Claudia Durastanti: The Stranger (La Straniera)

The Stranger is a story of growing up with deaf, emotionally unstable and underprivileged parents with whom the narrator moves through life: from her childhood as an Italian emigrant in New York and in the impoverished south Italian Basilicata to her studies and intellectual and artistic development in Rome and London. The Stranger is not only an intimate, but also generational narration of a young woman born in the mid-80s who sought to escape the unbearableness of her everyday life in music, film, and art, donning this as an armour to help her make it through the present. This is a tale of the generation of austerity measures and globalized tastes that walks the thin line between depression and fun. The Stranger does not hide behind fiction: the author seeks to make sense of her own life through contemplations about identity, class, art, and love.

Writer and translator Claudia Durastanti is considered to be one of the most insightful Italian writers. She received the Mondello Prize for her debut novel One Day I'll Come Throw Rocks at Your Window (2010). Her novel The Stranger (2019) landed her on the final shortlist for the most prestigious Italian literary Strega Prize and was also very well received internationally.

The novel was translated by Vera Troha.

Due to the pandemic and measures against the spread of COVID-19, the literary event with Caludia Durastanti will take place virtually. The recording of the live conversation with the author, prepared by the Fabula film crew in Rome, will be hosted by Slovenian journalist Klara Krapež. The recording will have Slovenian subtitles and will premiere on Cankarjev dom's website, www.cd-cc.si, and Cankarjev dom's social media channels.

Claudia Durastanti's attendance at Fabula has been supported by the Italian Instutite for Culture Slovenia.