https://feeds.thelocal.com/ Read the latest news and views from Italy in English en-us news@thelocal.com (TheLocal) webmaster@thelocal.com (TheLocal) TheLocal RSS Feed Dante Alighieri, the giant of world literature who wrote the Divine Comedy, was commemorated on Thursday for Italy's national 'Dantedi' (Dante Day), in the year that marks 700 years since his death. https://www.thelocal.it/20210325/dante-day-how-italy-is-celebrating-its-national-poet Thu, 25 Mar 2021 18:40:17 +0100 dante-day-how-italy-is-celebrating-its-national-poet Dante Alighieri will forever be associated with Florence, city of his birth and the dialect he helped elevate such that it would become the basis of Italy's national language. Yet when Dante died 700 years ago, Florence isn't where he ended up. https://www.thelocal.it/20190904/dantes-tomb-italy-ravenna-florence Wed, 04 Sep 2019 11:50:20 +0200 dantes-tomb-italy-ravenna-florence As life under quarantine continues in Italy, books and all forms of culture have been helping to keep people's spirits up, and now the Italian culture ministry hopes a nationwide online celebration of Dante will bring people together. https://www.thelocal.it/20200324/how-you-can-mark-italys-dante-day-on-march-25th Tue, 24 Mar 2020 18:26:36 +0100 how-you-can-mark-italys-dante-day-on-march-25th Fans of the enigmatic author can get their hands on her latest book in November 2019 - but only in Italian. https://www.thelocal.it/20191029/elena-ferrante-italian-authors-next-novel-to-be-published-in-english-next-year Tue, 29 Oct 2019 19:03:19 +0100 elena-ferrante-italian-authors-next-novel-to-be-published-in-english-next-year Prepare for a fresh outbreak of 'Ferrante fever': bestselling Italian author Elena Ferrante has written a new book and it's coming out in November. https://www.thelocal.it/20190909/elena-ferrante-new-book-is-coming-out-in-november Mon, 09 Sep 2019 14:40:10 +0200 elena-ferrante-new-book-is-coming-out-in-november What can a long-dead writer tell you about travelling in Italy? A lot you'd never otherwise see. History enthusiast Stewart Skelt shares some of his favourite travel writing about Italy throughout the centuries. https://www.thelocal.it/20190604/best-old-italian-travel-books-travel-writing-history-italy Tue, 04 Jun 2019 15:13:27 +0200 best-old-italian-travel-books-travel-writing-history-italy With a varied landscape encompassing mountains, beaches, and endless hills, plus more than its fair share of cultural heritage, Italy has attracted awe-struck tourists for centuries. https://www.thelocal.it/20190425/famous-quotes-to-inspire-you-to-travel-to-italy Thu, 25 Apr 2019 18:48:27 +0200 famous-quotes-to-inspire-you-to-travel-to-italy Was William Shakespeare really a Sicilian linguist called John Florio? That's what one team of specialist researchers believes, and their theory is now the basis for a new television show being made by Italian filmmaker Stefano Reali. https://www.thelocal.it/20190326/shakespeare-was-from-sicily-claims-new-italian-tv-show Tue, 26 Mar 2019 13:38:27 +0100 shakespeare-was-from-sicily-claims-new-italian-tv-show New street art celebrating Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan novels was unveiled this week in the city that inspired them. https://www.thelocal.it/20190129/elena-ferrante-street-art-unveiled-in-naples Tue, 29 Jan 2019 13:37:54 +0100 elena-ferrante-street-art-unveiled-in-naples An academic study has thrown the life story of Italy's national poet, Dante Alighieri, into question. https://www.thelocal.it/20181017/new-discovery-letter-change-the-story-of-dantes-life Wed, 17 Oct 2018 18:05:37 +0200 new-discovery-letter-change-the-story-of-dantes-life The mysterious Italian writer Elena Ferrante pulled the strings behind the first screen version of her Neapolitan novels, the producers said on Sunday, as it was premiered at the Venice film festival. https://www.thelocal.it/20180903/mystery-italian-author-elena-ferrante-tv-adaptation-my-brilliant-friend Mon, 03 Sep 2018 10:49:32 +0200 mystery-italian-author-elena-ferrante-tv-adaptation-my-brilliant-friend Life imitated art when a fire broke out at the northern Italian abbey that inspired Umberto Eco’s classic The Name of the Rose. https://www.thelocal.it/20180125/fire-at-sacra-di-san-michele-abbey-that-inspired-the-name-of-the-rose Thu, 25 Jan 2018 16:14:30 +0100 fire-at-sacra-di-san-michele-abbey-that-inspired-the-name-of-the-rose Hollywood stars Rupert Everett and John Turturro are to star in the first television adaptation of Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose, its producers said on Wednesday. https://www.thelocal.it/20180124/the-name-of-the-rose-tv-show Wed, 24 Jan 2018 17:43:46 +0100 the-name-of-the-rose-tv-show Readers who raced through Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan series will soon be able to get a weekly fix from the elusive Italian novelist, in the form of a column for British newspaper The Guardian. https://www.thelocal.it/20180119/elena-ferrante-guardian-newspaper-column Fri, 19 Jan 2018 16:58:28 +0100 elena-ferrante-guardian-newspaper-column To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first Harry Potter novels' publication, we take a look at how the Italian translation changed the franchise as we know it - perhaps not always intentionally. https://www.thelocal.it/20161117/how-harry-potter-became-italian-language-translation-books-literature-linguistics Thu, 17 Nov 2016 11:26:29 +0100 how-harry-potter-became-italian-language-translation-books-literature-linguistics Europe's refugee crisis is moving from newsprint to the pages of children's books, as writers try to help parents help their kids understand an often disturbing drama shaping their world. https://www.thelocal.it/20170406/how-a-new-wave-of-childrens-books-is-tackling-the-migrant-crisis Thu, 06 Apr 2017 17:58:09 +0200 how-a-new-wave-of-childrens-books-is-tackling-the-migrant-crisis A survey launched by Italy's Ministry for Education to promote reading and discover which books are most beloved by schoolchildren has proved the enduring popularity of classic tales. But in ten schools, an unwelcome entry made the top ten. https://www.thelocal.it/20161208/hitlers-mein-kampf-rated-one-of-italian-schoolchildrens-top-books Thu, 08 Dec 2016 12:08:07 +0100 hitlers-mein-kampf-rated-one-of-italian-schoolchildrens-top-books It's an award he probably didn't want to add to his collection, but a prolific Italian novelist was on Wednesday awarded the Bad Sex in Fiction Award for a depiction of love-making which compared genitals to ballet dancers. https://www.thelocal.it/20161201/italian-writer-erri-de-luca-wins-bad-sex-in-fiction-award-dancing-genitals Thu, 01 Dec 2016 15:55:00 +0100 italian-writer-erri-de-luca-wins-bad-sex-in-fiction-award-dancing-genitals Dario Fo was one of the leading figures in modern farce and political theatre, whose brilliant satire earned him both a rebuke from the Vatican and the literary world's highest honour. https://www.thelocal.it/20161013/obituary-dario-fo-master-of-satire-an-political-farce Thu, 13 Oct 2016 17:47:21 +0200 obituary-dario-fo-master-of-satire-an-political-farce Italian playwright and actor Dario Fo, who won the Nobel prize for literature in 1997, has died at the age of 90, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi announced on Thursday. https://www.thelocal.it/20161013/nobel-prize-winning-playwright-political-activist-author-dario-fo-dies-at-90 Thu, 13 Oct 2016 11:24:41 +0200 nobel-prize-winning-playwright-political-activist-author-dario-fo-dies-at-90