What I didn’t expect is that I’d fall in love with the port city itself. Whereas Palermo and Taormina seem to steal the spotlight, Catania boasts some of the island’s best restaurants, opera by puppets and live actors, world-class Greek and Roman antiquities, and, for the adventurous, an active volcano. Though Mt. Etna’s eruptions rarely claim lives, its hardened lava flows are part of the landscape, frequently cut into building stone. When I flew into Catania’s international airport, the snow-capped crater was fuming, not flowing. “You must never speak badly of Etna,” my elderly seatmate confided. “We are all guests on her slopes.” Don’t let a little ash stop you from taking the 9850-foot cablecar ride and guided tour.
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Our Revenge Will Be the Laughter of Our Children
What is it about the revolutionary that draws our fascinated attention? Whether one calls it the North of Ireland or Northern Ireland, the Troubles continue to haunt the land and those who lived through them.
Turtles
In a field near the Gaza Strip, a missile strike, visions, and onlookers searching for an explanation.
Surviving and Subverting the Totalitarian State: A Tribute to Ismail Kadareby Kapka Kassabova
As part of the ceremony honoring Kadare as the 2020 laureate—with participants logging in from dozens of countries around the world— Kadare’s nominating juror, Kapka Kassabova, offered a video tribute from her home in Scotland.
Dead Storms and Literature's New Horizon: The 2020 Neustadt Prize Lecture
During the Neustadt Prize ceremony on October 21, 2020, David Bellos read the English language version of Kadare’s prize lecture to a worldwide Zoom audience.
Ismail Kadare: Winner of the 2020 Neustadt International Prize for Literature
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, World Literature Today presented the 2020 Neustadt Festival 100 percent online. In the lead-up to the festival, U.S. Ambassador Yuri Kim officially presented the award to Kadare at a ceremony in Tirana in late August, attended by members of Kadare’s family; Elva Margariti, the Albanian minister of culture; and Besiana Kadare, Albania’s ambassador to the United Nations.
How to Adopt a Cat
Hoping battles knowing in this three-act seduction (spoiler alert: there’s a cat in the story).
Chicken Soup: The Story of a Jewish Family
Chickens, from Bessarabia to New York City, provide a generational through-line in these four vignettes.
Awl
“Awl” is from a series titled “Words I Did Not Understand.” Through memory—“the first screen of nostalgia”—and language, a writer pieces together her story of home.
Apocalyptic Scenarios and Inner Worlds
A Conversation with Gloria Susana Esquivel
Marie's Proof of Love
People believe, Marie thinks, even when there’s no proof. You believe because you imagine. But is imagination enough to live by?
WHEN IN ITALY...
On a trip to Italy, AATISH NATH lives la dolce vita at two famous Belmond properties that dish out equal amounts of history, luxury, and destination flavours.
La infiltración de los cárteles mexicanos en Italia
En Europa, la distribución de cocaína comienza en Italia. Producida en Sudamérica, la droga es llevada a México y de ahí los cárteles la trasladan a África y luego a la península, en combinación con las mafias locales (Camorra, Cosa Nostra, ‘Ndrangheta). Las bandas criminales mexicanas han tenido una creciente presencia en aquel país desde hace más de una década, como revela un informe de Dirección de Investigación Antimafia.
Sparks fly in Sicily..
THE island of Sicily is on red alert as Mount Etna has erupted again, with ash plumes and hot lava fountains lighting up the sky.
Italy's Mt. Etna spews smoke, ash in new eruption
CATANIA (AFP) – Mt. Etna, one of the world’s most active volcanoes, belched smoke and ashes in a new eruption on Tuesday, but Italian authorities said it posed no danger to the surrounding villages.
AN ITALIAN INFLUENCE
Salvatore Vita is a Sicilian influencer attending events, collaborating with brands and taking the Italian Instagram world by storm
Taormina - Magnificent Country That Will Make You Come Back For More
A captivating charm exudes from each corner of this magnificent country, and will surely make you come back for more.