Rut Plouda (born 18 August 1948; pronounced ru:t 'plou̯dɐ">Help:IPA/Romansh">ru:t 'plou̯dɐ is a
Swiss
Swiss most commonly refers to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Swiss may also refer to: Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
* Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
* Swiss Café, an old café located ...
author and poet who writes in the
Vallader
Vallader (Vallader, Sursilvan, Puter, Surmiran, and Rumantsch Grischun: ''vallader'' ; Sutsilvan: ') is a variety of the Romansh language spoken in the Lower Engadine valley (''Engiadina Bassa'') of southeast Switzerland, between Martina, Swi ...
dialect of the Romansh language.
Early life
Plouda was born in
Tarasp
Tarasp is a former municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Inn District, Switzerland, Inn in the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Graubünden. Its eleven settlements are situated within the Lower Engadin ...
,
Grisons
The Grisons (; ) or Graubünden (),Names include:
* ;
*Romansh language, Romansh:
**
**
**
**
**
**;
* ;
* ;
* .
See also list of European regions with alternative names#G, other names. more formally the Canton of the Grisons or the Canton ...
, to parents who were both teachers. She was the third of four daughters. After completing her mandatory education, she attended a teacher training college in
Chur
''
Chur (locally) or ; ; ; ; ; ; or ; , and . is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, town of the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of the Grisons and lies in the Alpine Rhine, Grisonian Rhine Valley, where ...
before teaching in
Savognin
Savognin (in local Romansh dialect ''Suagnign''; ; , official name until 1890) is a village and former municipality in the Sursés in the district of Albula in the canton of Grisons in Switzerland. On 1 January 2016 the former municipalities of ...
and
Ftan
Ftan is a former municipality in the district of Inn in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. On 1 January 2015 the former municipalities of Ardez, Guarda, Tarasp, Ftan and Sent merged into the municipality of Scuol.Romansh radio. She has since been regarded as an important figure for the promotion of the Romansh language by the Swiss national radio station
Schweizer Radio DRS
Schweizer Radio: Radio der deutschen und rätoromanischen Schweiz (SR DRS; "Swiss Radio: Radio of the German and Romansh Switzerland") was a company of SRG SSR which operated the public German-language radio stations of Switzerland from 1931 u ...
, and its successor, SRF.
The death of Plouda's 19-year-old son, who had Down syndrome, in 1996, was the inspiration for her book ''As Though Nothing Were'' (original title: ''Sco Scha Nüglia nu Füss''), published in 2000. The book won the Schiller award in 2001, and has since been translated into German, French and English.
The audiobook version of ''As Though Nothing Were'' was the first ever audiobook published in the Vallader dialect, and the second in the
Romansh language
Romansh ( ; sometimes also spelled Romansch and Rumantsch) is a Gallo-Romance languages, Gallo-Romance and/or Rhaeto-Romance languages, Rhaeto-Romance language spoken predominantly in the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of the ...
overall. In 2008, Plouda collaborated with the
Geneva
Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...
-based band Tiger the Lion for their songs ''S'co Scha Nüglia nu Füss'' and ''Las Stailas'', based on ''As Though Nothing Were''.