My guest this week is Italo-Argentinian writer and translator, Andrea Zurlo. In this first part of our conversation, we speak about Andrea’s journey to and first impact with Italy in the early 1990s. We also discuss the art of translating, how AI is changing that landscape, and the cultural nuances of language.
We move on to discuss what it means to live one’s life between different countries, languages, and cultures and how living in Florence has transformed and continues to affect Andrea’s craft. We also reflect upon what it means to be in an Italy currentlyoverrun by stereotypical notions of what the country is as opposed to the reality of making a life here.
Finally, we speak about Andrea’s new novel, All is Transient, the first she has written directly in English. She gives us a little teaser of the book which she describes as speculative fiction with a bit of historical fiction and touches of magic realism. We discuss how writing in one’s nonnative tongue changes the way you think about language and how the experience of penning this book prompted her to ask questions about the meaning of life and what we are here for.
Biography
Writer and translator, born in Argentina, where she earned her degree in Literary and Technical Translation. She is the published author of several novels, including El sendero de Dante (2007, Spain); El reposo de la tierra durante el invierno (shortlisted for the 2016 Planeta Award and published in Argentina and Puerto Rico), and La ineficacia de la muerte (2024, Spain). She has been shortlisted for several literary awards in both Spain and Italy, and her short stories have appeared in fourteen anthologies across Europe and Latin America.
As a screenwriter, she has written two produced short films and one produced feature film.
Links
www.andreazurlo.wix.com/ andreazurlo
Substack: https://substack.com/@andreazurlo
https:// www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-zurlo-6241b547/
IG: @andrezurlo
http:// www.imdb.com/name/nm8080567/
