The Malavoglias by Giovanni Verga with translator Allan Cameron
Come along to the Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Edimburgo on 13th November for the Launch of a new translation of Giovanni Verga’s I Malavoglia, published by Glasgow-based Vagabond Voices!
About The Malavoglias by Giovanni Verga with translator Allan Cameron
| 13th November 2025 | |
| 5:30pm - 7:30pm | |
|
Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Edimburgo 20-22 East London Street, Edinburgh New Town EH7 4BQ |
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| Free entry | |
| Visit the event website here | |
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Launch of a new translation of Giovanni Verga’s I Malavoglia, published by Glasgow-based Vagabond Voices.
Giovanni Verga’s masterful portrayal of a family of Sicilian fishermen in the late nineteenth century, The Malavoglias, is the story of an ancient society in which both egalitarianism and hierarchy coexist, partly because everyone is on the brink of poverty to some extent. It is also a society undergoing irreversible change as the free market encroaches and brings with it not more equality but more hierarchy based on dubious practices which replace an ingrained and functional morality with a moral vacuum. This process has not been completed and the book could be considered a warning to future generations.
Verga’s classic novel is not only an exhaustive depiction of a particular society in a particular time viewed from inside that society, but also an innovative and complex literary tour de force in spite of its deceivingly simple language.
This masterpiece is not well-known in the UK outside some academic circles and the previous translation was in the 1890s not long after the original’s publication, and thus a new translation is long overdue. The translator Allan Cameron will be discussing with Prof Joe Farrell the translation, its difficulties, Verga’s place in Italian literature and of course the novel itself on Thursday, 13 November at 17:30 at the Italian Institute of Culture in Edinburgh.
Allan Cameron has been a translator of Italian fiction and non-fiction since 1993, a published novelist since 2004 and a publisher since 2008. His publishing activities involve novels, translated novels and some poetry. The translations are from a wide range of European languages including Italian (www.vagabondvoices.co.uk).
Joseph Farrell is Professor Emeritus of Italian in the University of Strathclyde. He has also been theatre reviewer, translator and author of several works including a travelogue on Sicily, a biography of Dario Fo and Franca Rame, a monograph on Leonardo Sciascia as well as the biographical study, Robert Louis Stevenson in Samoa.
DOORS OPEN: 5:00 pm
EVENT STARTS: 5:30 pm
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The Malavoglias by Giovanni Verga with translator Allan Cameron
Come along to the Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Edimburgo on 13th November for the Launch of a new translation of Giovanni Verga’s I Malavoglia, published by Glasgow-based Vagabond Voices!
READ MOREFind other events in Edinburgh
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