Publisher Luciana Erregue is dedicated to diverse storytelling

Credit to Author: Baisakhi Roy| Date: Tue, 01 Oct 2024 14:15:22 +0000

Argentina-born Luciana Erregue has been shaking up Alberta’s literary world with her vibrant energy and dedication to diverse storytelling. Erregue moved to Canada nearly three decades ago with her husband, who was working on his PhD at UBC. The couple eventually settled in Edmonton in the late nineties. Luciana earned a master’s degree in art history from the University of Alberta in 2016 and later worked at the Art Gallery of Alberta.

In 2019, Erregue founded Laberinto Press: to amplify the voices of “hyphenated” Canadians — people with rich, layered identities who are not often represented in mainstream literature. Under Luciana’s guidance, Laberinto Press has since become a beacon for these unique narratives, shining a spotlight on stories that bridge cultures and experiences. 

Tell us about your early years in Canada. 

I arrived in Canada in the early nineties to accompany my husband as he pursued a graduate degree. My early years were spent homemaking, raising our two children and supporting my husband during his early days as a junior university professor. I had an unfinished law degree from Argentina, but we lacked the financial means to afford daycare or pay for more education that would have allowed me to enter the workforce. 

When did you first discover your love for writing and storytelling? 

When I was about four, growing up in Argentina, my grandmother told me stories about a fictitious girl named Luisa. This naughty child had helmet hair with bangs and a crooked smile that twisted up into a grimace whenever anyone offered her a new dish to try; she was the pickiest of eaters, just like me. My grandfather also invented stories about a street urchin kid, called Raoul. Laughter was always part of storytelling. I loved drawing and children’s comic strips. I made up stories that my mother patiently wrote down alongside my scribbles. She was my first “translator.” Roadside signs also fascinated me from an early age; you could say, pre-literacy played an important role in shaping me as a reader and a writer. 

How did the idea of Laberinto Press come about? 

It came to me a few summers back, while reading American writer Ernest Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast. His vignettes on life as a starving artist in Paris during the 1930s came up in a conversation with a writer friend. Hemingway’s hunger, we concluded, went beyond the culinary, inspiring us to seek out more stories in which food could serve as a pretext to explore other kinds of longing. 

And that is how your book project came about… 

Yes, that quest became a book project, and we soon found our writers: hyphenated Canadians from all over the world who, like us, called Edmonton home. I needed to apply for support from the Edmonton Arts Council, so my friend sat down with me to crunch numbers and categories over coffee at our local café. At one point he asked, “So, who will be your publisher?” I replied that I had no idea. “Why don’t you become a publisher?” I couldn’t see a reason not to. My grant application was successful, and in March 2020 I began work on Beyond the Food Court: An Anthology of Literary Cuisines. Injera, biryani, masgouf, and ajiaco—together with a trove of memories—filled the pages. By August 2020, I had established a sole proprietorship. In October of that year, our book hit

What has been the most challenging and rewarding aspect of running a publishing house? 

The difficulties have been many, such as being an immigrant woman of ESL background, suddenly plunged into a predominantly white, male dominated business. The hardest part has been to work patiently to qualify for funding and establish credibility at every step. The best part is being surrounded by supporters from all over Canada, from universities to literary magazines. We are so proud of having published four anthologies, featuring almost 40 hyphenated Canadian and American authors. In 2022, we were recognized for our efforts at the Book Publishers Association of Alberta, and this year, we are nominated for Best Publisher of the Year. We are also thrilled to support underrepresented communities by attending their markets and fairs throughout Canada. 

What advice would you give immigrant writers looking to publish? 

If you write in your mother tongue, connect with like-minded authors, join your local Writers’ Guild, and attend writing events, launches and readings in any language, even if it is just English or French. These days, audiences crave literature from beyond our borders. Attend writing workshops, courses and conferences offered through your local guild. Make friends and offer to read their work as they read yours. Seek the advice of established writers. Make sure to read widely, and locally, be adventurous, go beyond your cultural silos while remaining part of your community, and learn how to apply for writing grants.

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