Elsa Morante and the Italian Arts

This academic conference sheds new light on the work of well-known Italian novelist Elsa Morante and celebrates her artistic legacy, says Stefania Lucamante, professor of Italian and comparative literature at Catholic University and conference organizer. The conference is planned in honor of the 100th anniversary of Morante's birth in 1912.

The three-day conference brings together many noted and emerging scholars from the United States and abroad, including Gaetana Marrone-Puglia (Princeton University), Thomas Harrison (UCLA), Sharon Wood (University of Leicester, England), Rebecca West (University of Chicago), and Manuele Gragnolati (Oxford Unviversity). Morante's nephew Daniele Morante will deliver the keynote address, "Elsa Morante's Correspondence: a New Source for the Artist's Life," on Oct. 26 at 5 p.m.

"Morante's contribution connects the Italian novelistic tradition to international currents far beyond modernism and the influence of American writers in postwar Italy. She pioneered many a dramatic change in rhetoric and style. The merits of this famous Roman writer will be explored by scholars who have a passion for Morante's work, and new critical elements of her writing will be unearthed and celebrated," says Lucamante.

The international conference is organized by the Italian Studies Program at Catholic University and made possible through an endowment of the Davy Carozza family. Carozza was a distinguished scholar and professor of Italian and Romance languages at Catholic University for many years. In order to preserve his legacy, his family set up a fund to foster the teaching and studying of Romance languages.

For more information, contact Stefania Lucamante, in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, at lucamante@cua.edu.

Individuals requesting accommodations for disabilities should contact cua-access@cua.edu.