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ABOUT AUTHOR Laura Vogt (Teufen, 1989) studied creative writing at the Swiss Literature Institute in Biel and Cultural Studies at the University of Luzern. Her first novel So einfach war es zu gehen came out in 2016. She is also the author of numerous short stories and articles as well as lyrical and dramatic texts. She started writing her second novel Was uns betrifft (What Concerns Us) just two months after having her first child. In her work, Laura is particularly interested in exploring the complexity of relationships, maternity, as well as inquiring into the many forms that womanhood can take. She is currently working on her third novel. Laura lives in the canton of St. Gallen.

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DESCRIPTION. Rahel and Fenna are in their late twenties and early thirties. They are sisters. Their mother Vera brought them up by herself. Vera started a series of romantic relationships with other women, and now suffers from breast cancer. Rahel, a jazz singer, is pregnant and single but in love with writer Boris with whom she eventually moves. While she seems to embrace maternity and family life, she falls pregnant from Boris, and her body turns into a complete alienated part of herself. When the baby is born, she rejects maternity; at the same time, she cannot stop breastfeeding the baby. In the meanwhile, Fenna expects a child from Luc, a man who can turn from charming hippy to aggressor in a heartbeat, raping her on a woodland walk well into their relationship. We follow Fenna throughout her complex response, from rage, to acceptance, to feelings of responsibility and guilt. WHAT CONCERNS US is a blunt depiction of pregnancy, sex, maternity and relationships through the lives of two women.

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ULTRAMARINE

ULTRAMARINE

 
 
Nota Bene Prize Longlist 2024
 
Prix du roman CEZAM 2023
Prix Senghor 2022
Prix Frontières-Léonora Miano 2022
Prix Lecteurs de Villejuif 2022
Prix Hors concours des lecteurs 2022
 
Héloïse Press' Debut of the Year
 
"Ultramarine explores what it means to navigate a world unmoored from sense." Aaron Peck, TLS
 
"The burden of power, and how it might be exercised, is explored in Mariette Navarro’s beguiling fiction." The Irish Times 
 
A poetic and mesmerizing novel, Ultramarine pushes us to the very edges of the narrative genre. Narrated in the first person by a female captain, the only woman amongst the crew of a transatlantic ship, Ultramarine reflects on the fears, strengths, and insecurities of female authority. In a  ghostly, almost dream-like, atmosphere, the captain agrees to break one of her rules, letting the crew take a dip in the middle of the ocean. Something changes during that unprecedented swim; an uncertain atmosphere takes over their journey and the ship. A simple business trip turned into a true adventure. 
 
Mariette Navarro (Lyon, 1980) studied modern literature and performing arts as well as dramaturgy. She writes for theatre and works as a dramaturg. Her published plays include Alors Carcasse (Cheyne, 2011 – Robert Walser Prize 2012), Nous les vagues followed by Célébrations (Quartett, 2011), Prodiges® (Quartett, 2012), Les feux de Poitrine (Quartett, 2015), Les Chemins contraires (Cheyne, 2016), Zone à étendre (Quartett, 2018), Les Hérétiques (Quartett, 2018) and Les désordres imaginaires ou La destruction du pays par le jeune président à la mode (Quartett, 2020). Ultramarine is her first novel.
 
Cory Stockwell is a Canadian writer and translator. His writing has appeared in The Common, Spartan, Cultural Politics, and elsewhere. Translations include books by Jean-Luc Nancy and Cynthia Fleury, and poems by Jean-Christophe Bailly, Juan de Dios García, and Simon Johannin. He lectures in the Department of Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature at the University of Minnesota.
 
Cory shares his experience of translating Ultramarine with us: 'Mariette is nothing if not a writerly writer, which is obviously a challenge for the translator: before I began, I was worried about whether I'd be up to the task. But when I got down to work, I found the process to be a real pleasure. I think this is because there is a very distinct voice running all the way through the text: it doesn't always speak in the same way, of course, but it's always there. It was when I began to hear it that the work started to flow. That, and the guidance I received from Mariette herself, have led, I hope, to a translation that replicates something of the power of the original.'
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