Arts - 1 Aprile 2020 The New Coronavirus Psycho-Character Syndromes Come from Manzoni This literary amusement distracted me from the tragic daily chronicle of an ever closer siege, made me reread some of the most beautiful pages of the novel and convinced me more and more of Manzoni's greatness not only in producing the best prose of our modern literature, but also in analyzing the innermost folds of the human soul.
People - 29 Settembre 2019 Italians First? The Story of Tibor Wlassics, with Whom I Studied Dante in America I learned to know and love Italian literature mostly thanks to four people named John, Tibor, Zygmunt e Jeffrey. Names that are far from being Italian — someone will rightfully state – but four extraordinary scholars, due to their knowledge, originality, and depth of thought and of interpretation, and with whom I had the fortune […]
News - 31 Maggio 2019 The NY Public Library Honors Primo Levi’s Centenary with Day-Long Reading If This Is a Man (also known as Survival in Auschwitz) was published in 1947, only three years after Levi’s liberation. At first the book faced modest sales, yet ten years later, when it was re-published, his first-hand account of survival was embraced by an international audience. To honor this, the Library has brought together authors, artists, and scholars from across the world to pay tribute to Levi.
Arts - 25 Marzo 2019 Writers Broaden Italy: Contemporary Literature Breaks Down Borders Let’s begin with a little test: which of these authors are NOT Italian writers? Pay attention to appearances that could lead you to make a mistake. Barolini, Janeczek, De Lillo, Lahiri, Lakhous, Scego, Talese, Tusiani. The answer can be found at the end of the article. So, what does it mean to be an “Italian […]
Arts - 27 Ottobre 2017 Richard Gere Reads Italo Calvino with the “Baron’s Daughter” The launch of the new translation of Calvino's novel “The Baron in the Trees” gives NYU Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò the chance to bring Giovanna Calvino and Richard Gere together. “‘The Baron in the Trees’ is the world of dreams I would like to live”, says the actor. Gere sounds eloquent, savvy, sophisticated in the way he associates the writer’s work to other masters of international literature
Arts - 7 Aprile 2017 Rhiannon Noel Welch’s Biopolitical Approach to Modern Italy Rhiannon Noel Welch’s new book, Vital Subjects: Race and Biopolitics in Italy, 1860-1920 (Liverpool University Press, 2016), aims to revise the general perception of Italy’s colonial past by showing how race and colonialism were essential components of the period between Unification and the end of World War I. In this interview with Amelia Linsky, Ph.D. student […]
Arts - 11 Gennaio 2017 Pirandello 150: A Birthday Celebration at Film Forum Pirandello 150 is a one-year long celebration that tributes Luigi Pirandello’s talent and literary production: Artistic Director John Martello tells us about the festival and about his aim to bring audiences to the Sicilian playwright’s work.
Arts - 13 Maggio 2016 Nostalgia and Laughter: Remembering Umberto Eco Two months after the passing of renowned essayist and novelist, literary critic, philosopher, and semiotician, the Italian Cultural Institute hosts a conversation to commemorate Umberto Eco, Italian polymath
People - 20 Febbraio 2016 Ciao Eco, We Would Have Wanted You in New York A cultured and insatiable scholar, for me Eco was always that eternal youth who combined boundless erudition with an inexhaustible curiosity for the world. We met because of America, and I would have liked to have invited him again to New York.