CONTRIBUTORS
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NORMAN THOMAS DI GIOVANNI
Norman is credited for bringing the works of Jorge Luis Borges into the English speaking world. As well as writing several of his own books, including 1900, based on the Bertolucci film, di Giovanni translated and edited countless novels, poems and short stories from the Spanish. He also wrote and recorded programmes on a variety of subjects for BBC radio and television.
KEN GRIFFITHS
Photographer Ken Griffiths, a New Zealander, came to London to study at the Royal College of Art. He went on to work for Vogue, The Sunday Times and many other publications. While producing commercial work for prominent companies such as British Airways and Ford, he was proudest of his Texas Panhandle, Smithfield Market, Patagonia, and Yangtze Three Gorges series. Through Norman, Ken came to know the Abruzzo region, and his photographs of the region complement My Father's Village. Norman and Ken were friends for many decades. To a great extent this book is a tribute to that friendship.
PAUL THEROUX
The author and travel writer Paul Theroux also has Italian ancestry. He and Norman coincided in Buenos Aires in the early seventies and were constantly in touch for more than forty years.
FRED BIRDSALL
The design of My Father's Village uses a loose tip-in method to display Ken's images throughout the book. These images can be removed, rearranged, used and viewed to suit each reader. Printed in Italy, this section-sewn, OTA bound, paperback contains 16 loose tipped-in images and the text is in both English and Italian. Each book is individually shrink wrapped for protection.
Fred established his eponymous design practice in 2010. His studio works primarily in the cultural field on publishing, editorial and visual identity projects, with a range of clients and collaborators.
SUSAN ASHE
No-one could be more qualified to imagine, create and edit this project than writer and translator Susan Ashe. She and Norman were together for forty years. When staying in Sant'Eusanio Susan was the obvious, but warmly accepted foreigner; Norman, the prodigal son. 'There was nothing normal about my life with Norman,' she says. 'Even after his death, the dramas continue to erupt.' Just as they do in this book.
'Poldino'
Norman's Father
Leopoldo never returned to Sant'Eusanio. Today the centre of the village is uninhabitable, but the Abruzzo has seen many earthquakes, whether political or physical, and it is clear that Sant'Eusanio will recover. The Italian launch of My Father's Village took place in the nearby medieval city of L'Aquila, an historic town Poldino would have known well.
