We recently wrote an article about Bergli Book's new publication 50 Amazing Swiss Women. And since then we heard about another book on the subject of women's right to vote in Switzerland written by Clare O'Dea: Voting Day. She has offered to give one lucky knowitall.ch reader a copy, read below. We asked her a few questions to find out her story:
Why did you start? What has been the inspiration?
The inspiration for this book is all around. It’s in the life stories of the older generation, stories I’ve heard from many people in my years in Switzerland. For a long time, this wasn’t the easiest country for women to live in. They were the forgotten half of society, disenfranchised, legally disadvantaged and hardly visible in public life.
I wanted to put myself in the shoes of those unseen and uncelebrated women.
My novel Voting Day (Le jour où les hommes ont dit non) takes place on 1 February 1959, when men voted no to granting women voting rights – by a two-thirds majority. By recreating that day from the point of view of four women characters, I wanted in some small way to reclaim a bitter moment in recent Swiss history for women.
Have you been working on this idea forever, or was it something that came to you recently?
Funnily enough, I completed almost all the research for this book before I had the idea to write it. As a journalist working for swissinfo.ch, I interviewed victims of historical injustices in the care system and reported on their campaign for compensation. I covered issues like forced adoption and the ill-treatment of the Yenish people. For my non-fiction book, The Naked Swiss, I interviewed one of the leading campaigners for the vote in the 1950s and read a lot about that era. I also learned a lot about Swiss culture from my in-laws’ large extended family.
What is the biggest obstacle you have had to overcome?
Writing the book was a real pleasure. The challenge was to get it published, and the clock was ticking because the 50th anniversary of the women’s vote was coming up in February 2021. I also really wanted the book to reach Swiss readers. After a lot of effort and with plenty of help, I managed to raise enough money to have the book translated into French, German and Italian last year and to publish all four books on time for the anniversary.
International Woman’s Day is 6 March and Elisabeth Fransdonk, EMO-Photo, wanted to do something special. With the pandemic raging at the moment, we were touched by her calmness and willingness to spread images of mothers and daughters embracing. Her offer has limited space, so I would suggest signing up for a space as soon as possible. She is also putting one session up for grabs in a competition... read on.
What does International Woman’s Day mean to you?
I have never been a feminist but I have always believed in equal choices. Starting up my business after my daughter was born, a lot of people looked at me as a housewife with a hobby. That made me more determined than ever to be ultra professional and… to succeed! So International Women’s Day for me is a shout out to all those ladies who dared to go against the stream and went for their dreams.
How has Covid-19 changed the way your work and what obstacles have you overcome?
Covid-19 has had a major impact on my work, as for so many people. Coming back after battling cancer in 2018 and 2019, I was looking forward to getting back to business as usual.. Well, that didn’t happen. I’m trying to be as creative as possible in finding new opportunities and at the same time I put a lot of effort into staying present and visible on social media. Thankfully I have a lot of material to choose from, so where 2021 is a celebration of 15 years of my work as a professional photographer I bring out a retrospective every two weeks or so celebrating 15 years of smiles to remember.
Bergli books have been busy again with another publication. This time the subject covers 50 Swiss women! We asked one of the 5 authors, Katie Hayoz, to tell us more.
What has been the inspiration?
The idea for writing a book of short biographies on amazing Swiss women came from one of the authors on the project, Laurie Theurer. When she was writing her book, Swisstory (on Swiss history), she included a short chapter devoted to Swiss women. Right away she knew she wanted to explore that subject further. However, a book like this is a huge undertaking – the research and interviews and writing take a great deal of time and devotion.
Bergli Books wanted to publish for the 50th anniversary of women getting the vote in Switzerland (February 2021), meaning Laurie wouldn’t have enough time to work on it by herself. So, she looked among her female writer friends who were just as inspired by the project as she was.
We are five writers – Laurie Theurer, Katie Hayoz, Anita Lehmann, Alnaaze Nathoo, Barbara Nigg – and one illustrator, Mireille Lachausse. We all are doing this because we believe women’s voices and stories need to be heard and that they are worth hearing. We are Swiss-born, Swiss-based, or Swiss by “adoption.” So we know that “Swiss” does not mean one particular thing. Switzerland and Swiss women are quite diverse, and we hope to show that in the book.
Jarina Hasi and Ana Polack working on Mookaite's first silk scarf collection
Launched only 3 weeks ago, Mookaite silk scarves will make a great Valentine's present for your loved one. Honestly, you may as well take advantage of the super discount code that Jarina Hasi and Ana Polack have kindly offered for the whole month, and buy a few more. We caught up with Jarina to find out how these two entrepreneurs took an idea and ran with it.
Why did you start? What has been the inspiration?
The inspiration started off with a business meeting between Ana and myself on an entirely different topic. The interesting part of the story is that we are competitors in our work career. During a business meeting our conversation quickly deviated to art, fashion and design. We realized we had a lot in common; we shared the same desire for a more creative lifestyle, and we were both scarf lovers. I graduated from Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and Ana comes from an artistic family as well as being a surface pattern designer. The combination of our skills, experience and entrepreneurship sparked the idea of creating a scarf collection together!
Was the idea of designing scarves something you had been working on?
We had both played with the idea of doing something more creative one day, and with the Covid-19 lockdown, the opportunity to reconsider what is important to us. We wanted to be creative and be able to share a tangible product.
By Zac Allen, Zac Allen Interiors
We were very impressed by Zac Allen's article on this subject, especially now that essential item shops are closed. We are convinced that no-one apart from Zac has heard of all these amazing furniture and home decoration shops with delivery within Switzerland were available! We counted 28 sites and really are impressed with all the work he has put into this research. We asked Zac if we could republish this here and he has kindly given us permission:
Finding furniture and home decor in Switzerland is HARD, particularly online. My husband, cat, and I moved to Lausanne just about one year ago, each with what we could bring on the plane (Phineas, my cat, counted as a carry-on), so essentially we brought nothing. We were lucky to find a flat right before the pandemic hit, but that meant we had four rooms to design and fill with furniture. A real-life dream come true for me, but I don’t think my husband shared that same sentiment… Anyway, not really knowing where to even begin to find furniture and to follow COVID-19 guidelines, we decided to do all our home decor shopping completely online. It’s extremely intimidating to start when you don’t have the same access to the hoards of online retailers like in the US, but where there is a will, there’s a way!
I enjoy sourcing special items that feel personal, which can be tricky online and on a budget. I can spend hours drooling over the stunning catalog of home decor at 1st Dibs and Charish, but a single vase from those sites can equal the cost of a car - not very practical when trying to design an empty home from scratch. Every single blog and forum on the Suisse Interwebs that I could find pointed me in the direction of Ikea… great to quickly find affordable furniture, but not really my idea of elevated interior design. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a bargain shopper at heart and we made purchases at Ikea, but what if you want a more layered home? Where are the online furniture shops in Switzerland to find special pieces that can withstand a “trend” and bring personality into your interiors that won’t cost you 3 months’ salary?
