lake Maggiore, Lake Orta or even the Grande Traversée des Alpes.