The illustrious Valencian publishing house Media Vaca celebrates twenty years of printing letters and illustrations in books that are small treasures, for its content, of course, but also for its delicate manufacturing, careful and precious. Begoña Lobo grazes on the back of this cow called Blanquita, lawyer specialized in asylum and refuge cases, and Vicente Ferrer, with whom we chatted in this interview. They have both worked as screenwriters but one fine day, when illustrated books were mostly pocket-sized and did not pay much attention to visual aspects, They decided to become editors to carefully publish the books that they did not see on any shelves..
Twenty years ago, illustrated books did not have the recognition or diffusion that they have today.. Why did you decide to dedicate yourself to publishing “highly illustrated books aimed at readers of all ages?”?
When you are a reader and you live with books, you necessarily come up with some ideas to improve them. In principle, the books we make, we make them for ourselves, for our fun; after, for friends: For those we know and for those we don't know yet.
You affirm that in Media Vaca the personal and capricious taste of the editors outweighs commercial criteria. What must a book have for you to want to publish it??
It must leave you sleepless or, at least, you should think about it some time after you read it. When that happens, when an idea or images run through your head, You know that you will have no choice but to dedicate yourself to working on that project as long as it takes., to achieve the best possible result.
You say that “books intended for young readers must meet exactly the same demands that we older people ask of ours”. Tell us about some of your greatest hitsfor children: my first 80.000 words, Alphabet on children's literature o Painting and construction workshop.
my first 80.000 words is a dictionary of favorite words that has three editions. In the third and last they participate 333 illustrators from more than twenty countries. They were all asked to choose their favorite word., in your own language, and to make an illustration in square format using only two colors. He Alphabet on children's literature era, originally, a conference that Bernardo Atxaga gave to a group of teachers. In that text, which includes numerous fragments of literary works, Atxaga talks about some topics and authors that particularly interest him. We match your tastes, so we have adopted that list of enthusiasms as a kind of publisher's program. He Painting and construction workshop reflects the starting points and some of the results of the workshops for children given by César Fernández Arias over the years. The book gives clues to work with children in the classroom, in the workshop or at home; It is not necessary to have expensive materials, but it is necessary to put maximum interest in this activity and show a good dose of imagination..
You claim artisanal publishing and manual work. In Book of the defects of others, For example, The originals are photocopies of a cloth doll that the author, Chu-li Chen, arranged on the screen of a photocopier to achieve motion effects. To what extent is craftsmanship present in your books??
make books, hoy, It means assuming an industrial process from which it is not possible to escape, although the object of a book is cloth dolls. Anyway, the meticulous care with which we carry out most of the tasks in the publishing house brings us in some way closer to craftsmanship. Only the result matters, but all the steps that are taken until reaching the end of the process. There are many possible choices, on many issues, and those choices are also an important part of a book.
The Persian, that stranger, Welcome to the Cabanyal…they are books that anchor you unequivocally to Valencia. Do you pay special attention to Valencian authors and themes?, or these come more naturally?
We live in Valencia; It is natural that we relate to Valencian authors and themes. When we did Welcome to the Cabanyal (sold out right now, but we hope to reprint soon), We had the feeling that it was necessary to do something to contribute to the defense of a place and a people who were under serious threat of disappearance.. We mobilize, with our limited resources, to lend a hand. Many Valencian authors deserve better knowledge from their neighbors. The Valencian language also deserves better treatment, I am convinced, and for a long time we have had plans to publish in Valencian.
in the collection Books for tomorrow We find books with social and political content published for the first time forty years ago.. What attracted you to them??
We found the book again by chance There are social classes, of which we had a copy in our library. in that book, published in 1978 by La Gaya Ciencia, there is talk of some titles in preparation, among which is one entitled Corruption is everywhere. It seemed to us that we had to find out if this book had been made, because at that moment (whenever, vaya) The topic seemed very timely.. We find other titles from the same series (not that one) and we decided to publish them because we found that the texts were completely current. It's sad to admit it, but in substance nothing has changed that much. That's why the collection is still called Books for Tomorrow.
We know that you are preparing an exhibition in Las Naves in December to celebrate the 20 birthday. What can we see in it??
We are going to expose some complete books: my first 80.000 words, Exemplary crimes y Media Vaca Museum, which is a new book that will appear soon. There are three collective books, that we have framed page by page. We will also show the material that we have used in various projects, the notebooks, the sheets coming out of the printing press, etc. Part of what is, in the end, the secret life of a publisher.
La Nau has just dedicated a very interesting exhibition to Valencian illustrators, to those of before and to the many of now. Which ones would you like to work with and why??
I have seen the exhibition. I would say that the illustrators are more interesting than the rest. Input, It seems strange to me to label as “hidden” women whom we want to make visible.. We have already worked with some. Also with others that do not appear in that sample, like Marta Pina.
Very interesting small independent publishers have been emerging in Spain in recent years.. Recommend two so we don't lose sight of them..
It is true that many publishers have emerged in recent years. I would need that recommendation too.. Instead of giving two names, I invite readers to come to two book fairs that will take place in Valencia in December and January: You Mouth and the Tenderete festival. Surely you will be able to find many things that interest you in those places..
