John Cabot University-Institute for Creative Writing & Literary Translation

Interview with Professor Carlos Dews Alumni Affairs Coordinator Natalie Arrowsmith hosts a virtual interview between alumna Marialaura Grandolfo (Class of 2017) and current English Professor Car...

Congratulations to all the Creative Writing graduates in the JCU classes of 2020 and 2021!

John Cabot University Celebrates the Classes of 2020 and 2021 On May 17, John Cabot University honored the Classes of 2020 and 2021 in a hybrid Commencement event, in compliance with anti-COVID-19 safety protocols.

Alumnus Dario Diofebi Publishes First Novel Paradise, Nevada Alumnus Dario Diofebi did a graduate creative writing workshop at JCU in the summer of 2015. Dario recently published his novel "Paradise, Nevada."

Combining Filmmaking and Literature: Alumna Mariolina Castellaneta Alumna Mariolina Castellaneta (class of 2020) has recently been accepted for an M.A. in Directing at MetFilm School in Berlin.

Great news about a former CW Institute student! Congratulations Dario!

Alumnus Dario Diofebi Publishes First Novel Paradise, Nevada Alumnus Dario Diofebi did a graduate creative writing workshop at JCU in the summer of 2015. Dario recently published his novel "Paradise, Nevada."

Happy National Day from ! 🇮🇹📚🇺🇸

Learn more about studying abroad at in Rome, Italy by contacting [email protected]! 📧

Interview with English major and Creative Writing Minor Marilù Ciabattoni.

The World Is An Open Door: Student Marilù Ciabattoni English Literature Major Marilù Ciabattoni obtained internships with organizations such as the Dorothy Circus Gallery and the British School at Rome.

So proud of our alumna Shehrbano Naqvi!

Student Club Leader Spotlight: Marilù Ciabattoni, Class of 2021 - John Cabot University Blog I started pursuing my BA in English Literature with a minor in Creative Writing at John Cabot University in Fall 2018. I’m from Ascoli Piceno, Italy and I expect to graduate in Spring of 2021. From my very first semester at JCU, I started sending my poetry to The Matthew, which is JCU’s student-...

On Translating Poems While Riding the Metro in Rome The translator is a close reader. –Charles Simic, Snowy Morning Blues […] Or else: all is translation and every bit of us is lost in it (Or found […] –James Merrill, Lost in Translation * Under the…

A wonderful essay by a former CW Institute student.

When my boss made my body feel taboo Most of the time, we don't realize what workplace harassment even is. But the second you feel uncomfortable, you need to draw the line and say, no.

Professor Spotlight: Meet JCU's English Professor Carlos Dews - John Cabot University Blog Carlos Dews joined the faculty of John Cabot University in 2008 and was promoted to Full Professor in 2014. He also serves as the Director of the JCU Institute for Creative Writing and Literary Translation. Carlos Dews received his B.A. in Humanities from the University of Texas at Austin and an M.A...

"Hush" Online Book Presentation with Professor Carlos Dews and JCU Alumna Marialaura Grandolfo JCU Alumna Marialaura Grandolfo '17 will interview Professor Carlos Dews about his first novel

Frederika Randall (Dispatriata) — The Arkansas International Editor’s Note: In 1985, at the age of 37, Frederika Randall left the US for Italy, where she spent nearly all of the rest of her life. Her handle on Twitter was , and the following excerpt from My Dive, a memoir she completed shortly before her death on May 12 of this year, explores wh...

Opinion | How America Taught the World to Write Small It exported a literature of individualism and domesticity — not one of solidarity and big ideas.

JCU English Professor Carlos Dews Publishes First Novel, Hush JCU English Professor and Department Chair Carlos Dews recently published his first novel, "Hush," by Negative Capability Press

JCU Insights: Fall 2020 John Cabot University’s President Franco Pavoncello and Vice President for Strategic Initiatives and Operations Jose B. Alvarez provide an inside look at the...

Professor Grimaldi-Donahue to Participate in Bread Loaf Writers' Conference | John Cabot University News Professor Allison Grimaldi-Donahue will read translations of new poems by Italian poet Marilena Renda during the 2020 online Bread Loaf Writers' Conference.

We are all very proud of Jacopo Olmo Antinori, Valedictorian of the JCU Class of 2020, English Major and Creative Writing Minor! Way to go Jacopo!

Meet Class of 2020 Valedictorian Jacopo Olmo Antinori | John Cabot University News JCU’s Vice President and Dean of Academic Affairs Mary Merva is pleased to announce the Valedictorian for the Class of 2020, Jacopo Olmo Antinori.

Rome: Keats-Shelley House launches digital archive The Keats-Shelley House Museum in Rome has launched its new digital collections of manuscripts and art celebrating the lives and works of the Romantic poets Keats and Shelley.

Inspiring work by English majors and minors and Creative Writing minors in the latest issue of The Matthew, John Cabot University's student newspaper.

