Registration is required for all events. All activities are in English and are online unless otherwise specified. Please return to this page for updates during the academic year.
Italy Reads offers opportunities for high school students to acquire valuable experience in the context of Percorsi per le Competenze Trasversali e per l'Orientamento (PCTO) / Pathways for Transversal Skills and Orientation.
Each year, nearly 200 teachers and their students participate in Italy Reads or one of the other Programs for High Schools offered free of charge by John Cabot University.
See Programs for High Schools for more information or contact [email protected].
All Italy Reads participants are invited to consult the page Italy Reads Resources for Teachers. This collection of resources is compiled each year by the JCU librarians. It includes the presentations of Lesson Plans on the author and the work prepared by JCU professors and by Italy Reads high school teachers who attended the relevant Professional Development Course during the preceding Spring Session.
Teacher Training Workshop
The first workshop for this year's program was held at John Cabot University on May 16, 2025.
October 8, 5:00-7:00 pm, online. High school teachers of all subjects throughout Italy are invited to learn about the resources available to them and their students with JCU's Programs for High Schools. Proposed lessons for teaching What We Talk About When We Talk About Love will be presented by teachers who attended the Professional Development Course last spring.
The workshop is in English, free, and Certificates of Participation will be provided. High school teachers of all subjects are welcome.
Register to attend the Teacher Training Workshop (on Zoom).
Keynote Address
October 22, 6:00-7:30 pm, online. This public event is the annual kick-off for the Italy Reads Program. Keynote Speaker: Riccardo Duranti. Attend the Keynote Address (on Zoom).
Master Class for Teachers
October 29, 6:00-7:30 pm, online. Master Class for Teachers with Riccardo Duranti. Attend the Master Class (on Zoom).
Students Interview Keynote Speaker
November 19, 6:00-7:30 pm, online. Students Interview Keynote speaker Riccardo Duranti. Write to [email protected] to participate in the interview (on Zoom).
Riccardo Duranti has taught English Literature and Literary Translation for many years at Sapienza University of Rome. In 1996 he received the Italian National Award for translation, and in 2014 the Catullo prize for translation of poetry.
He has translated all of Raymond Carver’s works and authors as John Berger, Philip K. Dick, Cormac McCarthy, Michael Ondaatje, Nathanael West, Richard Brautigan, Caryl Churchill, Elizabeth Bishop, Henry David Thoreau, Edward Bond, Kae Tempest, Tess Gallagher, Wendell Berry, Peter Orner, Paul Lynch and Robert Coover. Among the authors of childhood literature, he translated there are: Roald Dahl, Ted Hughes, Margaret Mahy, Britta Teckentrup, Patricia MacLachan, Eric Malpass, Yuval Zommer.
His poetry books include: Bivio di voce, Empirìa, 1987), The Archer’s Paradox (The Many Press, 1993), L’affettuosa fantasia (Aracne, 1998), Made in Mompeo, haiku e immagini (with Rino Bianchi, Corbu, 2007), Meditamondo (Coazinzola Press, 2013) and La metà dell’infinito (ETS, 2023). In 2015 his first book of short stories came out: L’orsacchiotto Carver e altri segreti (Ianieri).
He lives in the Sabine Mountains where he manages an olive grove and can’t stop translating in order to feed the cats and dogs that keep him company there.
Students attend public lectures, interview speakers, and work in teams and create a digital summary of their work. JCU student mentors are recruited to provide guidance. This activity is ongoing from October through March. Students will present their final work and answer questions from their audience.
February 20: deadline for students to submit their digital newsletters.
February 25, 6:00-7:00 pm, online. Students present their newsletters and share their experience with the project.
October through April: JCU students meet with high school students, in-person or online, to discuss (in English) What We Talk About When We Talk About Love by Raymond Carver, the life of the author and the themes presented in this collection of short stories, the social/cultural context in which it was written, and its relevance to today.
See Volunteer for Italy Reads for more information on how to register and receive details about training sessions.
Register to participate in the Italy Reads and one of the other Programs for High Schools using the Unique Registration and PCTO Request Form for Teachers. You will receive more information about our programs.
You can request meetings between university Mentors and your students.These meetings are in English and can be scheduled to take place in-person and/or remotely from October through April. The times and frequency of these meetings are determined by your availability and by the academic schedules of our students.
Each year, January-May, Italy Reads offers a Professional Development Course for High School Teachers who plan to include the selected work in their academic program the following year. This 30-hour course is delivered as weekly online seminars in English, and it is free of charge. Completion of this course is not required for participation in the program, but it is an excellent opportunity for teachers to study the author and the literary work in depth with colleagues and a JCU professor.
The aim is to prepare teachers to engage their students in the study of this work from literary and interdisciplinary perspectives. The course introduces background information on the author and the social and literary context in which they wrote. During the course, teachers exchange best practices in teaching and considerations specific to their teaching realities.
The outcome is the increased professional and collegial support among teachers. Informed by seminars led by academic experts, teachers share specific Sample Lesson Plans developed by them as recipients of this Italy Reads Scholarship for High School Teachers. This specific didactic material is added to the Resources for Teachers gathered by staff at JCU's Frohring Library, which are available for use by all Italy Reads participants.
Italy Reads 2026-2027 (The book of focus will be announced in October)
Details and application form will be published on this page in late October.
The Italy Reads Student Video Contest is the culmination of a month of activities between high schools and JCU's Italy Reads Program centered around the work and life of the selected author.
January 31, 11:59 pm, Deadline to submit entries. Read about the Student Video Contest and submit your video. Students: submit your entries following the instructions and using the Video Contest Submission Form. N.B.: One submission per video, please.
A Video Production Tutorial is available online. Italy Reads registered teachers can request access to this material for their students. A Gmail account is necessary to access this material through a dedicated Google Classroom. Write to [email protected].
March 25, 6:00-7:30 pm, Italy Reads Student Video Contest Award Ceremony (online). Attend the award ceremony.
In collaboration with Gaby Ford and The English Theatre of Rome. Performances of an adaptation of What We Talk About When We Talk About Love (in English): 10-14 March. Ticket information will be posted here. Tickets will be purchased through The English Theatre of Rome. Discount tickets for Italy Reads participating students are available. Teachers accompanying their students are our guests.
