About
Ex Libris Odoratis is a small press dedicated to creating limited-edition chapbooks, zines, and ephemera that explore the sense of smell. Produced in small runs, typically a few hundred copies or less, our publications invite a deeper engagement with the tactile and material dimensions of scent culture.
Ex Libris Odoratis was created in 2020 by Aubrey Gurtovenko and Noele Lusano, two scent enthusiasts living in Seattle, Washington.
Aubrey Gurtovenko graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2013 with a B.F.A. in Writing. She has worked in the literary arts and nonprofit worlds, and now spends her days managing creative production for a local healthcare brand. She first became interested in perfume through reading about it, and fell in love with perfume through the impossibility of describing it. Connect with her on Instagram at @scentappreciation or on her personal scent blog, scentappreciation.com.
Noele Lusano is a designer and writer from San Francisco, now living in Seattle. She began studying perfumery independently in 2014, taking short courses at the Institute of Art and Olfaction and the Grasse Institute of Perfumery. With an academic background in photography, art history, and creative writing, and a professional background as a designer, she has been making books from a young age. Connect with her on Instagram at @noele.
From the Fragrant Library
Inspired by classic ex libris bookplates, our name, Ex Libris Odoratis, translates from Latin to from the fragrant library. Designed for curious noses, our limited edition books and perfumes are created in small quantities, celebrating craft, intention, and imagination.
“One of the real tests of writers is how well they write about smells. If they can’t describe the scent of sanctity in a church, can you trust them to describe the suburbs of the heart?”
— Diane Ackerman