This reading is part of the two-day series “Celebrating the City,” taking place May 10–11. Learn more about “The City: Traces of Urban Memories,” the first event in the series.

Seven writers with distinct experiences of Rome will read new works written especially for the American Academy’s year of “The City.” Musing on Rome but not only, they will consider cities as transitional environments, as places marked by past, present, and future, existing between material foundations and their creative reinvention. Personal itineraries deep into the city of Rome will also extend across the horizon to New York, Tokyo, and Mogadishu.

Participants include: Leonardo Colombati, Claudia Durastanti (2015 Italian Fellow), Marco Lodoli, Melania Mazzucco, Francesco Pacifico, Tommaso Pincio (2012 Italian Fellow), and Igiaba Scego.

The event is curated by Maria Ida Gaeta, founder of the Casa delle Letterature and the Festival Internazionale di Massenzio in Rome, and advisor in literature to AAR. The readings will be in Italian with simultaneous translation into English.

Download a PDF of the event program.

This reading, to be presented on Zoom, is free and open to the public. The start time is 6:00pm Central European Time (12:00 noon Eastern Time). It is being recorded and will be edited and posted on the AAR website at a later date.

Reading the City | Leggere la città is made possible by the Adele Chatfield-Taylor and John Guare Fund for the Arts.