Today The Florentine launched a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo to fund production costs for an upcoming project: a bilingual literary review.
TheFLR. The Florentine Literary Review will highlight previously unpublished Italian short stories and poetry, all from contemporary authors. Each text will be translated into English, and an up-and-coming illustrator will provide accompanying artwork. The ten-member editorial board includes Italian scholars, poets, translators, journalists and literary critics.
To be published by The Florentine, TheFLR is the brainchild of Alessandro Raveggi, author, scholar and instructor of Modern Italian Literature. Raveggi and fellow educators have long noted the dearth of contemporary Italian writing in translation. TheFLR seeks to fill this gap while also prioritizing high-quality design, emerging artists and authors and made-in-Italy production.
Integrated “artvertising” will help offset printing costs for the 64-page, full-color publication.
The theme for the October 2016 inaugural issue will be “Invasion,” inspired by the 60th anniversary of Florence’s 1966 flood and the collaborative, intercultural ethos that guided relief efforts. Key motifs will include migration, information overload and the influx of tourism. Subsequent issues will have different themes, but will retain the same format: an introduction, 6 short stories and 2 poems, all in Italian and meticulously translated into English.
The Indiegogo campaign will run until June 5, 2016 at midnight. The Florentine’s partners have generously pledged prizes for top donors: Lungarno Collection will offer a 2-night stay at Hotel Lungarno and dinner for 2 at Michelin-starred restaurant Borgo San Jacopo (drinks excluded), and Context Travel will offer six spots on their Dante’s Florence walking tour.
For more information and to pledge to the campaign, see the Indiegogo listing.
For corporate sponsorship, information about artvertising, or to speak about the project, please contact Helen Farrell at theflr@theflorentine.net.
