Literary Italy

Ep. 63: Castiglione's Book of the Courtier / Urbino, Le Marche

13 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Baldassare Castiglione's Book of the Courtier raises questions such as "What are the qualities the perfect gentleman?", "What are ...

Ep. 62: Purgatorio, Canto I

07 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ep. 61: Dante's Vita Nuova / Florence

19 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Can't get enough of your love, babe. Or of Dante. This episode we read Dante's New Life , a prelude to The Divine Comedy. Written in prosim...

Ep. 60: Italo Calvino's "Italian Folktales"

27 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Italo Calvino was one of the best known Italian writers throughout the world in the late 20th century. In the 1950's he set about working with It...

Ep. 59: Frances Mayes’ “Under the Tuscan Sun” / Cortona

07 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Liam Neeson or Leslie Nielsen? You decide.Things to know about Cortona:Ancient city - Etruscans - walls go back to 5th c. BCRomansAlso long history as...

Ep. 58: Veronica Gàmbara / Brescia

27 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Another episode in Lombardy, this time featuring poet, politico, and salon host Veronica Gàmbara.

Ep. 57: Cesare Beccaria / Milan

20 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Cesare Beccaria, author of On Crimes and Punishments (Dei delitti e delle pene) political philosopher, forgotten philosophe, 18th century influencer e...

Ep. 56: Leonardo notebooks - Milan and Florence

06 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Coming from their recent travels in Lombardy, Anne and Jim chat about Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks. Why do we keep a notebook -- for ourselves? ...

Ep. 55: Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's The Leopard, Palermo, Sicily

23 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We read The Leopard, a novel of the Risorgimento, a tragic-comic story of romance, war, and a stuffed dog.

Ep. 54: Vincent Schiavelli's "Many Beautiful Things" / Polizzi Generosa, Sicily

03 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Vincent Schiavelli, character actor, chef, and author is the our subject! We look at his book Many Beautiful Things, his wonderfully idiosyncratic mem...

Ep. 53: Dino Buzzati / The Dolomites

12 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

You got horror in my magical realism. You got magical realism in my horror. -- It's delicious! This week, we talk Dino Buzzati (whom Jim distress...

Ep.52: Anthony Doerr - Four Seasons in Rome

08 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Ep. 51: Elena Ferrante - The Lost Daughter

01 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This week, we read Elena Ferrante’s novella The Lost Daughter, set on the Ionian coast. We also watch Maggie Gyllenhaal’s film adaptation. Join ...

Ep. 50: Tozzi and Siena, Tuscany

25 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The Dynamic Duo are back, this time with a feature on novelist Federigo Tozzi. We read his short story "A Bender"

Ep. 49: Abandon all hope, ye who listen to this podcast

13 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This week: Canto III of Dante's Divine Comedy!

Ep. 48: Daphne Phelps' "A House In Sicily"

31 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This week we talk about A House in Sicily, a 1999 memoir by Daphne Phelps. Phelps was the owner of Casa Cuseni, a hotel for artists and writers that o...

Ep. 47: Michelangelo

23 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We all know Michelangelo as a giant of sculpture and painting, but, a true "Renaissance Man," he also wrote hundreds of poems. Anne and Jim ...

Ep. 46: Interview with Wendy Holloway of Flavor of Italy

02 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Our guest this week is Wendy Holloway, host of  Flavor of Italy, a weekly podcast focused  Italian food, culture, and travel. Wendy shares with us s...

Ep. 45: E. M. Forster's A Room with a View

04 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Anne and Jim are back in Tuscany for E. M. Forster's A Room with a View, which helped them love Italy and Florence before they had ever set eyes ...

Ep.44: Goldoni's Servant of Two Masters

28 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Our guest today is Jay Malarcher. Jay is Associate Professor and Program Director of Theater History and Criticism at West Virginia University. Also, ...

Ep. 43: Dacia Maraini / Bagheria, Sicily

14 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We're back with an episode on Dacia Maraini, one of the most fascinating and prolific Italian writers today. We talk about her memoir, Bagheria, ...

Ep. 42: Minucius Felix / Ostia Antica

14 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Our guest today, Mike Aquilina, has been a friend of ours for years. A prolific writer and authority on Patristics (the writings of the Church Fathers...

