by Leah Janeczko

Yesterday, September 30th, was the feast day of San Girolamo – St. Jerome – and I’m thankful to this patron saint of translators for ushering us into October, the month of the Global Literature in Libraries Initiative’s first blog dedicated to Italian literature in English translation, because this is a monumental and exciting time for Italian publishing.

With two of the country’s books on this year’s International Booker Prize Longlist (Domenico Starnone’s The House on Via Gemito in Oonagh Stransky’s translation, and Veronica Raimo’s Lost on Me in my own); with Elena Ferrante’s novel My Brilliant Friend translated by Ann Goldstein named the #1 Best Book of the 21st Century in The New York Times; with English readers finally discovering Italy’s most famous and most widely read novel, Alessandro Manzoni’s The Betrothed, thanks to Michael F. Moore’s award-winning translation; with a brilliant, fully rhymed version of Dante’s Divine Comedy by Michael Palma coming out in December; and, on top of it all, with Italy enjoying the prestigious role of Guest of Honor at the upcoming Frankfurter Buchmesse (the world’s largest trade fair for books), Italy’s publishing industry has great reason to celebrate in 2024!

Italy was last Guest of Honor at Frankfurt in 1988, and it marked the dawn of a golden era in Italian publishing around the world. Because of this, Italian publishers and government institutions have taken great measures and made huge investments to capitalize on the exceptional opportunity now in store. If ever there has been a time for publishing professionals to join forces to promote Italian literature, it is now.

Italian Lit Month was scheduled for this October so that it coincides with the Frankfurt fair, and as its guest curator I chose as its contributors my fellow Italian-to-English literary translators. This way, no matter where we may live in the world, we too have the opportunity to add to the success of this important event, helping Italian books travel the globe and find new homes on English speakers’ bookshelves – hopefully, on yours.

And who better to write about Italian books in translation than their translators, who love them most? We know our books far better than any other living soul except their writers. We silence our own voices in order to mimic those of our authors, and not only for the hours or days it takes to read the texts, but for the months and at times years it takes to probe their every word and thought, carefully crafting them and rendering them in a different language yet with their original voice.

To be clear, Italian Lit Month is not a literary journal; it is a blog. To enjoy it, you need no prior knowledge of Italian literature or Italian language or translation theory. We’ve written our pieces for a readership of librarians, instructors, editors, booksellers, students, book club members, book lovers and occasional readers… anyone who might care to journey through the Italian literary landscape and perhaps treat their bookshelves to a taste of Italy. Our pieces are short, so you can read each day’s content in around 5 to 15 minutes – just long enough for a coffee (or espresso) break, though in many cases we’ve provided external links to reviews, interviews and video readings so that if you like you can delve deeper.

In mid July, when I sent out a first batch of invitations to translators asking if they might like to write something for a new blog, I expected a few yeses and a majority of no-thank-yous. Instead, day after day it was yes after yes after yes, and in no time at all I had received more than enough proposals to fill the whole month. Unable to fit any more into our lineup – which includes thirty translators and an incredible fifty articles! – I had no choice but to stop in my tracks. This is why there are so many amazing, even award-winning translators, and so many amazing, even award-winning books that are not included in Italian Lit Month. (My apologies to any translators who feel they were intentionally left out; I can assure you it is not the case.)

Our contributors were generous not only in their quantity but also in their variety. As curator, I let them be the ones to propose the titles and topics that most inspired them. The result is a brilliant mix of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, picture books, art books and graphic novels; classics and contemporaries; bestselling, up-and-coming and unpublished authors; reviews, essays, interviews, book club discussion questions and video readings; information about translation workshops, special events and literary journals; and, above all, the passion, reverence and devotion shared by all those who translate Italian literature into English.

Of the roughly forty books covered, you’ll see that around a dozen have been awarded translation grants by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI) or the Italian Ministry of Culture’s Centro per il Libro e la Lettura (CEPELL, or Center for Books and Reading). This funding has flowed very generously in recent years, in the run-up to Italy’s time to shine at Frankfurt. However, it isn’t money doled out to needy translators, but incentives awarded to foreign publishers for translating Italian books particularly worthy of publication, and it’s a feather in a translator’s cap to be associated with these prestigious programs. Why do I mention this to you? Because all this recent funding means that a surge of exceptional books – both recent titles and overlooked classics – is making its way through the publishing pipeline, so keep your eyes on Italian literature, now and in the near future!

As for the immediate future, three major publishing and literary translation events are taking place during the month of our blog.

