by Leah Janeczko

October 16th will be an exciting start to an exciting book fair during a truly exciting year for Italian publishing! That morning, translators from around the globe will meet at the 2024 Frankfurter Buchmesse, at which Italy is Guest of Honor, for an extraordinary edition of Dall’Italiano al Mondo, an international conference for literary translators working from Italian into all languages. Its aim is to promote and support the translation and publication of Italian literature abroad, and it does so through translators because its organizers are well aware that, in the words of Susan Sontag, “Translation is the circulatory system of the world’s literatures.”

The conference has been organized by the Turin International Book Fair, which has always recognized the importance of translators in spreading Italian literature and, more generally, Italian culture. In 2001 it became the first cultural organization in Europe to offer a series of professional gatherings dedicated to the invaluable work of those who allow readers in Italy to read literatures from all over the world. The initiative, Autore Invisibile (meaning “Invisible Author”), is curated by Ilide Carmignani and has become a cult event at the Turin fair among translators and publishing professionals.

Now in its fourth edition, the conference Dall’Italiano al Mondo (“From Italian to the World”) has also been brought to us thanks to Ilide Carmignani and the Turin fair. And this year’s edition will be an exceptional one, because for the first time it’s taking place in person rather than online and is being held abroad rather than in Italy.

Thanks to support from the Italian Trade Agency, the Turin International Book Fair has promoted a special fellowship, inviting as its guests fifteen literary translators who work from Italian into foreign languages. Carmignani explains: “In such a special year, we couldn’t miss the extraordinary opportunity to hold the conference in person. We will welcome the most illustrious translators from the Italian language arriving from Portugal, Spain, Catalonia, France, Poland, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Netherlands, Greece, Croatia, Albania, Romania, Egypt, Sweden and of course Germany. We will offer them a compelling showcase of books to discover and rediscover – interesting titles that risk slipping through the cracks of normal publishing mechanisms. After the symposium, we will have the translators meet Italian publishers personally. We want to build bridges for the ‘pontiffs’ of literature, to allow Italian books and writers an ever wider outreach.”

At the conference, which will be held in Italian, expert speakers will provide the translators with precious insights about how to carry out literary scouting activities and help Italian books travel the world; will introduce them to a vast selection of outstanding children’s books, comics, graphic novels, poetry, fiction and non-fiction yet to be published in translation; and will give them the opportunity to connect with publishers, agents, journalists and authors.

This year’s speakers include:

• Ilide Carmignani (curator of Dall’Italiano al Mondo)
• Annalena Benini (Editorial Director of the Turin International Book Fair)
• Juergen Boos (Director of the Frankfurter Buchmesse)
• Annette Kopetzki (curator, VdÜ)
• Francesca Novajra (President of CEATL)
• Monica Malatesta (MalaTesta Literary Agency)
• Emanuele Di Giorgi (coordinator of the AIE Comics & Graphic Novels Commission)
• Beatrice Masini (writer and editor, Bompiani publishing)
• Michael Reynolds (Europa Editions)
• Ana Rodado (Anagrama)
• Audrey Scarbel (Éditions Grasset et Fasquelle)
• Susanne Schüssler (Verlag Klaus Wagenbach)
• Vincenzo Latronico (writer and translator)
• Laura Pugno (poet, member of the Scientific Committee of the Strega Poetry Prize)
• Lorenza Honorati (Turin International Book Fair)

The translators and their languages:

• Ana Claudia Santos – Portuguese
• Carlos Gumpert – Spanish
• Anna Casassas – Catalan
• Laura Brignon – French
• Manon Smits –  Dutch
• Annette Kopetzki – German
• Tomasz Kwiecien – Polish
• Richard Dixon – English (UK)
• Leah Janeczko – English (US)
• Johanna Hedenberg – Swedish
• Gabriela Lungu – Romanian
• Mimoza Hyza – Albanese
• Ana Badurina – Croatian
• Demetra Dotsi – Greek
• Naglaa Gamaleldin Soliman Waly – Arabic
• Duygu Er – Turkish
• Nana Zardiashvili – Georgian

If you’re a literary translator from Italian, join us in Frankfurt for this special event! And if you’re a librarian, teacher, bookseller or book lover, keep your eyes on Italian literature, because this conference marks the first step in a journey for many excellent books ready to travel from Italy to bookshelves around the globe, from Italian to the world!

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The 2024 edition of the convention curated by Ilide Carmignani for the Turin International Book Fair, Dall’Italiano al Mondo, is promoted in collaboration with the Frankfurter Buchmesse and the Italian Publishers Association (AIE) with the support of Italia Ospite d’Onore 2024 alla Fiera del Libro di Francoforte and the Italian Trade Agency (ITA) and with the patronage of the European Council of Literary Translators’ Associations (CEATL).

Dall’Italiano al Mondo

• Wednesday, October 16, 2024
• 9:00 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.
• Zentrum Wort, Hall 4.1
• Frankfurt Book Fair

Press contact: Sonia Folin, s.folin@salonelibro.it +39 347 108 0601

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“We want to build bridges for the ‘pontiffs’ of literature, to allow Italian books and writers an ever wider outreach.” —Ilide Carmignani

Photo by Chiara Pasqualini

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Follow her on social media @fromtheitalian and read more about her at leahjaneczko.com.

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

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