Multipli Forti [2nd Edition]

The Italian Cultural Institute in New York
in collaboration with
FUIS (Italian Unitary Writers Federation) – THE BRIDGE Award – CIMA (Center for Italian Modern Art) – NYU Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò – RIZZOLI Bookstore – Italian General Consulate in Boston – Boston Chilton Club – I AM Books

presents

Multipli Forti
Voices from Contemporary Italian Literature

ITALIAN LITERARY FICTION FESTIVAL – II EDITION

NEW YORK CITY
25 – 26 – 27 April, 2023

BOSTON
28 – 29 April, 2023

An initiative aimed at the public of readers and the international publishing world (publishing houses, literary agencies, editors and translators) promoted by the Italian Cultural Institute of New York directed by Fabio Finotti with the collaboration of FUIS (Italian Unitary Federation of Writers), with the artistic direction of Maria Ida Gaeta supported by a leading group of scholars and experts (Alessandro Giammei, Chiara Benetollo, Monica Calabritto, Luca Briasco, Eugenio Refini). The first edition was held in June 2022 and was born with the hope that it could become an annual appointment to build a literary bridge between Italy and the United States, beyond any cultural stereotype. The second edition strengthens this event and will take place both in New York City and in Boston thanks to the collaboration with the Italian General Consulate.

Multipli Forti is a transatlantic window on major literary trends of Italian fiction, told by the authors who are writing it. We asked them to think about six major themes that shape today’s literature in their language. Each event of Multipli Forti revolves around their response to these themes, which take the form of short stories, literary memoirs and meditations, swift brief essays and, in some cases, even personal confessions. The first theme is individual and collective destinies, along the line that connects Dante to contemporary attempts to write in the first person—while writing about the whole world. The second theme is “Italianness” itself, and how what we call “Italian Literature” is, in fact, informed by foreign, alien, and estranging, vital influences. The hand-to-hand combat with reality is the third theme: political engagement, from the Renaissance concept of inchiesta to the current hybridizations of fiction and reportage. The fourth theme is myth, as either a fellow or an enemy to history. As reservoirs of images, history and myth blur the boundaries between fantasy and reality: they are a common language that builds communities. The fifth theme is bodies, and we associate it with the issue of power. We invited authors to think about authority, and about how authority disciplines our bodies in relation to political, literary, and psychological institutions. The last theme, Genius loci, is the theme of places, of vernacular and dialectal traditions in a land of proudly different territories, the theme of the thin line that separates the familiar from the unknown.

Click here for the complete program of events

Program at Casa Italiana on April 26:

3:00-5:00pm
Roundtable:
The Publication and Promotion of Italian Literature in Anglophone Markets

A panel with experts in the field, who will discuss current trends in Italian literature, how contemporary Italian authors are presented and promoted abroad, the journey of Italian literature into English—from representation to acquisition, translation, editing, publication, marketing and promotion—and into the hands of readers in America, the U.K., and international Anglophone markets.

With:
Alessandra Bastagli (Executive Director, Astra House)
Aaron Robertson (Translator from Italian, Editor, Spiegel & Grau)
Hamilton Cain (Leading US critic, formerly Book Reviews Editor at Oprah Magazine)
Jonathan Galassi (Chairman, FSG, translator, author)
Maria Campbell (President MCA Literary and Film Scouting)
Sandra Waters (Series editor of Other Voices of Italy, Rutgers University Press)

The panel will also include:
Antonio Franchini (Executive Director Giunti-Bompiani)
Massimo Turchetta (General Director Rizzoli, Publishing and Rights Development Mondadori)
Chiara Valerio (Head of Italian fiction Marsilio)

Moderators:
Luca Briasco (Executive Director, MinimumFax)
Michael Reynolds (Executive Director, Europa Editions)

6:00-8:00pm
Roundtable with authors:
Cristina Ubah Ali Farah
Djarah Kan
Chiara Tagliaferri

Respondents:
Peter Cameron
Alessia Valfredini, Fordham University

Moderator:
Alessandro Giammei, Yale University

In ENGLISH