The American Academy in Rome, in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute of New York, will present a reading and international conference on Eugenio Montale and Italian Poetry in the Twentieth Century on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Unification of Italy. The program will gather distinguished poets, translators and leading scholars to focus on Montale's lasting influence on Italian and American poetry. The events will take place in New York on 15 and 16 February 2011 at the American Academy in Rome.
Eugenio Montale, (1896-1981), recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1975, is one of Italy’s greatest twentieth century writers. Born in Genoa into a family of businessmen, Montale’s early aspirations were to be an opera singer. After serving as an infantry officer in WWI he dedicated himself entirely to writing and literature. Throughout his prolific career he wrote for various publications and was a regular contributor to the Corriere della Sera. The futility of war and the rise of the fascist regime exerted a profound influence on Montale, who is admired for his original, introspective and experimental style. His first collection of poems, Ossi di sepia (Cuttlefish Bones), published in 1925, quickly became one of the classics of contemporary Italian poetry. In 1939, he published Le occasioni (The Occasions), which many consider to be his most innovative book, followed by La bufera e altro (The Storm and Other Things), 1956. He received honorary degrees from many world-famous universities including the University of Milan in 1964, Cambridge University in 1967, and the University of Basel in 1974. In 1967 he was made a lifetime member of the Italian Senate in recognition for his work and courageous opposition to fascism. Montale died in Milan in 1981 at the age of 85.
The reading on 15 February will present three American poets with strong ties both to Italy and to Montale. Jonathan Galassi, President and Publisher of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, has translated Montale's Collected Poems (1999) and Selected Poems (2004). The landscape of northern Italy and the work of artist Giorgio Morandi in particular have been of great importance to leading American poet Charles Wright, who has also translated Montale's The Storm and Other Poems (1978). Poet Rosanna Warren, RAAR’01, herself a translator, was a Boston University colleague of scholar William Arrowsmith, whose translations of Montale (Cuttlefish Bones, 1992; Satura, 1998) she edited, and from which she will read. Massimiliano Finazzer Flory, Commissioner for Culture of the City of Milan, will read the Italian originals of the Montale poems.
The full-day academic conference on 16 February will bring together leading Italian scholars of Montale; Fabio Finotti from the University of Pennsylvania, Gian Luigi Beccaria and Giorgio Ficara from the University of Turin; poet Annalisa Cima; writer Giuseppe Conte; as well as American Montale scholar Rebecca West (FAAR'79) from the University of Chicago. Among the topics to be discussed are issues of poetic language, translation, and interpretation of Montale’s poetry. Anthony J. Tamburri of Queen’s College and Stefano Albertini, Director of New York University’s Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimó will chair the sessions.
This reading and conference are made possible with the patronage of the Embassy of Italy to the United States in collaboration with the Commissioner for Culture of the City of Milan and the Foundation Rizzoli Corriere della Sera with support from Alitalia.
The events will take place at the American Academy in Rome, 7 East 60 Street, New York City
Seating is limited. Reservations are required.
The schedule is as follows:
Tuesday, 15 February
6:00pm, Reading
Massimiliano Finazzer Flory, Commissioner for Culture of the City of Milan
Jonathan Galassi, President and Publisher, Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Rosanna Warren, RAAR’01, Emma MacLachlan Metcalf Professor of the Humanities, Boston University
Charles Wright, Souder Family Professor of English, University of Virginia
Wednesday, 16 February
10:00am - 5:30pm, Conference
Stefano Albertini, Director, Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò, New York University
Gian Luigi Beccaria, Professor of History of the Italian Language, University of Turin
Annalisa Cima, Poet
Giuseppe Conte, Writer
Giorgio Ficara, Professor of Italian Literature, University of Turin
Fabio Finotti, Mariano DiVito Professor of Italian Studies; Graduate Chair, Italian; Director, Center for Italian Studies; Chair, Italian Section; Director, Penn in Florence, University of Pennsylvania
Anthony J. Tamburri, Dean of the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute of Queens College/CUNY and Professor of Italian & Italian American Studies
Rebecca West, FAAR’79, William R. Kenan, Jr. Distinguished Service Professor, University of Chicago