Poetry, Italian women writers, workshops and new reviews

Because of the pandemic, the staycation and the lockdown, I spent most of my time at home and could commit to my writing and to my study especially during the summer but also in the autumn. I completed my PhD thesis on Margaret Atwood in the summer and had feedbacks from my supervisors in autumn. Then I submitted my thesis on 26 November and soon felt immensely relieved. I still have to pass the Viva, that is, an exam with three examiners, one internal and two external, who are now reading my work and will get back to me in a couple of months hopefully. I may pass, fail or they might suggest making changes to my work and resubmit it. In the meantime, I am keeping busy with my work at school. I have also attended poetry workshops, zoom meetings with my fellow writers, I have read extensively and worked on my creative writing.

At ISL London my Italian students took part in a poetry reading at Gunnersbury park where they read the Italian poems they had created during class. Finally, they collected the poems and their English translation in an anthology: Il sentiero della poesia (Poetry trail), which we printed at school. It was a great achievement; the final product is brilliant and I am very proud of them. Here are two examples of their fantastic work:

Pagina Bianca 

La paura della pagina bianca come 

La paura del vuoto spaziale o 

La paura di cadere dal grattacielo 

Poi c’è la maestra arrabbiata che stai dormendo 

Ma tu non vuoi svegliarti... 

White Page 

The fear of the white page like 

The fear of the void or 

The fear of falling from the skyscraper 

Then there is the angry teacher because you are sleeping 

But you don't want to wake up... 

Lorenzo Giovannini (G 8)

Vecchia Amica Mia 

Nella nebbia del mattino 

Una figura avanza 

Persa nella sua malinconica danza 

Incontra il suo destino 

L’allegra morte la saluta felice 

Abbracciandola come un vecchio amico 

Proveniente da un luogo antico 

Con la sua aria d’ingannatrice 

L’aveva imbrogliato 

Sussurrando fandonie e bugie 

Piccole parole ma solo diavolerie 

E dal sole delle sue promesse era rimasto abbagliato 

Dear Old Friend

In the morning mist 

A figure advances 

Lost in its melancholic dance 

It meets its destiny 

The cheery death greets her happily 

Hugging her like an old friend 

Coming from an ancient place 

With her air of deceit 

She had tricked him 

Whispering nonsense and lies 

Small little words but only devilries 

And from the sun of her promises he was dazzled 

Cecilia Vecchi (G 10)

Alda Merini

Grazia Deledda

We also had a discussion in class about Italian women writers. We are studying Grazia Deledda and Elsa Morante among other authors in the prose unit and I told them that when I attended high school in the late 1970s there was not one woman author in my Italian anthology and it was the same for my husband who lived in a different part of Italy at the time, in Veneto. I told them I would check if things have changed in the meantime after the ongoing feminist fights and the MeToo movement. So I asked my sister who lives in Monterotondo near Rome and teaches Italian in a high school. She told me that in the Italian anthology they use at her school only one woman writer is mentioned in a short paragraph: Grazia Deledda, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1926. My sister teaches her students other women author but this is her personal choice. She also checked with her colleagues who teach in different schools and realised it is a common trend, women writers are ignored or barely mentioned. Therefore, Italian students don’t study Italian women authors and consequently know little about them.

Elsa Morante

Apparently it doesn’t matter if most of the Italian women writers were popular and successful during their lifetime, sold millions of books, won awards or worked for important newspapers. They broadcast program on them on RAI from time to time but this is not enough, women authors should be present in school programs too. I am speaking of authors such as Grazia Deledda, Sibilla Aleramo, Alda Merini, Elsa Morante, Natalia Ginzburg, Lalla Romano, Matilde Serao, Oriana Fallaci, Dacia Maraini and many others. Here is a good long list on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Italian_women_writers or just google ‘Italian women writers’ and you will be spoiled for choice.

Natalia Ginzburg

I attended several poetry workshops in the autumn with The Poetry School and Second Light network for women poets. The tutors, Hannah Lowe, Helen Ivory and Sarah Westcott, were brilliant. I had the opportunity to write new poems and am thinking of organising a new complete collection in about a year’s time. I also attended the launch of Pascale Petit’s new collection, Tiger Girl, in a zoom meeting organised by Bloodaxe Books, and the great Margaret Atwood’s new collection launch, Dearly, organised by Fane. It was so emotional to see Atwood in her house during the talk. Her new poems are a revelation. She said that the poems of the collection come from ‘a drawer of writing’ from her teenage years that she then rearranged, revised and typed them. The final versions are poignant as ever and close to the issues of our damaged world. After the foreword, there is the list of her incredible achievements: fifteen poetry collections plus Dearly, seventeen novels, eight books of

