Milan

At the conference in Udine I audited a paper by Franca Cavagnoli, David Malouf’s Italian translator, on the challenges of translation presented by the ‘poetic’ nature of Malouf’s prose. The paper was marvellously incisive, eagle-eyed, sensitive to the most nuanced aspects of Malouf's prose, the music, the pacing etc etc. Naturally, I found myself hanging on every word. After a discussion with her at lunch we struck up a friendship; at the end of the conference, she invited me to stay with her for a weekend in Milan.

I gladly accepted. A fortnight after the conference, I hopped on the train and headed north. I was greeted by Franca and rain at the station; the rain would soon pass, and Franca - Italian translator of no fewer than four nobel laureates (Coetzee, Gordimer, Morrison, Naipal), novellist in her own right and dyed-in-the-wool Inter Milan fan - would take me on the most comprehensive 72 hour tour of Milan imaginable. I will include posts below as time permits.