Following the recent screening of Fuori at the 17th Italian Film Festival of Minneapolis / St. Paul, many attendees shared that they wished they had been able to participate in our earlier Circolo dedicated to Goliarda Sapienza. In response to this renewed interest, we are pleased to offer this Circolo Letterario again on March 29.
Presented in English by Pieranna Garavaso, professor emerita at the University of Minnesota Morris, this Circolo will focus on the life and work of writer Goliarda Sapienza (1924–1996), author of the now celebrated novel L’arte della gioia (The Art of Joy, 1998). Sapienza’s writing, long overlooked in her lifetime, has come to be recognized for its daring exploration of personal freedom, female autonomy, and the quest for authenticity in 20th-century Italy. The first section of L’arte della gioia has also recently been brought to the screen in a successful four-part television series of the same name, directed by Valeria Golino, further renewing interest in Sapienza’s work. At the festival, audiences were deeply moved by Fuori, directed by Mario Martone, which brings to life a pivotal chapter of Sapienza’s story described in her book L'università di Rebibbia, recounting her time in Rome’s Rebibbia prison.
Through both her literature and this cinematic portrait, we will discuss the social, cultural, and political context that shaped Sapienza’s life and her fearless, uncompromising voice.
Pieranna Garavaso is native Italian and came to the US to earn a PhD in Philosophy (at the U of Nebraska Lincoln). She taught Philosophy at the University of Minnesota Morris for 34 years. She was awarded the UMN Morris Alumni Association Teaching Award (2003), the Horace T. Morse Alumni Association Undergraduate Teaching Award (2004) and the UMN Morris Faculty Research Award (2017). Her areas of research include History of Analytic Philosophy, Philosophy of Mathematics, and Feminist Philosophies. She has published articles in Italian and English and authored, co-authored or edited several books; the last collection she has edited is the Bloomsbury Companion to Analytic Feminism (2018). As Emerita/retired she plans to devote more time to reading and discussing Italian literature.
In 2021, ICC was appointed Presidio Letterario of the Società Dante Alighieri (DA), one of the most important Italian institutions for the promotion and appreciation of Italian language and culture since 1889. ICC is now part of a network of cultural centers in Italy and abroad promoting events and initiatives related to Italian literature. Since 2009 DA has officially been part of the jury of Premio Strega, the most prestigious Italian literary award.
