Tra una Vita e l’Altra in Dublin

February 19th: a date for your diary. The Istituto Italiano di Cultura has very kindly offered to celebrate the publication of the anthology, ‘Tra una vita e l’altra’, one of the many fruits of the Italo-Irish Exchange.

Some years ago, the Irish Writers’ Centre and the Istituto Italiano di Cultura were the first to welcome and support the initiative which became the Italo-Irish Literature Exchange.

I had the good fortune to collaborate with Federica Sgaggio in establishing this vibrant network of novelists and poets, playwrights and bloggers – a network whose links continue to this day between our two countries.

Since 2011, there has been growing literary traffic between Irish and Italian writers.

Tra una Vita e l’Altra: a journey of stories and storytelling

It continues to be a journey that illuminates the many similarities that exist between Ireland and Italy – not least our love of stories and storytelling.

And it’s a journey that has received the enthusiastic support of, among others, Ireland Literature Exchange, Culture Ireland and the Italian writers’ organisation, Ònoma.

On the 19th February, the Istituto Italiano di Cultura has very kindly offered to celebrate the publication of the anthology, Tra una Vita e l’Altra, one of the many fruits of the Italo-Irish Exchange.

This anthology, entitled ‘Lost Between’ in English, is a collection of prose and poetry by some fifteen writers, Irish and Italian, who explore the concepts of displacement, belonging, alienation and home.

By turns vivid and reflective, humorous and fantastical, the pieces that make up this anthology are highly individual, perceptive and entertaining.

All of us involved in the Italo-Irish Literature Exchange are grateful to our supporters and not least to the publishers of ‘Lost Between’ and ‘Tra una vita e l’altra’ – Dan Bolger of New Island and Luigi Brioschi of Guanda respectively.

Particular thanks go to Renata Sperandio and her staff at the Istituto Italiano di Cultura for hosting what promises to be a memorable evening of readings from the anthology by Sean Hardie, Afric McGlinchey, Liz McManus, Nuala Ní Chonchúir and Federica Sgaggio. Music will be performed by Giulio ‘Julyo’ d’Agostino.

Official hashtag: #irishitaliananthology.