Michael Curtotti's Author Website

"No lines sector off the sky so high above, though all the nations of the Earth be bound about with borders."

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  • The Dragon the Witch and the Daughters by Luigi Capuana (English Edition)

    From a master of Italian verismo comes a classic short story of the genre, but with a twist. As characters come into conflict with each other, and “the Dragon” with himself, Capuana weaves together the grimness of real life with threads of subtle fairytale. For the first time translated into English by Michael Curtotti, The Dragon the Witch and the Daughters, transports us into the life of a nineteenth century village. Don Paolo Drago, “dragon by name, dragon by nature,” appears to dominate this world, yet he barely controls his own thoughts and feelings. Despite himself, he is drawn into the destiny of two orphans. Yet tragedy stalks the life of Don Paolo.…

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    Cristina in blue dress stands side on looking down and averting her gaze from Peppino Fiorillo who stands watching her intently in the distance. Cristina's hand grips her parasol tightly. She has a hat and her hair is braided down her back. From Matilda Serao's work Cristina

    Matilde Serao and the Life of Cristina

    February 2, 2020

    Il Drago and Luigi Capuana’s search for redemption

    September 17, 2018

    Laura Terracina: For Who is Enemy to Woman

    May 27, 2019
  • Il Drago by Luigi Capuana Part 7: Ruminations of a Dragon

    In this seventh instalment of Luigi Capuana’s Il Drago, in translation, we continue to follow the story of Don Paolo, Giovanna and Lisa and we learn Don Paolo’s fears. Il Drago Part 7: Ruminations of a Dragon by Luigi Capuana, translation Michael Curtotti He had put them to bed and then proceeded to bed himself, after first checking on the donkey. And (so that the children would not be exhausted) he had re-washed the pots and pans himself. But he could not sleep. In his mind he was before the judge; ruminating on what he would say to him. He spoke aloud, almost as if the judge stood before him;…

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    Matteo Bandello’s Forgotten Tale of the Tragic Lovers Romeo and Juliet

    March 9, 2023

    Primo Levi Zinc and the Pure Race

    July 29, 2019
    Annie Vivanti Santa Lucia Napoli

    Annie Vivanti – What is your country and what your faith?

    December 21, 2024
  • Which came first: pasta or noodles?

    Plot spoiler. Its noodles. Lovers of Italy, doff your cap to China! … Well, at least that’s how I was going to start this article. That was before I started reading Jen Lin-Liu’s delightful book: On the Noodle Road. She’s not so sure the story is that simple. Like Marco Polo, she travels the Silk Road, but in reverse. She is on a 21st century quest to trace the journey of noodle from East to West. No one more determined could be imagined. And, her quest is personal. Travelling through cultures that straddled East and West, I figured, might reconcile what I’d felt were opposing forces in my life; maybe I’d find others…

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    The Lost Cities of Ancient Apulia – South-East Italy

    July 16, 2019
    Lacedonia - haystacks in distance. Frank Cancian image

    Lacedonia – Frank Cancian’s Pictures of a Disappearing World

    April 14, 2020
    Dante under the Southern Cross 2021: Australian Reflections for the 700th Anniversary of the Passing of Dante Alighieri

    Dante under the Southern Cross: Australian Reflections on the 700th Anniversary of the Passing of Dante Alighieri

    January 9, 2023
  • Federick II Al Kamil Jerusalem

    Muslim Lucera and the Holy Roman Emperor

    Truth is stranger than fiction, it is said and so it is for the story of Muslim Lucera. It is a story entwined with the life and times of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II. We cannot call Muslim Lucera the Muslim “capital” of the Holy Roman Empire, but for a time, it very nearly was. Lucera hosted one of Frederick’s many palaces and castles. One of his primary palaces was only 30 kilometres distant, in the city of Foggia, and Frederick himself has been called the “Sultan of Lucera” (although the label is a wild exaggeration). So let us explore the story. The city of Lucera still stands on…

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    Forgotten crimes and the sack of Rome

