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."

  • Books and Interviews
  • About
  • Latest Articles
  • poetry
  • Shakespeare Begins
  • Books and Interviews
  • About
  • Latest Articles
  • poetry
  • Shakespeare Begins
  • Home
  • About
  • Books and Interviews
  • Poetry
  • Italian Stories
    • Italian Art
    • Italian Food
    • Faith and Religion in Italy
      • Paganism
      • Judaism
      • Christianity
        • Arianism
        • Catholicism
      • Islam
    • Gender in Italy
    • Italy – History
      • Italian Neolithic
      • Italy Bronze Age
      • Italy during the Roman Empire
      • Italy – Early Middle Ages (550 – 1000)
      • Italy – Late Middle Ages (1000-1400)
      • Italy – Napoleonic and Restoration (1799 – 1850s)
      • Italy – Renaissance (1400 – 1700)
      • Italy – Enlightenment (1700-1800)
      • Italy Risorgimento (1840s – 1900)
      • Italy Modern (1900 onwards)
    • Italian Identity
    • Italian Languages
    • Italian Literature
      • Early Vernacular
      • 14th Century
      • Renaissance Humanism
      • Verismo
    • Italian Peoples
      • Gothic Italy
      • Neolithic Farmers
      • Normans of Italy
    • Italian Regions
      • Abruzzo
      • Basilicata
      • Campania
      • Emilia-Romagna
      • Friuli-Venezia Giulia
      • Lazio
      • Liguria
      • Lombardia
      • Marche
      • Puglia
      • Molise
      • Piemonte
      • Sardinia
      • Sicily
      • Tuscany
      • Umbria
      • Valle d’Aosta
      • Veneto
  • Shakespeare Begins
  • Articles
    • 200th anniversary articles
      • Bahá’u’lláh’s Life
      • Principles of Bahá’u’lláh
        • The Oneness of Humanity
        • Oneness of Religion
        • Independent Investigation of Truth
        • Abolition of Prejudice
        • Equality of Men and Women
        • Harmony of Science and Religion
        • World Peace
        • World Language
        • Abolition of Extremes of Wealth and Poverty
        • Universal Education
        • Materially and Spiritually Balanced Civilization
      • Bahá’u’lláh’s Writings
      • Life of the Spirit
      • Lives Inspired
      • Specific Teachings
      • Visions of the Future
    • Movie Reviews
    • Foreignness
    • Gender Equality
    • Human Rights
    • Human Rights Forebears
    • Human Rights Practice
    • Immigration
    • Migrant Workers
    • Peace
    • Refugees
    • Racism
    • Slavery
  • Juliet is dead! In world first, Australian team films lost historical Romeo scene.

    Press Release: Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet has long entranced audiences worldwide, but what if there’s more to the story? In a groundbreaking first, an Australian team unveils a powerful scene from Matteo Bandello’s overlooked original Italian version, Romeo and Giulietta, which Shakespeare adapted. “Even though Romeo and Juliet is set in Verona, most people don’t know it’s an Italian story,” explains Italian-Australian author Michael Curtotti, who recently unveiled a fresh English translation of Matteo Bandello’s narrative.  “It’s like appreciating Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings without acknowledging JRR Tolkien. Within Bandello’s rendition lies a trove of narrative richness that was left on the cutting room floor.” Led by director Rhianna…

    read more

    You May Also Like

    Cathedral of Siena

    Romeo and Juliet Go Down to Egypt

    December 21, 2023
    Lake Como seen from the village of Dongo

    Alessandro Manzoni’s Farewell to Como

    July 18, 2024

    Laura Terracina: For Who is Enemy to Woman

    May 27, 2019
  • Francesco Hayez painting - The Marriage of Romeo and Juliet 1830

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

    Recently, I was privileged to speak with Dr Francesco Ricatti, Associate Professor of Italian Studies at the Australian National University who kindly arranged the interview which was intended for his second year Italian language students. Our conversation was about Matteo Bandello’s Romeo and Juliet: the Italian novella that inspired the Shakespeare play we all know. I have embedded the video of the interview below. Also, as time didn’t allow, below are a few further thoughts to further explore Bandello, his life and his writing and particularly his Romeo and Juliet. Matteo Bandello: A Refugee Whose Writings Reached the World Starting with Matteo Bandello’s life, in the video we discuss how…

    read more

    You May Also Like

    Giosuè Carducci and Miramar Castle

    June 22, 2020

    Dante Alighieri in a Wide Brown Land*

    March 25, 2020

    Alessandro Manzoni and the Betrothed (I Promessi Sposi)

    January 20, 2020
  • Bust of Shakespeare in Verona at the tomb of Giulietta

    It’s funny, but Shakespeare is teaching me Italian stories

    It’s curious to find the heart of Italy in the soul of England, but so it is. For Shakespeare put it there. For years now, I’ve been hunting down Italian stories, and the last thing I expected was that Shakespeare would give me the breakthrough I was looking for. The most desperate loves, the vilest deceptions, the most delightful cross-dressing dalliances and the bitterest revenge. Shakespeare found them in Italian novellas and adapted them to the London stage. I have to admit, although the journey has been fun, it’s not so easy to plunge into the ocean of Italian literature, not knowing where it might take you or in which…

    read more

    You May Also Like

    Juliet is dead! In world first, Australian team films lost historical Romeo scene.

    May 16, 2024

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

    November 6, 2022

    Dante’s New Love Life: the Vita Nuova

    April 15, 2019
Copyright © 2025 Michael Curtotti. This is a publication of Aldila Press.
Ashe Theme by WP Royal.