Udine

Udine is a small but gorgeous city two hours north of Venice by train, the second largest after Trieste in the Friuli-Venezia Guilia region, the north-easternmost region of Italy, which shares its borders with Austria to the north, Slovenia to the east and the Adriatic Sea to the south.

In March I received a phone call from David Malouf, who offered to put me in contact with Antonella Riem, lecturer in English Language and Literature at the Universita degli Studi di Udine. Antonella, a close friend of David’s from his time in Italy, was hosting a conference at the university, and I soon received a call from her inviting me to attend and give a reading as part of a session that featured some other Australians.

Naturally, I accepted, and quickly discovered that the Australian contingent consisted of the Melbourne-based poet and novelist, Tom Petsinis (who was B.R.Whiting resident in 1999), Dr. Richard Nile (founder of the Australian Public Intellectual Network, editor of the Journal of Australian Studies – which published me in their ‘New Talents’ edition a few years back – and visiting professor of Australian studies at a university in Copenhagen) and Richard’s wife, novelist Fiona Murphy.

The hospitality I was to receive at the conference came as something of a shock – I expected to be lodged in either a boarding house, or a college on the campus (which apparently don’t really exist), but instead, I found myself in the elegant, four star Ambassador Hotel, one of the best in the city. If this wasn’t enough, I soon found out that all meals were catered for, including dinner each night at a different restaurant – AND that we were going to be put up for two nights in Venice by the university. Well.

When I booked my train, I decided to book a ticket to Trieste also, and a backpackers place for one night. I figured, while I was in the region, this was my one chance to visit the city famous for being James Joyce’s place of self-exile, as it were; also, I discovered during my research that the Duino Castle – where German poet Rainer Mariner Rilke wrote his great Duino Elegies – was only half an hour from Trieste by bus. So my itinerary read, Udine (three nights), Venice (two nights) and Trieste (one night – but arriving at lunch on the Monday and not departing until late Tuesday night). (Venice and Trieste posts to follow!)

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Below is a summary of my time in Udine; it essentially in note form, but then to write up the proceedings of the entire conference would take a serious amount of time and effort, which I should be dedicating to the writing of poems.

Conference Diary

Wednesday 18 April

Catch the early train from Trastevere-Roma Termini-Venice Mestre-Udine. Give up the window seat I’d booked so that a tourist can sit with his family – not a good idea, as I’d planned to catch up on sleep during the trip, and now have nowhere to rest my head. The obscenely well-dressed man sitting opposite me (dark suit, mauve tie, laptop) disembarks in Florence. Change trains at Venice. Arrive in Udine with no idea about anything, but a quick phone-call to Antonella sorts me out. Stroll to the hotel, which bowls me over. Watch CNN in horror while resting on the bed, as news breaks of the Virginia Tech shootings, and wonder again at the almost pornographic depths to which these news stations delve into tragedies; it’s almost as though they relish them. Interesting dissection of US gun laws, revealing that the so-called ‘right to bear arms’ clause found in the US constitution is a complete misreading – what would be called a howler in any public commentary, what one Supreme Court judge has called the greatest hoax perpetrated on the American people (though, funnily enough, also by the American people). Quick jaunt through the city, the main Gothic church, the wonderful medieval and Renaissance architecture of the streets. Meet other delegates in the foyer for dinner at a nearby restaurant; accompanied by Raphael and Natalia, a very cool couple (she a South African spoken word artist, he a scholar of South African spoke word poetry!) whom I’ll get to know better over the next few days. Other delegates include four from India: S.L Bhyrappa (author of more than 20 novels), retired professor S. Ramaswamy (Bhyrappa’s English translator, three-time Fullbright holder, life-time fellow of Yale), K.C. Belliapa (Vice Chancellor of a university in northern India) and Saumitra Chakravarty (poet and translator). Am puzzled at dinner when Ramaswamy tells a story of Alexander the Great meeting with a particular Indian who, when offered the world by Alexander asks him to step out of the sunlight – for I know full well that this was Diogenes the Cynic, who was certainly not an Indian!

