The Italian Cultural Institute of San Francisco is pleased to announce the first in a series of evenings devoted to the theme "Literary Locations," an exploration of the intimate connection between author and the place that provides the backdrop to their stories. The choice for the first event in this series is author Elena Ferrante, whose quartet of novels took the literary world by storm, and made her one of the most popular contemporary Italian writers. Ferrante conceived an epic tale that follows the lives of friends Elena and Lila, set in Naples, the city that best mirrors their entanglement of intricate, contrasting emotions.

Authors Sara Marinelli and Beth Nguyen, photographer Flavia Loreto, and cultural travel guide Melanie Blake make up a unique, varied panel for an evening of discussion on Ferrante and Naples.

Writer and educator Sara Marinelli teaches Comparative Literature at the University of San Francisco, and Humanities at San Francisco State University. She is currently working on a novel about family grief, set in a religious and superstitious Naples. Winner of an American Book Award with her novel “Short Girls,” Beth Nguyen is part of a writer's book club caught up in the Ferrante fever. She directs and teaches in the MFA writing program at the University of San Francisco.

Flavia Loreto is an Italian photographer specializing in street photography and portraits. Her photos express her impressions of a day spent in Naples, and will be on view at the Italian Cultural Institute through May 5th. Melanie Blake is executive director of Classical Pursuits, a literary travel company that is offering “The Ferrante Phenomenon: On Location in Naples and Ischia in May 2017.”

Wine and Neapolitan-style refreshments will be served.

When: Thursday, April 13, 2017 - 6:30 PM (PST)
Where: IIC, 601 Van Ness Ave, Suite F (Opera Plaza Building, Ground Floor), San Francisco
Tickets: $10 at the door or online. The event is free of charge for Members of the Italian Cultural Institute.

Following Elena Ferrante’s Naples, the series “Literary Locations” will feature “Fellini’s Rimini and Rome,” “Pirandello’s Sicily,” “Antonioni’s Sardinia,” and “Carofiglio’s Puglia.”

For more information, please call 415-788-7142.