Born in Florence in 1936, Dacia Maraini has for many years worked as one of Italy’s most committed and widely-acclaimed feminist authors. She has won various awards in recognition of her literary contributions: the Formentor Prize for L'età del malessere (1963); the Premio Fregene for Isolina (1985); the Premio Campiello and Book of the Year Award for La lunga vita di Marianna Ucrìa (1990); and the Premio Strega for Buio (1999). She co-founded the Teatro del Porcospino in the 1960s and established the feminist experimental theatre La Maddalena in Rome in 1973. Several films have been made from her books, and she herself has written screenplays for directors such as Pier Paolo Pasolini, Marco Ferreri, Carlo Di Palma, and Margarethe Von Trotta. In 2013, Irish Braschi's biographical documentary I Was Born Travelling recounted the story of Maraini's life, focusing in particular on her childhood imprisonment in a concentration camp in Japan during World War II, and the journeys she made around the world with her partner Alberto Moravia and close friends Pier Paolo Pasolini and Maria Callas.

Sguardo a Oriente is a collection of reportages, memories, and stories about various Asian countries, including Afghanistan, China, Korea, Japan, India, Iran, Palestine, Pakistan, Syria, Tibet, Turkey, Vietnam, and Yemen. In this book, Maraini's language takes on a new voice, exploring the typical pace of travel books. Her writing style reflects that of her grandmother Yoï, her father Fosco, and her mother Topazia, who all loved to travel and tell stories about their experiences and the people they met on their journeys.

This event is part of the XXIII Week of Italian Language in the World and is co-sponsored by the Consulate of Italy in Detroit, the Dante Alighieri Society of Michigan, and the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures.

The conversation will take place primarily in English, Italian and non-Italian speakers are all welcome to join!
For more information please email Giulia Riccò at gricco@umich.edu.