A Very Cold Winter

About the Author

Author, journalist, and translatorFausta Cialente was one of the first self-declared feminist Italian writers. Her early work anticipated modern feminism by decades, however, distribution was limited by the Fascist censorship that followed her refusal to cut depictions of a lesbian affair from her first book Natalia (1931). Contributing to the anti-Fascist movement through her journalism from Egypt, Cialente returned home after the war, and after a long silence, she began publishing again in 1961, eventually winning the prestigious Strega Prize in 1976. With her expatriation that can be interpreted as an influence on the statelessness of her work, Cialente remained far from literary circles and wrote only when she had the urge. Perhaps due to these factors and the initial censorship, her critical recognition came late, and consequently, there has been limited international exposure to this exceptional Italian writer. Cialente spent the last period of her life in Pangbourne, England, working mainly on translations into Italian from English, including Turn of the Screw by Henry James, and she remained there until her death in 1994 at the age of ninety-six.

Julia Nelsen

translates between English and Italian. A San Francisco native, she holds a PhD in comparative literature from the University of California, Berkeley, and a masters in European languages from the University of Milan, where she studied on a multiyear fellowship from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Her work has appeared in Circumference, Two Lines, Chicago Review, Firmament, and elsewhere. A Very Cold Winter is her first full-length translation.

Claudia Durastanti

is an Italian writer, translator, and cultural critic. Strangers I Knowwas shortlisted for the Strega Prize and translated into 21 languages. Her forthcoming novel Missitalia will be published by Summit in the U.S. and Fitzcarraldo in the UK. Her work has appeared in Granta, Apartamento, Los Angeles Review of Books, and elsewhere. She's the curator of the feminist imprint La Tartaruga.