Ep. 41: Verga / Catania

07 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The short story "Cavalleria Rusticana" (translation online). Later, a tour of Catania, Giovanni Verga's birthplace.

Ep. 40: The Sicilian School, Frederick II of Sicily, and Giacomo da Lentini

31 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we talk about the importance of the Sicilian School, and read from the sonnets of Giacomo (Jacopo) da Lentini (alas, only in Tuscan a...

Ep. 39: Pirandello / Agrigento

25 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We get META all over the place. Luigi Pirandello's play Six Characters in Search of an Author is one of the most famous and most influential dram...

Ep. 38: Ungaretti / Lucca, Tuscany and Sagrado, Friuli-Venezia Giulia

18 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode we discuss poet Giuseppe Ungaretti's early collection, Allegria, recently translated into English by Geoffrey Brock. A poet of fe...

Ep. 37: I Promessi Sposi / Lake Como

10 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Ep. 36: La Befana - Pascoli

03 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Buona Befana! We celebrate New Year's and Epiphany with the a poem by Giovanni Pascoli.

Ep. 35: Piazza Navona at Christmas - Belli

24 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Christmas markets in Italy! We talk about the Piazza Navona market in Rome, and the poet Giuseppe Gioacchino ("GG" to his friends) Belli, au...

Ep.34: Interview with Elizabeth Namack of My Italian Treasures

13 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This week we interview Elizabeth Namack and discuss her unique approach to Italian travel planning. Liz shares her perspective on trends in Italian tr...

Ep.33: Mathilde Serao's "To the Tenth Muse" / Neapolitan Christmas

06 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat, and we are getting dizzy from the evocation of the street scenes of Naples, with butcher shops dangling...

Ep. 32: Pliny the Younger - Pompeii

29 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Anne and Jim travel south geographically and backwards in time to the eruption of Vesuvius and the destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum, witnessed b...

Ep. 31: Dante, Inferno Canto 2, and Florence

22 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode we return to Dante and to Florence with Canto 2 of the Inferno! Dante is sort of like the middle of the Bingo card of Italian literatu...

Ep. 30: Ortese / Naples, Rapallo

15 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Join us for Anna Maria Ortese's "A Pair of Eyeglasses" in Neapolitan Chronicles (Italian: Il mare non bagna Napoli ). Published in Engl...

Ep. 29: Spooky Italy

08 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Anne and Jim note their disappointing lack of Scooby Doo-like adventures in Umbria. Then they talk about 6 (5 1/2?) scary places in Italy!PovegliaLucc...

Ep. 28: Capuana, "Un Vampiro"

01 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Erin O'Rourke's translation as read by her. In this episode we talk about Halloween traditions in Italy (especially Sicily and Sardinia) an...

Ep. 27: Return to the Via Francigena

25 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Jim's back from his walk on the Via Francigena from Siena to ROME! And a mere hours after his plane touches down on American soil, Anne interview...

Ep. 26: Elena Ferrante's "Story of a New Name" / Amalfi, Ischia, Pisa

18 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A little bit of everything as we chat some more about Elena Ferrante, the Amalfi Coast, the island of Ischia, even Pisa! And Jim (nervously) talks abo...

Ep. 25: Pellegrino Artusi / Art of Eating Well

11 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

With his cookbook "Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well," Pellegrino Artusi revolutionized the idea of Italian home cooking, an...

Ep. 24: Pavese / Piedmont

04 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode we’re talking about Cesare Pavese and the Piedmont region. Poetry and prose, city and country, wine and chocolate, love and loss: it...

Ep. 23: Morante / Procida

27 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

I guess we can't get enough of islands! This time it's the island of Procida, just off the coast of Naples. Tucked between the more famous i...

Ep. 22: Camilleri's "Inspector Montalbano" series / Sicily

20 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today we're off to the beautiful isle of Sicily, for sea, sun . . . and murder. Andrea Camilleri's Inspector Montalbano series of novels, an...

Ep. 21: Collodi's Adventures of Pinocchio / Tuscany

06 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This week we're hoping to become a real boy! That's right, it's The Adventure of Pinocchio. The fourth most translated book in the wo...

