Le Poetesse: Transreading Contemporary Italian Verse
Discover current Italian women poets writing beyond the traditional.
Travel to Italy usually focuses on the ancients, and for good reason. To walk through such deep history gives us that comforting sense of our own smallness, or perhaps a feeling of how we fit into the universe. And yet, Italy is a country still finding itself, in just as much flux as any other, despite the eternity of its foundations. If we listen to the voices of today, forget the usual tour, on what different sort of trip will we find ourselves? And at the end of it, what will we want to write about?
In this course, we’ll step into the verse of five contemporary Italian women poets: Daniela Attanasio (1947), Antonella Bukovaz (1963), Rossella Tempesta (1968), Isabella Leardini (1978), and Erica Donzella (1988). Through their poetry we’ll explore Italian cultural geography— both well-known literary centers (Rome, Bologna, Naples) and more marginalized places within the Italian contemporary literary scene (Catania, the Italian-Slovenian border).
For each session, we’ll look at a poem or two of each of these poets and find a way in. Sometimes, we’ll be looking at real translation issues, digging into the impossibilities (and unexpected possibilities) of language. Sometimes, we’ll use the personal imagination of the writer as a springboard into issues of poetic composition. But no matter what, each poet’s portal will bring us into our own work.
All poems will be given to students in Italian and in English. A specific writing prompt, connected to the reading, will also be given for each session.
5 fortnightly sessions over 10 weeks. No live chats. Suitable for UK & International students.
Concessions & Accessibility
To apply for a concessionary rate, please send relevant documentation showing your eligibility for one of our concessions to [email protected]. Conditions of eligibility are detailed here. If you have any questions or wish to be added to the waiting list of a sold-out course, please email [email protected]. For more information visit our Online Courses page.
Image credit: @widenka
About Rebecca Levi 
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Rebecca Levi is a poet, translator, musician, and educator based in the Rivers Region of Chile. Originally from New York City, she studied comparative literature at Yale University and poetry with Robert Pinsky at Boston University. Her poems and translations have been published in journals such as Columbia Journal and No Tokens Magazine, by Princeton University Press and Broadstone Books, and in The Times Literary Supplement as a runner-up of the Mick Imlah Poetry Prize. Rebecca composes and performs folk, rock, and experimental music, often in collaboration with dance and performance. She has been an educator for sixteen years, with a focus in youth orchestra, early childhood music, and creative writing, and her teaching has taken her around the world, from Peru to Colombia to India. Rebecca teaches in English, Spanish, and Italian.
"It has helped me to become more positive about writing generally and my poetry in particular."
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