Today’s post comes to you from Nadine Bailey The Colour of Tears Alessandro D'Avenia is an Italian high school teacher with a PhD in Classical Literature. Both his love of classical literature and his real-world classroom experiences shine through in this wonderful glimpse into a year in the life of our sixteen-year-old protagonist, Leo. Leo starts … Continue reading #IntYALitMonth: White as Silence, Red as Song
Giovanni (Gianni) Rodari’s importance to Italian children’s literature is hard to overstate, though English translations of his books have been scarce until the last few years. Born in 1920, he was a young adult in Mussolini’s Italy, and in response, became a lifelong Marxist and anti-fascist. His politics are often visible under the surface of … Continue reading #IntlYALitMonth: Gianni Rodari and His Grammars of Fantasy
Baron Lamberto, 93 years old and in failing health, lives in a mansion on an island in the middle of Lake Orta, in northern Italy. Living from the proceeds of his 24 banks around the world, he is waited on by his butler, Anselmo, and an army of cooks, servants, and, strangely, six people in … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Lamberto, Lamberto, Lamberto
Written by Kim Beeman The list below is loosely, but mostly, young adult books, all translated from Italian into English. As I have discovered in my time in Italy, relatively few middle grade and young adult books have been translated from Italian into English. Last October was #ItalianLit month on GLLI, and this wrap-up post … Continue reading #INTYALITMONTH: Italian YA in Translation
by Anne Milano Appel I first came upon Daniele Del Giudice in a bookstore window in Rome, while waiting for a bus on Via Vittorio Emanuele. In the window was a copy of his Staccando l'ombra da terra and I went in and bought it. As I read it, I got a sense that this … Continue reading #ItalianLitMonth n.19: My White Whale: Translating Daniele Del Giudice
by Oonagh Stransky Domenico Starnone, born in Naples in 1943, is one of Italy’s greatest living authors. His name is often mentioned in connection to the mysterious figure of Elena Ferrante because of their shared interest in certain themes and the city of Naples. But we won’t be talking about that here. The Mortal and … Continue reading #ItalianLitMonth n.6: Who’s That Girl? A Reader’s Guide to The Mortal and Immortal Life of the Girl from Milan
Jenny McPhee is the author of the novels The Center of Things, No Ordinary Matter, and A Man of No Moon and co-authored Girls: Ordinary Girls and Their Extraordinary Pursuits. Her translations from the Italian include works by Anna Banti, Massimo Bontempelli, Natalia Ginzburg, Giacomo Leopardi, Primo Levi, Anna Maria Ortese, Curzio Malaparte, Pope John … Continue reading #ItalianLitMonth n.5: Jenny McPhee, Translator of Lies and Sorcery, Interviewed by Lisa Mullenneaux
Last week the American Library Association (ALA) presented their annual Youth Media Awards, celebrating the best in literature for young people. Among major awards such as the Caldecott and the Newbery medals, there is also the Mildred L. Batchelder Award, given to an outstanding "children’s book originally published in a language other than English in … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Just a Girl: A True Story of World War II
The question of what is beautiful has preoccupied philosophers and poets alike. In How Beautiful, however, a caterpillar is the one pondering the subject. Yes, a caterpillar! In this elegant and whimsical picture book from Italy, a young caterpillar sets out to find exactly what beautiful means. As the book opens, the caterpillar lives "a … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: How Beautiful
BloodBusters by Francesco Verso translated from the Italian by Sally McCorry Luna Press Publishing April 10, 2020 220 pages Winner of the 2015 Urania Award,* Francesco Verso’s BloodBusters is a heady mix of economic and political intrigue and fast-paced adventure, all circulating (pun intended!) around the unique premise that people pay their taxes in blood … Continue reading Speculative Fiction in Translation: BloodBusters
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 