Ep. 20: Machiavelli / Tuscany

30 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Machiavelli: It's complicated. Today's readings: The PrinceThe Mandrake

Ep. 19: Grazia Deledda / Sardinia

23 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

You say, "Sardinia," but I say, "Sardegna" . . . Today, we read Grazia Deledda's Il Paese del Vento (Land of the Wind). Sadly...

Ep. 18: Intervallo

16 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Cari Ascoltatori!We’re taking a week of for a much needed vacation; we’ll be back with a story from the Bel Paese next week.Thank all of you for l...

Ep. 17: Nel Blu Dipinto di Blu / Puglia (Polignano a Mare)

09 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

With a song in our hearts, the wind sweeping through the window, and our hands and faces inexplicably painted blue, this week Anne and Jim swing along...

Ep. 16: Via Francigena / Tuscany and Lazio

02 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This week, we take a hike...on the Via Francigena, an ancient pilgrimage route that runs from Canterbury, England to Rome, passing through some marvel...

Ep. 15: Giacomo Leopardi/Le Marche

26 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This week we tackle the great Italian poet and philosopher Giacomo Leopardi and the region of Le Marche, his birthplace and source of both inspiration...

Ep. 14: St. Catherine of Siena

19 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Mystic, Leader, Writer, Saint, just a general Badass, Catherine of Siena set her fourteenth-century world on fire. In this episode we head back to Tus...

Ep. 13: Thomas Mann / Venice

12 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today we laugh far too much about Death in Venice, a not-at-all-funny novella by our first non-Italian author, Thomas Mann. But seriously, is there so...

Ep. 12: Traveling With (or Without?) Kids in Italy

05 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Anne and Jim take another break from hitting the books, this week talking about traveling with kids in the Bel Paese.

Ep. 11: Natalia Ginzburg / Abruzzo

28 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We're a little out of our comfort zone, reading Natalia Ginzburg's essay "Winter in the Abruzzi," in which she recalls, bitterswee...

Ep. 10: Carlo Levi / Basilicata

21 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This week we head south to Lucania, the region of Italy now known as Basilicata, as we discuss Carlo Levi's memoir, Christ Stopped at Eboli,  sh...

Ep. 9: Moravia / Rome

14 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

What is competition? This week’s short comic story by Alberto Moravia asks just that question as a pushcart vendor first falls for his competition, ...

Ep. 8: I Vecchi Sposi (The Oldlywed Game)

07 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to a little parlor game we call either "The Oldlywed Game," or "I Vecchi Sposi." Anne and Jim try to predict each other&ap...

Ep.7: Montale / Liguria and the Cinque Terre

31 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Lemons and sunshine! What's not to love? Today we're talking about poet and Nobel laureate Eugenio Montale and his "happy place," ...

Ep. 6: Everybody Loves Francis! / Assisi

24 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Back to the medieval! We talk about Saint Francis of Assisi and his Canticle of the Creatures, one of the first examples of written Italian. Anne once...

Ep. 5: Elena Ferrante's "My Brilliant Friend" / Naples

17 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

See Naples and...LIVE! On this week's episode we talk about My Brilliant Friend, the first in a four-novel series by pseudonymous author Elena Fe...

Ep. 4: Tips for Travel to Italy

10 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We take a break from books this week to talk a little bit about how we think about travel to Italy and what works for us. Your mileage may vary.

Ep. 3: Petrarch

03 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This episode is not exactly a sonnet, but today Anne and Jim have fun / suffer the passion of reading Francesco Petrarca, more commonly known as Petra...

Ep. 2: Boccaccio

26 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A writer from the fourteenth century might not seem relevant, but Boccaccio has a lot to say about how to while away the hours in epidemic lockdown an...

Ep. 1: Dante and Florence

19 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Anne reads (and re-reads) her favorite book as we head to the 700th anniversary of Dante Alighieri's death. We also drink Vin Santo and walk thro...

Ep. 0: Welcome to Literary Italy

12 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Anne and Jim welcome you to Literary Italy, a joyous romp through the books and the landscape of the bel paese. Join us as we share our love of the li...