From October 2nd to 4th, the European Council of Literary Translators’ Associations (or CEATL, whose president, Francesca Novajra, is Italian) will hold the European Conference on Literary Translation in Strasbourg, bringing together translators, writers, publishers, booksellers, librarians, training establishments, residencies, book festivals and fairs, and all the organizations supporting literary translation in Europe. Some of the many topics to be discussed include how to support the translation of foreign literature; how to put literary translation and translated literature in the spotlight; fostering diversity and the circulation of literary works; and the Creative Europe funding program. Its plenary sessions will be livestreamed, and the videos will be posted later on the CEATL website.

From October 16th to 20th, the big event: the Frankfurt Book Fair, with Italy as Guest of Honor! With its chosen theme of “Roots in the Future”, the country is offering a rich program of events, and its exhibition hall will feature an Italian-style piazza where international visitors can meet, do business, and share all the latest news about Italian publishing. Book deals will abound! On its opening day, October 16th, an extraordinary in-person edition of the Dall’Italiano al Mondo conference will bring together literary translators from around the globe who work from Italian into all languages. (I’m honored and excited to be one of the fifteen guests invited to the event by the Italian Trade Agency and the Turin International Book Fair alongside my fellow Italian-to-English translator Richard Dixon.) At the conference, experts will provide invaluable insights about how to carry out literary scouting activities and help Italian books travel the world, and will present a vast selection of outstanding books that have yet to be published in translation.

From October 25th to 28th, the American Literary Translators Association will hold its 47th ALTA Conference, this year’s theme being “Voices in Translation” and its location Milwaukee, Wisconsin. On the 26th are the ceremonies for the National Translation Awards for Poetry and Prose, which each have an Italian book in the running, and for the Italian Prose in Translation Award, which, as every year, has a shortlist of five exceptional Italian books.

As for the rest of October, we hope that you follow us on Italian Lit Month day after day to discover new books, new authors, new translators and new inspiration.

Our thanks to the GLLI and Executive Director Karen Van Drie for giving us this precious opportunity to spend the month in your company. My personal thanks to the many translators who have helped make this blog happen.

And thank you, reader, for embarking with us on this month-long journey through the literary landscape of Italy. Under the auspices of San Girolamo, and with Italian Lit Month giving voice to literary translators, we join our voices together to form a choir that sings the praises of Italian literature. May our song accompany you on a delightful discovery of the books we so love.

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“Over the last 800 years, Italian and its dialects have produced one of the world’s richest bodies of literature, and recent decades have seen it growing more diverse in exciting ways. It’s a great time to translate from Italian!” —Geoffrey Brock

“Every translation is a journey, and translators are inveterate travelers in the marvelous world of words and emotions.” —Lori Hetherington

“When you’re looking for new Italian books, don’t just look for fiction. There are a lot of excellent non-fiction titles out there as well.” —Gregory Conti

“Children’s horizons are expanded when they read translated books, often in ways they will always remember; and they also learn that humanity is a shared experience, whatever the cultural differences between us all.” —Emma Mandley

“As the winners of the 2014 CEATL Spot the Translator competition put it: ‘words travel worlds.’” —Wendell Ricketts

“English-language publishing still holds great power over the perceived success of Italian authors. Through translation, we are able to recognise and foster an increasingly diverse range of voices and stories on the Italian and global literary landscapes.” —Ruth Clarke

“Italian literature in translation is hot this year, with Italy Guest of Honor at the Frankfurt Book Fair. Librarians, teachers and book-clubbers: spread the word!” —Clarissa Botsford

“When I think about translation of Italian works, I’m especially interested in women authors who have been overlooked.” —Jeanne Bonner

“Translation gives us access to what we cannot otherwise know. And in doing so, gives us access to what we cannot otherwise become.” —Ruth Chester

“Maybe what translators do is let a reader ride on their shoulders. When they’ve done it well, she’ll have a clear view of the stage.” —Will Schutt

“There are so many undiscovered jewels of Italian literature, and I’m eager to help their voices be heard in English.” —Leah Janeczko
 

Leah Janeczko has been an Italian-to-English literary translator for readers of all ages for over 25 years. Originally from Chicago, she has lived in Milan for three decades. Her recent translations include Glowrushes by Roberto Piumini, recipient of the Rodari Lifetime Achievement Award; At the Wolf’s Table (The Women at Hitler’s Table) by Campiello Prize winner Rosella Postorino; and Veronica Raimo’s Lost on Me, for which she and Veronica were longlisted for the 2024 International Booker Prize. Leah also writes English song lyrics for Italian rock bands. Follow her on social media @fromtheitalian and read more about her at leahjaneczko.com.

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