Thursday 19 April

Conference begins 9am at the university across town, to which we all walk as group. The room is packed with over a hundred students, both tertiary and secondary – which makes me slightly nervous ahead of my reading tomorrow afternoon. Antonella opens, followed by a keynote via video from Californian professor Riane Eisler, with a tough of the evangelical vibe (or is it just American?) as she stresses the need for models of partnership rather than domination – the breadth of subject matter, though, is remarkable and stimulating, ranging from cave paintings to contemporary economics. Reading by Bhyrappa from the English translations of his novels, though the translations are a let down particularly given Ramaswamy’s credentials – unfortunately, there’s not much worse than a series of poorly translated extended sex scenes, and in all honesty I have to restrain myself at times from succumbing to fits of laughter – which I’m sure is unfair on the original text. Lovely catered lunch in the courtyard, followed by wine and coffee. Terrific paper from Roberto Albarea (whose English is very creative) on education and alterity – he will be our guide in Venice. Rigorous and interesting papers on Renaissance literature; another on education by Davide Zoletto, one of numerous people with whom I will have stimulating conversation over the coming days. Dinner at a nearby restaurant, then a surprise cake organized by Vicky Petsinis (Tom’s wife, a school teacher whose organization skills kept us all from degenerating into a shambles over the conference and in Venice!) for Antonella’s birthday. Off to the theatre for a performance of Indian dancing by Ileana Citaristi and Saswat Joshi. Both are professional dancers, trained in India; Saswat in particular is phenomenal, looking just like one of the gods from the Hindu pantheon. Nightcap whiskey in the hotel bar – barman teaches me (the only patron) some of the Friulian dialect: ‘Mandi’ is the phrase used here for casual greetings and departures, like ‘ciao’ – its roots are fascintating: manus (hand) and di (God); ‘mandi’ meaning therefore ‘in the hand of God’.

Friday 20 April

The day of my reading. Morning begins with a video presentation sent from David Malouf (in absentia), reading from his new collection of short stories, Every Move You Make. (Recognise his living room, the fireplace, the indigenous paintings in the background.) Relish, as always, his peerless prose; thought he might’ve given a greeting in Italian for the benefit of the students. Three papers on Malouf’s fiction. Hang on every word of Franca Cavangoli’s, his Italian translator, as she discusses the difficulties of retaining Malouf’s music in translation. (This will provide the opening for the article I’m writing for the ALR on Malouf’s new collection of poems, to be published in The Australian in June.) Talk with Franca at lunch; later, after my own reading, she will invite me to Milan, where she works at the university (an invitation I intend to accept). She is also the Italian translator of J.M. Coetzee, V.S. Naipal, Toni Morrison, Nadine Gordimer and others. After lunch, my reading; I’m the last to read of the Australian panel, after Tom (reading from his new novel), Richard (who gives an impromptu on the role of Gallipoli in the Australian consciousness) and Fiona (also reading from her novel). Reading goes well; I try out all my new poems, and they seem well received. Some are sexy, some light, some heavy – many are set in Rome. Saumitra gives her paper on Toni Morrison and Mahasweta Devi, a subversive Indian writer. Back to the hotel briefly before dinner at a very funky restaurant (think Sydney, trendy fittings, cool music, cocktail bar and restaurant) called ‘My Way’ (ie. Sinatra, and the most common tune squeezed out of every accordion in Rome!). Most of us are buggered, and there are some grumblings about the length of time between courses – I can’t help but think, though, that complaining about the extended dining habits of Italy is a bit like complaining about cows on the roads in India. Talk translation with Davide – who teaches me the word for ‘crab claw’ (‘kela di grachio’) which I can’t help calling ‘kela di Gramsci’ or ‘the claw of Gramsci’ (Italian philosopher). After a few glasses of wine, this tickles me. Most delegates retire, but I stay at the restaurant with some of the postgrads and their friends (Marco, Marta, Laura, Raphael, Natalia) and Lance Henson, an American Indian (Cheyenne) poet who once drank with Tom Waits and Bukowski, and who shares their revolutionary spirit. Proceed to finish every bottle of wine on the table.

Saturday April 21

The last day of the conference is in fact a half-day, and perhaps the most diverse. Begins with readings from Lance Henson, Cheyenne poet, and Natalia Molebatsi, South African poet – both are wonderful, sonic feasts, Lance reading some poems in his native tongue, Natalia breaking out into song the way only African poets can. Raphael gives his paper on South African spoken word, and plays an audacious audio file, beginning ‘Last night I smoked a spliff with Jesus’! And I thought my reading was a little risqué! A guy named Piergeorgio (with whom I would visit the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice the next afternoon) gave a kickarse analysis of the famous Shell advertisement that tries to seduce the public into believing the company is environmentally sound. Papers by Marta (on Aussie author Gillian Rubenstein) and Laura (on Irish dramatist Lady Gregory), who have both been a big help during the conference. The conference ends with a paper by Luisa Sello, consummate flautist, who guides us through the leitmotifs in a piece by composer Giacinto Scelsi, while playing the flute! After this we are all taken on a guided tour of Udine, a shambolic affair, and we all take refuge in gelati. Visit the Gothic church. Return to the hotel to grab our bags, then are seen by Marta to the train station, where as a group we all embark for Venice. Arrive in Venice, not really knowing where to go, and our search for our hotel, which is at least twenty minutes out of the historical city centre, will not be forgotten by anyone of the group. Dinner at the nearby ‘Crazy Pizzeria’, before collapsing in bed, looking forward to the tour of Venice tomorrow.