Alia Terra

This is a book that I did a small sensitivity reading job on, so I can’t do much in the way of a review, but I want to mention the book because what Atthis Arts are doing with it is very interesting.

First of all they champion people like Ava Kelly who want to write uplifting stories that feature gender and sexual minorities. Their author bio says that they aim, “to bring into the world more tales of friendship and compassion, dedicated to trope subversion, stories that give the void a voice.” Given the way that the world is going, we need that sort of thing right now.

Secondly, these stories are a collection of folk tales; Romanian folk tales. Kelly is Romanian but living in Norway. Each of the stories are presented both in English and in Romanian in parallel. Translations are all very well, but it is great to see a publisher both catering to the large English-speaking market and presenting the stories in their original form.

Finally, the entire book is sumptuously illustrated by Matt Spencer. His style is very well suited to the fairy-tale atmosphere of the book and the end product looks lovely.

So yes, I did have a small part in bringing this book to the public, but there are many aspects to it that I had nothing to do with, and I love them. Hopefully the book will do well.

book cover
Title: Alia Terra
By: Ava Kelly
Publisher: Atthis Arts
Purchase links:
Amazon UK
Amazon US
See here for information about buying books though Salon Futura