 | |
| Author | Elena Ferrante |
|---|---|
| Original title | L'invenzione occasionale |
| Translator | Ann Goldstein |
| Illustrator | Andrea Ucini |
| Language | Italian |
| Publisher | Europa Editions |
Publication date | 2019 |
| Pages | 112 |
| ISBN | 9781609455590 |
Incidental Inventions is a non-fiction book published by writer Elena Ferrante in 2019. The book contains the columns published by the author in English newspaper The Guardian and translated by Ann Goldstein.
In 2017, Elena Ferrante was invited to keep a weekly column in The Guardian. Her writings were published every Sunday between January 20, 2018, and January 12, 2019, translated by Ann Goldstein. They were accompanied by illustration by artist Andrea Ucini.
The Guardian editors had suggested topics for the weekly columns, producing varied content. As a result, the columns work as standalones. One of the most common themes in the series was Ferrante's writing process. In Keeping a Diary, the writer commented on her early attempt to write:
"Why was I worried? Because if, in everyday life, I was so embrrassed, so cautious, that I scarcely breathed, the diary produced in me a craving for truth. I thought that when one writes, it makes no sense to be contained, to censor oneself, and as a result I wrote mostly – maybe only – about what I would have preferred to be silent about, resorting among other things to a vocabulary that I would never have dared to use in speaking." [1]
In another, she mentioned the at the time still unreleased adaptation of her novel The Lost Daughter , which was being turned into a film of the same name by Maggie Gyllenhall, claiming that she would never tell a woman director to follow her text closely, and encouraging her instead to tell her own story "It's her story to tell now". [2]
Questions of feminism and art produced by women are frequent in the text, with Ferrante speaking about her often quoted theme of female friendship, [3] the male gaze in sexuality, [4] the difficulty for women of becoming themselves in a world made for men, [5] the politics of rewriting gendered stories, [6] and how women's literature is still perceived as second-rate. [7]
In another column, she discussed the politics of her country, in a rare change of topic, to speak against Matteo Salvini's Lega Nord. She claims that the party represents a true danger to democracy due to its racist rhetoric, and she claims that Salvini "has become increasingly persuasive, giving the appearance of a good-natured common man who thoroughly understands the problems of the common people and at the right moment bangs his xenophobic and racist fists on the table." [8]
The book was lauded by critics as an opportunity to see another side of Ferrante, who was trying her hand in short non-fiction for the first time. The columns were seen as uneven, with some raising more attention than others. [9]
Cassandra Luca, writing for the Crimson, noticed: "This essay collection is subtle. Ferrante's writing is akin to a whisper from one friend to another: It utters the truth one would rather not hear, but says it compactly and devastatingly." [10] Stiliana Milkova has added: "Like Frantumaglia, Incidental Inventions provides insight into the writer's world and partakes in the construction of her authorial identity". [11]
The Carnegie Medal for Writing, established in 1936, is a British literary award that annually recognises one outstanding new English-language book for children or young adults. It is conferred upon the author by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP), who calls it "the UK's oldest and most prestigious book award for children's writing". CILIP is currently partnered with the audio technology company Yoto in connection with the award.
Domenico Starnone is an Italian writer, screenwriter, and journalist. He is a prolific book author, having penned at least 22 works since 1987, at least four of which have been translated from Italian into English, including Prima esecuzione and Confidenza. His novel Via Gemito won the Premio Strega in 2001, and movies by Gabriele Salvatores, Riccardo Milani, and Daniele Luchetti have been based on Starnone books.
Elena Ferrante is a pseudonymous Italian novelist. Ferrante's books, originally published in Italian, have been translated into many languages. Her four-book series of Neapolitan Novels are her most widely known works. Time magazine called Ferrante one of the 100 most influential people in 2016.
Adam Richard Kay is a British TV writer, author, comedian and former doctor. He is best known as author of the number-one bestselling book This Is Going to Hurt (2017). His television writing credits include This is Going to Hurt, Crims, Mrs. Brown's Boys and Mitchell and Webb.
The Neapolitan Novels, also known as the Neapolitan Quartet, are a four-part series of fiction by the pseudonymous Italian author Elena Ferrante, published originally by Edizioni e/o, translated into English by Ann Goldstein and published by Europa Editions. The English-language titles of the novels are My Brilliant Friend (2012), The Story of a New Name (2013), Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay (2014), and The Story of the Lost Child (2015). In the original Italian edition, the whole series bears the title of the first novel L'amica geniale. The series has been characterized as a bildungsroman, or coming-of-age story. In an interview in Harper's Magazine, Elena Ferrante has stated that she considers the four books to be "a single novel" published serially for reasons of length and duration. The series has sold over 10 million copies in 40 countries.
Ann Goldstein is an American editor and translator from the Italian language. She is best known for her translations of Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan Quartet. She was the panel chair for translated fiction at the US National Book Award in 2022. She was awarded the PEN Renato Poggioli prize in 1994 and was a Guggenheim Fellow in 2008.
Viktoriia Yuriyivna Amelina, later known as Victoria Amelina, was a Ukrainian novelist and war crimes researcher. She was the author of two novels and a children's book, a winner of the Joseph Conrad Literary Award and a European Union Prize for Literature finalist.
The Days of Abandonment is a 2002 Italian novel by Elena Ferrante first published in English in 2005, translated by Ann Goldstein and published by Europa Editions. The novel tells the story of an Italian woman living in Turin whose husband abruptly leaves her after fifteen years together.
Hermione Hoby is a British author, journalist, and cultural critic. She is the author of the novels Neon in Daylight and Virtue.
The Lying Life of Adults is a 2019 novel by Elena Ferrante. It was adapted into a television series of the same name by Edoardo De Angelis in 2023.
Farzana Marie is the pen name of Felisa Hervey, an American poet, author, and former United States Air Force officer.
In the Margins: On the Pleasures of Reading and Writing is a book of essays published in 2021 by Italian writer Elena Ferrante.
Frantumaglia is a non-fiction book written by Italian author Elena Ferrante. The book reflects on her writing process over 20 years and has been republished to reflect her experiences writing the Neapolitan Novels.
Ferrante Fever is a documentary film about Italian writer Elena Ferrante, directed by Giacomo Durzi.
The Beach at Night is a children's novel written by Italian writer Elena Ferrante.
The Lost Daughter is a novel published by writer Elena Ferrante in 2006, in Italian, and translated to English by Ann Goldstein in 2008.
Troubling Love is the first novel published by Italian writer Elena Ferrante. It was originally published in 1992, but only translated to English, by Ann Goldstein, in 2006, following the critical success of Ferrante's following novel, The Days of Abandonment.
My Brilliant Friend is the first volume of a four-part series of novels known collectively as the Neapolitan Novels, written by Italian author Elena Ferrante and translated to English by Ann Goldstein.
The Story of a New Name is a 2012 novel written by Italian author Elena Ferrante. It is the second volume in her four-book series known as the Neapolitan Novels, being preceded by My Brilliant Friend, and succeeded by Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay and The Story of the Lost Child. It was translated to English by Ann Goldstein in 2013.
The Story of the Lost Child is a 2014 novel written by Italian author Elena Ferrante. It is the fourth and final installment of her Neapolitan Novels, preceded by My Brilliant Friend and The Story of a New Name, and Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay. It was translated to English by Ann Goldstein in 2015.