Event

Acclaimed translator of Elena Ferrante’s novels and former editor at the New Yorker, Ann Goldstein is joining the University of Pennsylvania to discuss the new translation of Alba de Céspedes’ Forbidden Notebook, originally published in Italian in 1952. A New York Times Notable Book of 2023, New Statesman Best Book of 2023, and a Mother Jones Favorite Book of 2023, Forbidden Notebook has been defined as “an exquisite, crafted portrayal of domestic life that recognizes the universality of human aspirations.” Alba De Céspedes (1911-1997) was a bestselling Italian Cuban feminist author, who, in addition to novels, stories, and poems, wrote for the cinema, theater, radio, and television. She was briefly imprisoned for antifascism, and one of her novels, Nessuno torna indietro (1938), was banned in Italy. Its translation into English by Goldstein will come out next year (There’s No Turning Back, forthcoming February 2025). Goldstein’s translations bring de Céspedes work to a larger international audience and a broad and interdisciplinary context.

Goldstein has translated works by Pasolini and Baricco among others and is the editor of the Completed Works of Primo Levi in English. She has been the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and awards from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

This event is cosponsored by the Center for Italian Studies and Italian Consulate.