shorter fiction, ten non-fiction books, seven children’s books, and three Graphic novels. It is unbelievable how a single person can produce so much and at such high level in a life time. I wonder why the Swedish Academy hasn’t awarded her the Nobel Prize for Literature yet. The poems of this collection deal with issues and themes dear to Atwood: environmental concerns, encounters with animals and mythical beasts, myths and legends as well as political issues. She explores, suggests and plays; she is always sharp, humorous and everchanging in her writing. Her love of life and curiosity and passion for whatever concerns our world come through from her poetry as in her previous works. Here is her poem ‘Dearly’. She said she wrote it in 2017 while walking back to her Bed and Breakfast slowly because of a problem with her knees in Stratford, Ontario:

Dearly

It’s an old word, fading now.

Dearly did I wish.

Dearly did I long for.

I loved him dearly.

I make my way along the sidewalk

mindfully, of my wrecked knees

about which I give less of a shit

than you may imagine

since there are other things, more important—

wait for it, you’ll see—

bearing half a coffee

in a paper cup with— 

dearly do I regret it—

a plastic lid—

trying to remember what words once meant.

Dearly.

How was it used?

Dearly beloved.

Dearly beloved, we are gathered.

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here

in this forgotten photo album

I came across recently.

Fading now,

the sepias, the black and whites, the colour prints,

everyone so much younger.

The Polaroids.

What is a Polaroid? asks the newborn.

Newborn a decade ago.

How to explain?

You took the picture and then it came out the top.

The top of what?

It’s that baffled look I see a lot.

So hard to describe

the smallest details of how—

all these dearly gathered together—

of how we used to live.

We wrapped up garbage

In newspaper tied with string.

What is newspaper?

You see what I mean.

String though, we still have string.

It links things together.

A string of pearls.

That’s what they would say.

How to keep track of the days?

Each one shining, each one alone,

each one then gone.

I’ve kept some of them in a drawer on paper,

those days, fading now.

Beads can be used for counting.

As in rosaries.

But I don’t like stones around my neck.

Along this street there are many flowers,

fading now because it is August

and dusty, and heading into fall.

Soon the chrysanthemums will bloom,

flowers of the dead, in France.

Don’t think this is morbid.

It’s just reality.

So hard to describe the smallest details of flowers.

This is a stamen, nothing to do with men.

This is a pistil, nothing to do with guns.

It’s the smallest details that foil translators

and myself too, trying to describe.

See what I mean.

You can wander away. You can get lost.

Words can do that.

Dearly beloved, gathered here together

in this closed drawer,

fading now, I miss you.

I miss the missing, those who left earlier.

I miss even those who are still here.

I miss you all dearly.

Dearly do I sorrow for you.

Sorrow: that’s another word

you don’t hear much any more.

I sorrow dearly.

I published a few poems online too, here are the links:

Helmets https://www.allegropoetry.org/p/issue-25-september-2020.html 

The Peak https://npdsurrey.wordpress.com/2020/08/30/the-peak-by-carla-scarano-dantonio/#like-10094

Masking Faces https://npdsurrey.wordpress.com/2020/08/26/masking-faces-by-carla-scarano-dantonio/#like-10090 

Parsley; Only a cake https://thehighwindowpress.com/2020/12/04/the-high-window-issue-20-winter-2020/#Carla%20Scarano 

And had a poem published in Dempsey and Windle’s anthology What’s Next?, ‘Masking Faces’. 

My articles and reviews are online too:

Art reviews:

Kimono: Kyoto to catwalk

https://londongrip.co.uk/2020/09/kimono-kyoto-to-catwalk/?wppa-occur=1&wppa-cover=0&wppa-album=185&wppa-photo=3444 

Raphael: Prince Albert’s passion

https://wokingwriters.wordpress.com/2020/10/16/raphael-prince-alberts-passion/ 

Artemisia

https://londongrip.co.uk/2020/11/artemisia-national-gallery-review-by-carla-scarano/?wppa-occur=1&wppa-cover=0&wppa-album=193&wppa-photo=3633 

Tantra: enlightenment to revolution

https://londongrip.co.uk/2020/10/tantra-enlightenment-to-revolution-british-museum-review-by-carla-scarano/?wppa-occur=1&wppa-cover=0&wppa-album=189&wppa-photo=3584 

Articles:

Cycling solo: a glimpse into storytelling

https://thebluenib.com/cycling-solo-a-glimpse-into-storytelling-by-carla-scarano-dantonio/ 

Poetry reviews:

