Italian Lit Month!

With Italy celebrated as Guest of Honor this October at the 2024 Frankfurt Book Fair, this is an important and exciting time for Italian publishing, and Italian-to-English literary translators wish to add to its success through a special initiative: Italian Lit Month.

This daily, month-long blog is being hosted by the Global Literature in Libraries Initiative (GLLI), an American-based group that facilitates collaboration among translators, librarians, publishers, editors and educators with the aim of raising the visibility of world literature for adults and children.

Written by over 30 literary translators, Italian Lit Month has a lineup of 50 articles of incredible variety: fiction, non-fiction, poetry, picture books and graphic novels; translations of Domenico Starnone, Natalia Ginzburg, Roberto Piumini, Paolo Volponi, Stefano Mancuso, Viola Ardone, Andrea Camilleri, Giovanni Pascoli and many others; reviews, essays, interviews, book club discussion questions and video readings; and information about translation workshops, special events and literary journals.

Literary translators are striking while the iron is hot, to help Italian books travel the globe and find homes for themselves on English speakers’ bookshelves. Follow them in October 2024 on Italian Lit Month!

Leah Janeczko, Italian Lit Month curator: itlit2024@leahjaneczko.com