    September 13, 2018

    Dante and the Invention of the Italian Language

    October 8, 2018

    Dante Alighieri in a Wide Brown Land*

    March 25, 2020
  • The Resurrection of Don Paolo: Il Drago Part 5

    In this fifth instalment of Il Drago, Don Paolo comes back to life. After the unexpected battle between the Old Dragon and the Witch, the children’s old lives with her have been swept away. Don Paolo’s long dead daughters, Lisa and Giovanna, have risen from the grave. And the Old Dragon has much to do. The previous instalments of Il Drago are accessible at the end of this article. The Resurrection of Don Paolo Within two days the house was unrecognizable. In one room, two made up beds could be seen, one next to the other. The Old Dragon had put them together, assisted by the two girls, who had entertained…

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    Alessandro Manzoni and the Betrothed (I Promessi Sposi)

    January 20, 2020

    Dante’s New Love Life: the Vita Nuova

    April 15, 2019

    Isabella’s Castle Prison and Her Poetic Escape

    August 26, 2019
  • Earthquakes – La Terra Trema

    Italy’s changeable landscape is as much a character in her history as the people who live within her. Repeatedly, earthquakes are written into that history. Yet Italy often appears as a garden of Eden, full endlessly of the good things of the Earth: ancient olive groves, vines, fields of wheat, and much more; a bounty elicited by human industry and knowledge over many generations. Even the most apparently barren and uncultivated rocky slope may abound with edible plants and herbs of all kinds. From the sea, fishers still harvest. Everywhere potable water springs from Italy’s permeable limestone.  This gentle and generous Mother Earth is at times savage. For Italy lies…

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  • Don Paolo: the Making and Unmaking of a Dragon (Il Drago Part 3)

    In this third instalment of Il Drago by Luigi Capuana we learn how Don Paolo became “Dragone”. Who is this fearsome old man who chased the children away when they begged in the streets? And took them in, in what all said was a miracle?  And how was it that the Dragone was unmade? The Making and Unmaking of Don Paolo Dragone by Luigi Capuana (translation: Michael Curtotti) It had been years and years that the Dragon had lived alone in his tenement, doing all for himself. Two large rooms on the ground floor, and four smoky rooms on the first floor. For one person it would have been more than ample,…

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    Francesco Hayez painting - The Marriage of Romeo and Juliet 1830

    An Interview with Dr Francesco Ricatti: Matteo Bandello’s Romeo and Juliet

    September 1, 2023
    Cristina in blue dress stands side on looking down and averting her gaze from Peppino Fiorillo who stands watching her intently in the distance. Cristina's hand grips her parasol tightly. She has a hat and her hair is braided down her back. From Matilda Serao's work Cristina

    Matilde Serao and the Life of Cristina

    February 2, 2020

    The Resurrection of Don Paolo: Il Drago Part 5

    November 28, 2018
  • Dante and the Invention of the Italian Language

    “Italians speak Italian”. It seems obvious. Yet not too long ago neither were there any “Italians” in the way we understand it today; and nor was there a single “Italian” language. It is indeed little known that when the country of Italy did finally come into being in 1861 about 2.5% of her people spoke what we today call Italian. Even up until 1951, less than 20% of Italians used Italian exclusively in their daily life. Indeed, until the most recent generations, Italian was, at best, a second language for most Italians. Their first language was their regional, and often local, language. The Italian National Institute of Statistics reported that…

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    Luke Whitington: an Australian poet with an Italian heart

    October 19, 2023

    Lingering in Limbo: Dante’s Inferno

    June 28, 2019
    day of the dead

    Italy’s Day of the Dead

    November 1, 2018
  • Il Drago and Luigi Capuana’s search for redemption

    Luigi Capuana was a nineteenth century writer. His work, The Old Dragon (Il Drago), although an apparently light children’s story, carries a poignant loss and search for redemption. In a strange way the story is a “might have been” of Luigi Capuana’s life and of the children he never admitted as his own. Luigi Capuana, Giuseppina Sansone and their children Giuseppina Sansone is central, although whether she is portrayed in the story is debatable. She is a love of much Luigi Capuana’s life. He met her at age 37 and she was an unmarried partner for the next twenty years. She is almost entirely invisible, while he is a noted Italian…

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    Laura Terracina: For Who is Enemy to Woman

    May 27, 2019

    Work is Worship

    May 22, 2017
    tahirih - a representation

    Tahirih – Herald of the Emancipation of Women

    June 22, 2017
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