Publishers of strong stories, stories of redemption through literature, books as bricks to build a better society, the Marotta & Cafiero list definitely ranks as civil fiction and non-fiction.
They have started with their neighborhood stories, stories born around the crime world, then expanding to the south of Italy and finally to the southern hemisphere.
Today Marotta & Cafiero are the publishers of books originating from over sixteen countries: books on the genocide in Rwanda, on the trafficking of slaves, on the Chilean revolution, on civil wars in Central Africa.
M&C was founded in Scampia in 2010. It was the year when the Camorra killed 114 people, 20 of which innocent victims. Nobody believed someone would open a publishing house there. They said that at Scampia no one was interested in reading, that they were in need of the army rather than the books.
The founders were 22 years old when they published their first book, the nearest bookstore was 10 kilometers away, 8 subway stops, you had to emigrate if you wanted to buy a book.
They had nothing, if not an impossible dream: to produce books in their neighborhood, work in their neighborhood, give the opportunity to children from their neighborhood to find a book nearby.
In 10 years M&C have published more than 100 books on certified recycled 0 Km. paper, blackmail money free books, with Creative License Commons, with price tag.
They proudly say they have become "Book Pushers", producers of redneck literature in Scampia. That where drugs were sold, today they are peddling books.
In Scampia they have published a Nobel Prize for Literature as Günter Grass, and books from all over the world. Those who were street urchins today participate in the most important publishing fairs in Italy, and have created jobs in a district with the highest unemployment rate in Naples.
Their catalogue is the result of their work.
TITLES
Genre:
Children
WERE-PUPPYDUCK
Author:
Fabrizio Fedele
Rights avail:
All
Premio Natura di Jacopo Fo
A were-babyduck to tell about diversity and ecology. A simple story where knowledge crumbles ignorance-born prejudices.
Towards a Civic Right to Happiness
Genre:
Economy & Politics
POLITICS
Author:
Luigi de Magistris
Rights avail:
All
Luigi De Magistris believes that politics should re-start from the ground up and takes us on a journey towards the civic right to happiness.
A Small Guide to Proactive Resistance
Genre:
Economy & Politics
COMMON GOODS
Author:
Ugo Mattei
Rights avail:
All
Ugo Mattei attaches prime importance to getting organized in defense of common goods which can and must become an instrument of social relationship.
Stories from Extraordinary Scampia
Genre:
Literary & General
AGAVE FLOWERS
Author:
Rosario Esposito La Rossa
Rights avail:
All
Agave blooms only once in a man's lifetime, at t times after 100 years. Its flowers are the largest flowers in the world, up to 9 meters high. In these pages the humanity of a place that has become a brand are told, the Agave Flowers that have survived the latest Camorra war.
No One is past Redemption
Genre:
Literary & General
VOICES OF SCAMPIA
Author:
Davide Cerullo
Rights avail:
All
Stories of human rights that become flesh, of rights trampled on and forgotten.
Genre:
Literary & General
MOTHS
Author:
Andrej Longo
Rights avail:
All
It rains on Naples while the last ferry headed to Ischia leaves the harbour. Enzù and Tonino have turned up there for a meeting that will change their lives forever. While that moment slowly approaches in the calm of the night, Enzù and Tonino wait talk about all and nothing. dismantle and reassemble their world into small fragments of life. They wait and dream of Paris, which, like the moon for moths, is a bright spot that guides their movements, which pushes them to move forward