🗞The Matthew is proud to present you with our last issue of the semester. We hope you all are safe and healthy! You can find this 22 page issue in your JCU email or on thematthew.org ! Happy reading!🗞

New work by our very own Professor Allison Grimaldi-Donahue

Evergreen Review – Evergreen Review Laurie Stone | Lisa Dierbeck | George Kalogeris | Alexandra O'Hara | Suzanne Gardinier | Cat Fitzpatrick | William JamiesonIbtisam Azem | José García Escobar | Belén Fernández | Alfian Sa'at | Ann Shelton | Alle C. Hall | Brontez Purnell Miguel Gutierrez | Natascha Elena Uhlmann | Lonely Christo...

Today, in Italy, we celebrate Liberation Day, a national Italian holiday commemorating the end of N**i occupation during World War II.

In December 1941, on the breakdown of relations between Germany and its allies and America, the Keats-Shelley House entered its "underground period", assuming an anonymous obscurity even in its outward appearance. The external plaques were removed and the House became another unexceptional feature of the architecture of the Scalinata.

Though the celebrated library of 8,000 volumes remained in place, two small boxes were sent to the Abbey of Montecassino on December 14 1942. Their contents included the famous last drawing of Keats by Severn, two first editions of Keats - Endymion and Lamia, Keats's own drawing of the Sosibios Vase, locks of Keats's and Shelley's hair, and letters of Shelley, Byron, Leigh Hunt, Trelawny, Mary Shelley and the Brownings. The boxes were sealed but were left unlabelled and it was this omission which ultimately saved them from German inspection.

Here’s a recollection of Vera Cacciatore - our then curator - of these terrible days:
“Those few visitors who succeeded in reaching the second storey found no welcome and no reply at the marked door: it was as if in a period of two tenancies the old tenant had departed for a destination unknown. And indeed there had been a departure.”

After the allied landings and Anglo-American advance Cassino became the centre of the German defence. On October 1943 the Abbey’s archivist Don Mauro Inguanez, fearing that a serious battle was imminent, moved the treasures of the Keats-Shelley House to his own cell and crated them with his own possessions. On October 30th the archivist's belongings travelled by lorry for Rome and one month later the Curator of the House collected the boxes and returned them to their home in Piazza di Spagna. The Abbey was obliterated by allied bombing in February 1944.

Following the arrival of the Allies in Rome in June 1944, the House was at once reopened and the boxes of manuscripts unsealed in the presence of the British and American Ambassadors. The House was crowded with soldiers who came to reflect and to recover. The father of one of these soldiers wrote later that his son had found there serenity and strength amid a sorrow like that of Ruth:

"when sick for home
She stood in tears amid the alien corn"

Ode to a Nightingale,
John Keats

Current Issue Issue 11 To download the PDF click on the cover of the magazine.      

Join poet & host @jahanxajavi and me for @suddenlyeverywednesday on WSND-FM Radio 88.9 Wednesday April 8th 10pm-midnight EST for a bit of fiction, music & more. (Rome-friendly replay start 4am EST/10am GMT+2 Thurs 4/9.) Stream it on wsnd.nd.edu (Notre Dame’s Fine Arts Station.) I’ll be reading a story set in a distant epoch before smartphones & Covid19 & dedicating it to our writing community in Rome. #fiction #eightball #shortstories #stayhome #writingcommunity @santafewritersproject

John Cabot University Participates in Virtual Flashmob in Honor of Dante | John Cabot University News Members of the JCU Departments of English and Modern Languages participated in a virtual flashmob in honor of Dante, author of the Divine Comedy.

2020 International Booker Prize Longlist Announced | The Booker Prizes

Shehrbano "Sherry" Naqvi, a JCU graduate in English literature and Creative Writing, will be featured at the 11th Karachi Literature Festival! Congratulations Sherry!

https://www.karachiliteraturefestival.com/?s=shehrbano

shehrbano | Karachi Literature Festival

Feasting on Words: English Professor Alex Gregor English Language and Literature Professor Alex Gregor recently published the poetry collection The Pollen Path (Radioactive Cloud, 2019).

Why Writing Better Will Make You a Better Person Two philosophy professors make the case that improving your writing is the ethical thing to do. And they’re serious.

‘The Ferrante Effect’: In Italy, Women Writers Are Ascendant “My Brilliant Friend” and Elena Ferrante’s other best-selling books are inspiring female novelists and shaking up the country’s male-dominated literary establishment.

Teacher who helps migrant children turn pain into prize poetry One child wrote of a su***de bomber; another of the ‘sweet honey mangoes’ of home. Kate Clanchy helps them tune into their inner voice

Plastic’s Republic: Barbie's Impact on Female Beauty John Cabot University welcomed author and poet Giovanna Riccio to present her latest book, Plastic’s Republic – Featuring the Barbie Suite.

Deep Thinkers Needed: English Professor Allison Grimaldi-Donahue Writer, translator, and editor, Professor Allison Grimaldi-Donahue joined JCU’s faculty in 2017. She teaches English Composition and Creative Writing.