Elena Ferrante has long been considered one of the best writers of her generation in Italy, but now her novels and acclaim have spread across the United States and around the world. Her Neapolitan Novels are beautifully and expertly translated by Ann Goldstein, and Ferrante’s ardent fans range from everyone from James Wood to Gwyneth Paltrow. And to Pulitzer Prize winner Jhumpa Lahiri.
We were honored to present this very special evening with Ann Goldstein and Jhumpa Lahiri in conversation about the power, beauty and ferocity of Ferrante’s writing, with a special focus on the final novel of the series, The Story of the Lost Child (Europa Editions).
“The Neapolitan novel cycle is an unconditional masterpiece . . . I read all the books in a state of immersion; I was totally enthralled. There was nothing else I wanted to do except follow the lives of Lila and Lenù to the end.” — Jhumpa Lahiri on Elena Ferrante
Jhumpa Lahiri is the author of four works of fiction: Interpreter of Maladies, The Namesake, Unaccustomed Earth, and The Lowland. Her first work of nonfiction, In Other Words, originally written in Italian and translated by Ann Goldstein, is forthcoming from Knopf in 2016. She has received numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize, the PEN/Hemingway Award, the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award, the Premio Gregor von Rezzori, the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, and the Premio Internazionale Viareggio-Versilia, for In altre parole. She was awarded a 2014 National Humanities Medal by President Barack Obama.
Ann Goldstein is an editor at The New Yorker. She has translated the works of many of Italy’s most prominent writers, including Elena Ferrante, Primo Levi, Giacomo Leopardi, Aldo Buzzi, and Alessandro Piperno.
Co-presented with Centro Primo Levi and The American Sephardi Federation