Polly Roberts, Grieving with Animals

https://thebluenib.com/carla-scarano-reviews-grieving-with-the-animals-polly-roberts/ 

Derek Adams, Exposure: Snapshots from the Life of Lee Miller

https://thehighwindowpress.com/2020/10/05/reviews-of-recent-poetry/#like-10152 

Clare Williamson, Visiting the Minotaur

https://www.writeoutloud.net/public/blogentry.php?blogentryid=104028 

Denise Bundred, Litany of a Cardiologist

https://londongrip.co.uk/2020/06/london-grip-poetry-review-denise-bundred/ 

R. L. Wilson, Backstage to Paradise (South Poetry 62)

Belinda Cooke, Stem

https://londongrip.co.uk/2020/08/london-grip-poetry-review-belinda-cooke/

Belinda Cooke, Forms of Exile: Selected Poems of Marina Tsvetaeva

https://thebluenib.com/forms-of-exile-selected-poems-of-marina-tsvetaeva-translated-by-belinda-cooke-reviewed/ 

Alex Josephy, Naked since Faversham

https://londongrip.co.uk/2020/07/london-grip-poetry-review-alex-josephy-2/ 

Susan Stewart, Love Lessons: Selected Poems of Alda Merini

https://thehighwindowpress.com/2020/11/05/poetry-by-alda-merini-and-dawn-gorman-reviewed-by-carla-scarano-and-ruth-sharman/#like-10378 

Rebecca Bilkau, Sunday’s Child

https://londongrip.co.uk/2020/09/london-grip-poetry-review-rebecca-bilkau/ 

Patrick Osada, From the Family Album

https://thebluenib.com/carla-scarano-dantonio-reviews-patrick-osadas-from-the-family-album/

Phoebe Stuckes, Platinum Blonde

https://www.writeoutloud.net/public/blogentry.php?blogentryid=108008 

Belinda Singleton and Kathryn Southworth, Wavelength: a dialogue on light and sound

https://londongrip.co.uk/2020/10/london-grip-poetry-review-belinda-singleton-kathryn-southworth/ 

Jim Johnstone, The Chemical Life 

https://www.thetemzreview.com/review-carla-scarano-dantonio.html 

During Halloween time, I enjoyed very much the Grimm brothers’ fairy tales revisited by Philip Pullman in his book Grimm Tales for Young and Old  and read by actors from the Unicorn Theatre:

Rumpelstiltskin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5YYc6HI7Bg

The brave little tailor https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_epVbvNDs2c

Hansel and Gretel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XVbCmy4bco

Cinderella https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8fIdsiIooI

The devil with the three golden hairs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GHGcAszF7E

The actors are brilliant; they make the stories alive and pleasantly spooky.

In my efforts to chill out during the weekends after commuting to London during the week, I am knitting and crocheting scarves for my children for Christmas as well as making cakes and puddings and listening to old Italian songs. One morning I woke up with a song in my mind my father used to sing that dates back to the 1940s. I did a bit of research on YouTube and found some other hits by the same singer: Natalino Otto, popular from the 1940s until 1960s. His songs were innovative as were inspired by American swing and jazz music and adapted to the Italian style. He achieved great success selling millions of records. Here are some links to his songs and lyrics in the English translation:

Il pinguino innamorato

The penguin in love

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcCYB9zwJ60

Lyrics: https://www.musixmatch.com/lyrics/Silvana-Fioresi-e-Trio-Lescano/Il-pinguino-innamorato/translation/italian

Un bacio a mezzanotte

A midnight kiss

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxqmGq-cXrQ

Lyrics:https://lyricstranslate.com/en/un-bacio-mezzanotte-midnight-kiss.html

Ho un sassolino nella scarpa

I've got a pebble in my shoe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wpo7S3q_8u4

Lyrics: https://lyricstranslate.com/en/ho-un-sassolino-nella-scarpa-ive-got-pebble-my-shoe.html

Mamma voglio anch'io la fidanzata

Mama, I want a girlfriend too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4VuYZft4iQ

Lyrics: https://lyricstranslate.com/en/mamma-voglio-anchio-la-fidanzata-mama-i-want-girlfriend-too.html

Sola me ne vo per la città

Searching for You (I Walk Alone Through the City)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUelyKriYxw

Lyrics: https://lyricstranslate.com/en/cerca-di-te-solo-me-ne-vo-la-citt%C3%A0-searching-you-i-walk-alone-through-city.html

And now I am looking forward to the Christmas break and meeting my future granddaughter Violetta. 💜

