Thursday, November 16th, 2023

Georgetown’s Global Irish Studies, Department of Italian Studies, the Department of English, and the Italian Cultural Institute of Washington presented:

The Other’s Life. Joyce and Svevo: A Brilliant Friendship

 Professor Enrico Terrinoni

Thursday, November 16, 5:00-7:00 p.m. This event was free and open to the public.

This lecture launched Enrico Terrinino’s book The Other’s Life. Joyce and Svevo: A Brilliant Friendship. The text was recently published by Bompiano in August of 2023. Its pages contain the untold story of a rare friendship between two of the greatest writers of the 20th century. When James Joyce arrived in Trieste he was a rather rebellious Irishman who loved the Italian language and culture. He left his home country of Ireland, which he thought was under the double yoke of the British Empire and the Catholic Church. Svevo was a middle-aged gentleman of Jewish descent who worked in finance and was employed by his wife’s family firm. He would later become one of the main models for Joyce’s protagonist Leopold Bloom. Joyce came to teach English, and immediately stood out in Trieste for his unorthodox behavior. Svevo, a good-natured family man, noticed him and employed him as an educator. They soon started exchanging their writings and came to admire each other’s works. Their friendship grew out of strolling together, and the discussions that filled these walks. Their friendship would become further financially and professionally entwined. Their stories intersect just as their works. They intertwine as in a curious quantum entanglement.

Enrico Terrinoni is a Professor in Residence at the Centro Interdiciplinare ‘B. Segre’, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei and Professor of English Literature at the University for Foreigners in Perugia. He has translated works by Joyce, Wilde, Orwell, Shaw, Hawthorne and many others, winning various awards. He is the translator of works by Michael D. Higgins, President of Ireland. His portfolio includes Occult Joyce. The Hidden in Ulysses (2008), James Joyce e la fine del romanzo (2015), Oltre abita il silenzio. Tradurre la letteratura (2019) e Su tutti i vivi e i morti. Joyce a Roma (Jury Prize – Francesco De Sanctis Prize; Jury Prize – Viareggio-Rèpaci Prize). His bilingual annotated Ulysses (Bompiani 2021) won the Capalbio International Prize for Translation in 2022. 

This event was free and open to the public. If you wish to make a donation to support the Global Irish Studies series of free lectures and seminars, it will be gratefully received. Please go to our Giving page to make a tax-free donation or click on the button below: