Reading Groups

What's Italian? Collodi's Pinocchio and De Amicis’s Heart with Antonio Romani

Once a week Saturdays, 12:00 pm EDT - 1:30 pm EDT October 7 to October 28, 2023

Online via Zoom

featured-images.reading-groups.2023-fall7

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

Pinocchio and Heart were written in an overt attempt to build a collective identity right after Italy’s unification in 1860. More than a century later, notwithstanding traumatic historical experiences, they still permeate popular imagination and ethics in different ways. We’ll try to touch upon this persistence—another small dive into the question, “What’s Italian?”

Meeting Details:
Saturdays, 12–1:30pm ET
10/7, 10/14, 10/21, 10/28
Online via Zoom

Before the first session, participants should read chapters 1–15 of Pinocchio.

Led By

Antonio Romani

Antonio Romani

Antonio Romani, an essayist and translator, is the author of La Paziente Attesa delle Pietre (Pacini Fazzi, 2023). His writings and co-translations have appeared in A Public Space, AGNI, the Common, Tin House, the Southampton Review, and other literary journals. His essay on Elena Ferrante was cited as Notable in The Best American Essays 2016. He co-translated (with Martha Cooley) Antonio Tabucchi’s Time Ages in a Hurry in 2015. Since 2014, he has led a “What’s Italian?” reading group at The Center.

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.

Groups+Workshops

More Groups+Workshops

Groups+Workshops