Deepening into autumn: the effects of the second wave

 It was a shock to realise that we are in a Covid-19 second wave as it was predicted last summer. I thought it wouldn’t happen but I had to surrender to the evidence. The Italian government decided to implement a partial lockdown with a tier system: red, orange and yellow, when the death toll rose to 200 per day with peaks of 500-600. The tier system was compared to Dante’s Hell (red), Purgatory(orange) and Paradise (yellow), and to the colours of wine, Lambrusco, Orange Wine and Moscadello di Montalcino. At first, the worse areas were Lombardia, Piemonte and Valle d’Aosta in the north and Calabria in the south. A few days ago, Tuscany, Abruzzo and Campania were declared red zones too. Things change from one day to the next and it is difficult to make plans. Around Italy there were

protests and some riots against the curfew at 6 pm and the closure of shops, bars and restaurants in the red areas; however, some people claimed the measures came too late. But the situation is critical and the hospitals are almost full. In this confusion a nice note, a child sent a letter to Giuseppe Conte, the Prime Minister, asking if Father Christmas will be allowed to circulate and deliver presents. Conte replied assuring the child that Father Christmas has a special pass. Surprisingly hairdressers and barbers are still open as well as primary and middle schools, though secondary schools are closed. Some towns in the north forbid the access to non-residents placing concrete barrier at the entrance. We all hope for a better scenario before Christmas holidays and for a reliable vaccine.

My husband and I have decided not to fly to Italy during Christmas holidays as the situation is unpredictable and though it might improve, it gets worse as soon as people move around. We are afraid we would be trapped in endless quarantine periods both in Italy and in the UK and, of course, there is always the possibility of catching the virus. Besides, I have had some health issues recently due to my bad bones, that is, osteoporosis. My back ached so much at a certain point that it was painful even to stand up and sit down. I thought it was a muscle problem, as it had happened in the past, but the x-rays revealed a fracture in a vertebra so the doctor asked for more checks. I feel my spine does not support me properly. I often need to rest, sitting or lying down. I stopped exercising (I used to attend yoga classes, go to the gym and cycled every day during the summer) because of the pain and I am also afraid of breaking some other bones. The doctor gave me strong vitamin D and calcium tablets and I feel better on the whole though a bit worried. I still walk, as at the school where I teach the main campus and the college are at a distance of about a mile. My asthma got worse as well, maybe due to the kyphosis that is affecting my spine. Luckily my diabetes 2 condition are stable though I re-gained the two kilos I had lost during the summer. I am trying to fight back this general weakening that in my worse days I call ‘a disaster’. Buying new clothes cheers me up as usual as I can see myself in a better shape despite all. I am wearing loose dungarees from TU for the autumn that I match with Primark turtle necks (I have a sort of collection now) and thick coloured tights. I wear flats or light boots and a leather jacket. I still put on lipstick, though nobody can see it because of the face mask, and three earrings per ear I mix and match with the colours of my clothes. Face masks are a must now, so I match them with my outfits buying new ones and making them with remnants of fabrics or crocheting. I am slowing down in my routines but luckily my brain still works all right and I can produce creative things.

During half term week we visited our daughter Valentina and celebrated Halloween with her in her new accommodation near Redhill. We prepared for her a bat kit that included a face mask too. At the moment she is very interested in sorting out colours and stuffing them in socks. She spends hours doing this. We could briefly visit our sons in the north of England too and brought them Italian biscuits and pasta I buy at the Italian deli shop. My daughter in law is at the end of her pregnancy and we are all looking forward to seeing Violetta, at least in photos or videos if the lockdown doesn’t ease off. My mum is safe in Italy though I am sorry I won’t be able to see her at Christmas.

I am enjoying teaching at ISL London very much; my students are very motivated and worked hard on poetry in the first unit. We are in the process of collecting the Italian poems they produced in a booklet with the English translations too. They performed their poems together with their fellow students in their mother tongue at Gunnersbury Park in October just before half term. Now we are studying prose, short stories. I selected some classical authors of Italian literature such as Giovanni Verga, Grazia Deledda and Luigi Pirandello as well as  contemporary ones, like Stefano Benni, Marco Lodoli, Leonardo Sciascia and Elsa Morante. 

