L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 2023 www.italoamericano.org 10 L'Italo-Americano T he Multipli Forti Festival in New Y o r k w i l l s t a r t with a reading of a passage from I P r o m e s s i S p o s i ( T h e Betrothed) by Alessandro Manzoni, read by its transla- tor, Michael Moore. Now in its second edition, the event was created to promote Ital- ian literature by involving both readers and the publish- ing world. Promoted by the Italian Cultural Institute of New Y o r k , d i r e c t e d b y F a b i o Finotti with the collabora- tion of the Federazione Unitaria Italiana Scrit- tori (Fuis), the Festival is conceived and curated by Maria Ida Gaeta with the help of a group of scholars: Alessandro Giammei (Yale University), Eugenio Refini (New York University), Mon- ica Calabritto (Hunter Col- lege, CUNY), Chiara Benetol- lo (Bryn Mawr College). Meetings with authors will take place on April 25, 26, and 27 in New York, at the Center for Italian Modern Art (CIMA), Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimò, and Rizzoli Book- store; on April 28 and 29 in B o s t o n , a t t h e C o n s u l a t e General of Italy, the Chilton Club, and I Am books. The goal of the Festival? To present to the Italian- speaking American public, Italophiles, and all those who are interested, some of the m o s t a m b i t i o u s a n d renowned Italian literature of the 21st century. We at L'Ita- lo-Americano interviewed Maria Ida Gaeta, artistic director of Multipli Forti. How do the festival's meetings take place? The guest authors, along w i t h A m e r i c a n s c h o l a r s , translators, editors, and spe- cialists, have been asked to discuss six leading themes in current literature. Each event of Multipli Forti will open with their unpublished texts r e l a t e d t o t h e p r o p o s e d themes. What are this year's themes? The Festival's themes seek to identify the main trends in contemporary Italian fiction a n d p r e s e n t t h e m t o t h e American public through the words of the writers them- selves. So, on the one hand, the proposed themes spring from a critical observation of the content and styles our narrators offer with their works and, on the other, they come from the questions and debates emerging during the Festival. In fact, it is their reactions to the proposed themes - which take the form o f s h o r t s t o r i e s , l i t e r a r y memoirs and meditations, essays, and even, in some cases, revealing confessions - that open each event of the festival. Of the themes pro- posed in the first edition in 2022, four remain for this new edition in 2023, because they still seem very active and present in the Italian lit- erary imagination: that of collective and personal des- tinies, along a line that con- nects Dante to contemporary attempts to write in the first person, without ceasing to write about the whole world. That of Italianness itself, since Italian literature has always been infused with v i t a l f o r e i g n , a l i e n , a n d anomalous influences. That of the confrontation with reality, connecting the chival- ric concept of inquiry with today's political commitment and literary reportage. And finally, that of the genius loci, the vernacular and local traditions in a land of proud- ly different territories. To these paths, we have added two new topics that permeate many contemporary narra- tives: the theme of myth, in alliance with or opposition to that of history, and the theme of the body, which we associ- ated with the issue of power: an invitation to meditate on the power relations trying to discipline our bodies in con- nection to political, literary, and psycho-physical institu- tions. One difference from the first edition is the increased focus on liter- a r y t r a n s l a t i o n w o r k . Why this choice? There would be no chance of cultural exchange without the work of translation from one language to another. In the literary field, translation work is foundational. There- fore, we felt it was our duty to give space and visibility to it, certain that it would enrich our reflection and make our knowledge deeper and more conscious. Furthermore, in the relations between Italy and the United States, there h a s b e e n a s i g n i f i c a n t increase in the translations from Italian into English of classic and fundamental texts for Italian cultural history, as well as an increasing number of translations of contempo- rary authors' texts. We have deemed it necessary to ana- lyze this phenomenon and create moments of dialogue between authors and transla- tors. O n t h e o t h e r h a n d , what key aspect hasn't changed from last year's edition? We propose again a pro- fessional event reflecting on the methods of dissemina- tion, promotion, and pene- tration of contemporary Ital- ian-language narrative in English-speaking markets. It is coordinated by Michael Reynolds, editorial director of Europe Editions, and Luca Briasco, editorial director of Minimum Fax. Other Festival high- lights? Once again this year, a special event will be dedicat- ed to The Bridge Literary Prize. The prize contributes to the translation costs (from I t a l i a n t o E n g l i s h o r v i c e versa) of the four winning works. It will feature the Ital- ian and American winners of 2022 (Walter Siti and Chiara Valerio with Sara Freeman and Hendrik Dey), who will dialogue with their transla- tors, Antony Shugaar and Brian Robert Moore, about their books. The Italian nom- inations for the 2023 edition will also be announced. What's new compared to the first edition? Certainly, the increased focus on literary translation work. Each of the three New York days will be opened by reading a chapter of signifi- c a n t I t a l i a n t e x t r e c e n t l y translated into English and published in America. The translators themselves will read: Michael Moore from his very recent English ver- sion of Alessandro Manzoni's "Promessi Sposi," Ann Gold- stein from her translation of Alba De Cespedes y Bertini's "Quaderno proibito," and Jenny McPhee will read a passage from Elsa Morante's " M e n z o g n a e s o r t i l e g i o , " which is about to be pub- lished in the US with her translation. These same three translators will be featured in the meeting "Translating Ital- ian literature: from the clas- sics to today" which will take place on the third day of the festival, on April 27. T h i s y e a r t h e r e w i l l a l s o b e t w o d a y s i n Boston; does the festival h a v e t h e p r o s p e c t o f expanding? It is not easy for Italian fic- tion to find a hearing and a reception in English-speak- ing markets. The festival ini- tiative promoted by the Ital- ian Cultural Institute in New York had the merit of creat- ing attention and "moving t h e w a t e r s . " A s s o o n a s Boston showed interest, we said yes right away, and I was happy to work with the Con- sulate General of Italy in Boston and the founder of the bookstore I AM books (one of the few Italian book- stores in the US, along with the famous Rizzoli bookstore in New York and the historic o n e i n S a n F r a n c i s c o ) t o make sure that part of the e v e n t a l s o h a p p e n e d i n Boston. We will bring eight writers there, on April 28 and 29 (half of those present in New York), and I believe the prospect of expanding the reach of the Festival by bring- ing it to other areas is inter- e s t i n g a n d d e s i r a b l e . O f course, always by collaborat- ing with Italian and Ameri- can institutions and local cul- tural operators. Multipli Forti Festival, Italian literature in New York and Boston SILVIA NITTOLI Luca Briasco, editor at Minimum Fax, and Maria Ida Greta, artistic director of the Festival (Photo courtesy of Multipli Forti Literary Festival) LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE TRADITIONS

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