On April 21, at NYU’s Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò, people will gather to read Leopardi, but not the way it’s usually done. Infinito: A Translation Marathon isn’t a quiet tribute or a scholarly dissection. It’s a living experiment built around a bold question: “What happens when a poem crosses languages, minds, and cultures — when it’s read, re-read, translated, and transformed by people who think, live, and dream in another tongue?”
The event is organized by NYU’s Department of Italian Studies in partnership with the Translation Minor in Global Liberal Studies and the Centro Nazionale di Studi Leopardiani. It takes its cue from a surprising fact: L’infinito is one of the most translated poems in all of European literature. But this isn’t about numbers — it’s about what those translations reveal. Every language, every voice, every student brings out a different version of Leopardi — or maybe the same Leopardi, seen from a new angle.
The night opens with a roundtable inspired by the book L’infinito di Giacomo Leopardi nel mondo (CNSL, 2022). On stage: Jonathan Galassi — poet, translator, and publisher — and Luigi Ballerini, who has spent years moving between poetry and criticism. They’ll explore how Leopardi made it this far, and what he means today. The conversation is moderated by Scott Kapuscinski, a Ph.D. candidate in Italian Studies, tasked with holding together a conversation that spans questions, languages, and long pauses. Then comes the poetry. And here’s where things shift: it’s the students who take the stage—not actors, not pros, just young readers sharing their own translations. They bring their uncertainty, their choices, their voices. Every word matters and every pause holds weight. And in that space, something becomes clear: translation isn’t just a linguistic act. It’s a way of listening.
That’s the real heart of the evening, not a lecture, but a kind of live workshop. A shared moment where students, scholars, teachers, and curious guests gather around a poem to explore its energy, its echoes, its edges. Allowing the text to stir up whatever it might, rather than decode it line by line. Maybe even, as Leopardi wrote, to lose themselves in that vast sea.
The event won’t be livestreamed, but a recording will be posted in the days that follow, in Casa Italiana’s digital archive—part of its mission to make Italian culture accessible to anyone, anywhere. It’s also why Casa’s newly revamped website is a finalist in the 2025 Webby Awards, in the “Community” category. That recognition means even more because it’s decided by public vote. Until April 17, fans can head to the Webby Awards People’s Voice page to cast their vote and confirm it via email.
