Reading Groups

The Work of Natalia Ginzburg with Jeanna Lucci Canapari

4 Sessions Tuesdays, 6:30 pm EDT - 8:00 pm EDT October 1 to December 17, 2024

The Center for Fiction

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The ‘With Books’ option includes the titles required for this group at a 10% discount from our Bookstore.

Meeting Dates:
10/1, 10/29, 11/26, 12/17
In Person at The Center for Fiction

For readers who enjoyed Elena Ferrante’s novels, Natalia Ginzburg (1916-1991) is an unmissable author. One of the great writers of the twentieth century, her work explores the complexity of family relationships, as well as the political landscape of Italy during and after World War II, in particular the Italian Resistance, in which she and her family were active members. Her modernist, spare prose opens the reader up to a world of keenly-felt emotion against the backdrop of a tumultuous period of Italian history. We will read a contemporary translation of her most famous novel, Family Lexicon, two more novels, and her well-known essay collection. While we will read in translation, we will also take a look at short passages of her original Italian text to investigate how we read her in English.

What to read in advance of the first meeting: Please read Family Lexicon and The Little Virtues, which is a book of essays.

What to expect from this reading group: The group leader will guide a conversational, participant-driven class, exploring the themes most interesting to the group. Historical and literary context will be provided, as well as information on the Italian-language works as needed.

Reading List:

Capacity: 20

Led by

Jeanna Lucci Canapari

Jeanna Lucci Canapari

Jeanna Lucci Canapari is freelance writer and holds an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from the University of King’s College (Halifax, Nova Scotia). She is working on a memoir centered on the intersection of truth and mythology in an Italian immigrant family. Her freelance work appears mainly in Yale University publications, and her personal essays have appeared in Salon, Creative Nonfiction, Allegory Ridge, and Off Assignment. She holds a BA in English from Columbia University and though she currently lives in New Haven, she is a former and forever Brooklynite. She previously led a course at The Center for Fiction on Madeline Miller’s novel Circe.

About this series

Reading Groups

Whether you’re looking to catch up on great novels or you’re interested in exploring a new writer or literary period, our reading groups offer high-level literary discussion led by experts in the field.

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