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THINGS TO DO

Alison MacLeod at The British Institute

The novelist of ‘Tenderness’ discusses her life and times as a writer and teacher.

COMMUNITY

Where writers write in Florence

For writers and poets, finding a place to work in Florence can be harder than you would expect.

ART + CULTURE

My Florentine heritage

Military historian and author Antony Beevor reminisces about his Florentine heritage ahead of a talk at The British Institute.

COMMUNITY

Children’s Lending Library

Co-chair at the Children's Lending Library Valerie Perkins shares her experience.

ART + CULTURE

Best Florence reads this winter

The Paperback Exchange share their picks of the best Florence-based books to read this winter.

ART + CULTURE

Before Baedeker: how literature opened the door to Italy for British tourists

In the century before Forster’s novel was published, travel underwent a radical transformation. Routes were standardised, the first guidebooks were published and group trips were organised. So, what did people do before Baedeker?

COMMUNITY

A conversation with Ross King

Canadian author Ross King discusses Florence, his many books and his current projects.

ART + CULTURE

Rediscovering Botticelli’s Dante drawings

The 19th-century rediscovery of Botticelli’s Dante drawings brought scholars and art lovers to their knees: this work embodied everything the Renaissance had come to mean.

ART + CULTURE

Meet Nafisa, artist and author of Tuscan Temptations

A conversation with artist Nafisa about her new book and her love of Florence.

ART + CULTURE

Defining home with Frances Mayes

Bestselling author Frances Mayes entertains us with anecdotes from her life in Cortona, and reading and writing tips ahead of the publication of her new book, A Place in the World.

ART + CULTURE

A chat with Sarah Winman

An instant Sunday Times bestseller with stellar reviews in the New York Times and the Guardian, Still Life is the one of the most spellbinding reads about Florence in recent ...

ART + CULTURE

Books inspired by Tuscany for cool weather reading

Writers have been busy in recent months, especially the literati yearning for Florence or all those shuttered in medieval palazzos during the darkest days of these pandemic times. This autumn, ...

ART + CULTURE

Summer reading list about Italy

Beach ball: check. Bikini: check. A good book: not yet. Here’s our pick of Italy-centric reads for the summer months ahead, wherever you plan to spend the dog days.   ...

ART + CULTURE

Women’s Latin reading group, Lupercal

Six hundred-plus women all over the world are connected by their shared love for the Latin language and invested in their goal “to close the gendered gap in Latinitas”. Established ...

ART + CULTURE

New reads

As we all seek ways to stay connected to each other and to Italy, these new publications have emerged in recent months, giving us plenty to sustain our appetites.    ...

ART + CULTURE

Best Dante books: a deep dive into the medieval poet

T.S. Eliot famously said, “Dante and Shakespeare divide the modern world between them; there is no third.” While Dante is still rigorously read in Italian schools, most English-speaking countries limit themselves to a ...

ART + CULTURE

Felix Le Monnier

The court case lasted almost 20 years and created a sensation at the time because it involved one of Italy’s most beloved authors and a prestigious French publisher, who had ...

ART + CULTURE

Best reads of 2020

We celebrate closing the door on 2020 by summing up the most popular articles read this year in The Florentine. From pandemic-centric pieces to interviews, cocktails and the spas of ...

ART + CULTURE

Julia O’Faolain: The Irish Signorina

A rare and delightful moment while roving around a secondhand bookshop in Dublin had me stumbling across a true (personal) literary treasure. It was during the brief period in the ...

ART + CULTURE

A homecoming for Sandro Cellini: “The Viper”

We’ve all been locked down, to one degree or another, for most of this year. From my nice house in the English countryside, I have felt awestruck by the courage, ...

ART + CULTURE

Unravelling the mystery of La Rossa

After British author Tom Benjamin moved to Bologna, he found writing a mystery novel the perfect way to make sense of his new surroundings.   I was never exactly what ...

VIDEO

Rental Diaries by Mary Gray

  BUY THE BOOK: theflr.net/rentaldiariesbook   After an endless hunt for an affordable one-bedroom in Florence, Italy, ran her ragged, Mary Gray launched her “Rental Diaries” column on all things ...

VIDEO

Rental Diaries: The Book

  BUY THE BOOK: theflr.net/rentaldiariesbook   After an endless hunt for an affordable one-bedroom in Florence, Italy, ran her ragged, Mary Gray launched her “Rental Diaries” column on all things ...

COMMUNITY

Frances Mayes, Always Italy

Frances Mayes usually spends her springs in Cortona, at her famous Bramasole, the villa that is at the center of her bestselling book Under the Tuscan Sun and the dream ...

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