WWAC does not, for the most part, get offered a lot of exclusives, but when Dark Horse let me know that they were announcing an English translation of the Boscarato award-winning anthology Fai Rumore: Nove storie per osare, I was truly honored. The MOLESTE collective for gender equality in comics is a group of individuals who have worked in and around comics, who together have created an organization that is committed to ending gender violence for all.
From their website:
MOLESTE is a feminist collective and a space for mutual listening, born from the need of a group of authors to share their experiences of abuse or sexist discrimination in the world of comics. MOLESTE is not just a denunciation group, but a place of reflection, a laboratory in which to begin to imagine a more equal and more inclusive environment, in which professionalism is truly recognized at all levels.
To have Dark Horse publish the English translation of their anthology is something that we, as a comics community, can be proud of.
(And here’s a little mood music for all the Eurovision fans out there.)
TAKE A STAND AGAINST GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE WITH A HOST OF ITALIAN COMICS TALENTS
Presented for the first time in English: stories of comics creators striving for solidarity and support
MILWAUKIE, Ore., (November 8, 2023)— Coming soon from Dark Horse Books is a new edition of a graphic novel that broaches the topic of gender-based violence, by some of Italy’s most prominent creators in comics. Their goal with this book is to showcase stories that empower everyone to talk about gender-based violence out loud. Winner of the Boscarato award for “Best YA Graphic Novel,” Loud: Stories to Make Your Voice Heard encourages readers to break the silence and fill it with our stories and our words so that situations like the ones depicted within, never happen again. The new edition will present the book in English for the first time, translated by Anna Burton, arriving in July 2024.
Loud: Stories to Make Your Voice Heard features works by an inspirational list of creators from the Italian artist collective “Moleste:” Anna Cercignano, Elenora Antonioni, Maurizia Rubino, Francesca Torre, La Tram, Lucia Biagi, Vega Guerrieri, Caterina Ferrante, Laure Guglielmo, Davide Costa, Elis A2B, Carmen Guasco, Marta Macolino, Alessia De Sio, and cover art from Grazia La Padula.
Ellie, Sabrina, Rose, Laura, Liz, Camilla. Their stories touch us deeply because they happened, and they happen to us, to our sisters, friends, and neighbors. Sometimes, we don’t even realize it, we minimize it, or we just don’t have the tools to understand the many forms gender-based violence takes. From subtle manipulation to outright physical abuse, it knows no boundaries. Loud: Stories to Make Your Voice Heard is a powerful anthology curated by a feminist collective working in solidarity to unite, support, and empower others in the fight against toxic masculinity, both in the comics industry and beyond.
Francesca Torre and La Tram’s quote from “Two in One” encapsulates the message best:
“Nessuna può farlo per te, ma non devi farlo da sola”
No one can do it for you, but you don’t have to do it alone.
Loud: Stories to Make Your Voice Heard arrives in English on bookstore shelves on July 2, 2024, and comic shops on July 3, 2024. Pre-order at your local comic shop, bookstore, Amazon, or Barnes and Noble for $24.99.
