Percy Bysshe Shelley and the Italian language. An exploration of the poet’s writings in Italian 

A talk by Valentina Varinelli, current Northern Bridge Research Fellow at the Keats-Shelley House 

Friday 15 November at 5 p.m.

Advance booking not essential

Participation is included in the standard museum entrance ticket

ABSTRACT: Like many of his contemporaries, Percy Bysshe Shelley began to study Italian at a young age by reading Italian literature. Later, in the course of his four-year residence in Italy, Shelley started writing in Italian, and he produced a number of literary and non-literary works in that language. These include self-translations, original verse and prose compositions, private letters, and a theatre review. None of Shelley’s writings in Italian were published in his lifetime, and so far they have received limited scholarly attention. However, these works are an integral part of the poet’s experience of Italy, and they attest to his direct engagement with the contemporary Italian cultural, political, and literary situation. 

Valentina Varinelli is an AHRC-funded PhD student at Newcastle University. Her research project consists in a literary and linguistic analysis and a new edition of Percy Bysshe Shelley’s verse and prose writings in Italian. Her research interests include the works of Mary Shelley, Romantic theories and practice of translation, Anglo-Italian literary relations, travel writing in Italy, textual editing. Valentina is assistant editor and co-translator of the latest two-volume Italian anthology of Percy Bysshe Shelley’s works (Meridiani Mondadori, 2018), and is responsible for the translation and editorial commentary of a number of prose pieces, including the Shelleys’ History of a Six Weeks’ Tour.