From Hell to Paradise: Celebrating 700 Years of Dante Alighieri / Kingston Free Library

Thursday, November 4, 6:30 PM
 Location: Kingston Free Library

The year 2021 is very special for Italians and those who love Italian culture, as it marks the 700th anniversary of the death of the great Italian poet Dante Alighieri. From Hell to Paradise: Celebrating 700 Years of Dante Alighieri is a multimedia presentation which provides a brief history of the Italian poet Dante Alighieri, followed by a discussion of his literary works, with a focus on his famous allegorical poem The Divine Comedy. The presentation is a lecture type format interspersed with slides and video clips. From Hell to Paradise: Celebrating 700 Years of Dante Alighieri is intended for a general audience and offered by Dr. Alfred R. Crudale of the Italian department at the University of Rhode Island.

Alfred R. Crudale is a lecturer in the Italian department at the University of Rhode Island. He graduated from the University of Connecticut with a Ph.D. in Italian Literature. Dr. Crudale has presented and published several essays on Dante Alighieri and the poets of the “Dolce Stil Nuovo.” His essay entitled “Versi d’Amore e Prose di Romanzi: Are the Poets of the Dolce Stil Nuovo still Relevant?” was published in the International Journal of the Humanities, and he presented his latest essay, “The Body Damned, the Body Saved, the Body Glorified: Portrayals of the Body in Dante’s Commedia” at the John D. Calandra Institute in New York City. His forthcoming book entitled, The Voices of Italy: Italian Language Newspapers and Radio Programs in Rhode Island, is scheduled for release in 2022.

Registration is required. To register, please email Britta at bobertello@skpl.org, or call 783-8254 ext. 4303.