During the weekend I try to chill out as much as possible. First I catch up with house work, then concentrate on my creative activities, crochet, drawing and writing. I study too, Margaret Atwood, of course, and other authors that inspire me such as Sylvia Plath. Watching TV is my evening pastime. One of my favourite programs on the Italian TV is a new series on RAI 1 about a sostituto procuratore (deputy public prosecutor), Imma Tataranni. It is set in Matera, that is, in Lucania in the south of Italy. The stories are inspired by the books of Mariolina Venezia, a poet and writer from Matera. For me

Imma is better than the acclaimed Montalbano. She is clever, determined and intuitive, similarly to Vera, the Yorkshire detective. She is sharp and never gives up until she solves the case. Her colleagues say she has ‘a bad character’ but she is so efficient and experienced that at the end she always gets what she wants. Her husband is a romantic Italian guy who loves her dearly but they are not a perfect couple. Though they enjoy sex together, they have secret dreams of younger partners. Imma’s other characteristics are her lack of domestic skills, such as cooking, she simply has not time, and her cute outfits, like leopard patterns, pink coats and tight tops. She is brilliant! I hope the BBC is going to broadcast the series sooner or later so we can watch it again. 

Here is a link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNrejqaJ5iA

In the meantime, we look forward to Christmas hoping for a better and always creative scenario.

Staycation: spending time with family, Arundel castle and Newcastle

Our summer staycation included an inspiring visit to Arundel castle and seeing our sons in Leeds and Newcastle when the tier 2 was not yet in action. Looking back now, it seems it was a wonderful free time, though we were not aware of it. We could hug each other, walk side by side, go to the restaurant and sit at the same table and even linger in their apartments as long as we wished. Now we skype and are allowed only to see them outside, though it is discouraged by the Covid rules. And Christmas is a big question mark.

Arundel is a special place, not just the castle but also the town around it. We had planned the visit with my son Lorenzo and daughter in law Layla who had come to see us south. It was such a happy time! The castle belongs to the Dukes of Norfolk and is in remarkably good condition with beautiful

redesigned gardens around. Some parts of the castle date back to 1067. It was damaged during the Civil War and rebuilt in the Victorian period in Gothic style by Henry, the15^th Duke of Norfolk, in honour of his late wife. The interior is impressive, it is not only well preserved, but beautiful furniture is also on display together with pictures and china pieces all elegantly arranged in the apartments. Walking around is a pleasure. The pieces collected are fascinating and include portraits by Van Dyck, Gainsborough, Reynolds and Lawrence, and even pictures by Canaletto. In the main Hall there is a real lion skin with head and open jaws and a big portrait of Cardinal Newman as well as pictures of family members with Pope John Paul II. My favourite place was the library where cosy corners with soft chairs and sofas are arranged along bookshelves packed with leather bound books locked behind wires. 

The gardens are charming; they have been redesigned by Duchess Georgina, the wife of the actual owner, Duke Edward Fitzalan-Howard. There are extraordinary arrangements of flower beds and roots and the leitmotif are constructions in wood and shells, sort of temples that emerge from the foliage and at the end of pathways. Stone fountains are surrounded by exotic plants such as echium that mingle with the more common wild flowers, verbena, foxgloves, cardoons and roses. Red hibiscus flowers are in the hothouse and apple arches were loaded with fruits. The beauty of the garden is in its arrangement that looks both pristine but also wild in some parts.

When we completed the tour, we wandered around the town centre visiting all the antique shops in the high street. I counted five selling different kinds of things, all interesting to browse and with affordable prices. I managed to find something to buy, of course, three dolls for my collection, two dolls from Japan and a papier mâché one from Mexico. We had a late lunch in a pizzeria and finally headed home. It was one of the best days of my summer holiday.

In late summer we visited Warwick castle too. I was impressed by the edifice and its history. William the Conqueror built the first castle but massive reconstructions and alterations were made throughout centuries. Nevertheless, the castle maintained its importance due to its strategic position on the river Avon and eventually was sold by David Greville to the Tussauds Group and absorbed into Merlin Entertainments in 2007. Maybe for this reason, in most of the rooms there are wax figures that re-create the ambience of the 19^th century; they look almost real according to Md Tussaud’s style.

In the afternoon we attended  a spectacular show of birds of prey at the boathouse with vultures, condors, eagles and falcons flying over our heads, looking fierce and proud. Unfortunately, all my pictures were blurred as the birds were too swift.

Newcastle was surprising, especially the castle. It is a sober edifice  whose construction started in the 12^th century near the first bridge that was built on the river Tyne by the Emperor Hadrian. It is a

Norman castle with beautiful mason work in the arches at the entrance. It was restored in the 19^th century but then the construction of the railway crossed the site and part of it had to be demolished. The castle keep can be visited until the top where we admired a magnificent view of Newcastle. It has a particular charm because it gives the idea of how life was in medieval time. In the evening we had dinner at Pani’s, a Sardinian restaurant with authentic Sardinian dishes and Sardinian waiters. We had Sardinian ravioli, caramelle (pasta stuffed with goat cheese) and even Sardinian beer. I loved it! We were able to relax and have a small vacation, though shorter than usual.