Reading and signing in Milan, Italy

I am happy to announce that I will be doing a reading and book signing at the English Bookshop in Milan.

Mark your calendars for Monday, June 17th at 6:30 pm, at the corner of Via L. Mascheroni and Via Lodovico Ariosto.

 

I blogged about this wonderful bookstore back in January. I had a wonderful chat with the store's owner, Peter Panton, and I am looking forward to seeing him again.

I was saddened to hear that he made the decision to close his store as of June 30th. It will be a great loss to the literary community in Milan. I am grateful that Mr. Panton agreed to hold an event so soon to his store's closing.

Please help spread the word to your friends and colleagues who live in Northern Italy about the book signing and also of the store's closing. I am certain Peter would like to hear from people about how his store has touched their lives over the last thirty-five years.

Another request I have is to contact him ahead of time for those who will be attending my signing so that he can better prepare the amount of chairs to set out and the number of books to order. The phone number isl: 02 4694468

You can also direct people to my official Facebook page's event listing and have them RSVP there.



Thank you and I hope to have many pictures to share later from this memorable occasion.

Linda

http://lcmccabe.blogspot.com/2013/05/reading-and-signing-in-milan-italy.html

2013 Medieval Congress in Kalamazoo

Douglas Gallagher, Professor Richard Scott Nokes, Linda C. McCabe, Alexis E. Fajardo, Brandon Spars

I have a quick announcement before I give my report on the 48th International Congress on Medieval Studies:

I will be doing a reading and book signing at the English Bookshop in Milano, Italy on Monday, June 17th at 6:30 pm. The address is 12 Via Mascheroni (the store opens on Via Ariosto!). Please help spread the word to anyone you know who lives in Northern Italy and might be interested in hearing me speak. Note: I do not speak Italian, so they would have to understand English. If they intend on coming, please let Peter Panton know in advance to help him determine how many chairs to set out and how many books to order. Another way to RSVP would be to send me an email or to join the event on my Facebook page.

 Okay, back to my report:

I recently returned from my first ever Medieval Congress held on the campus of Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

To give you an idea of how large this gathering is, here are a few statistics:

There are approximately 3,000 medievalists from all over the world who attend this four day annual event.

This year's program had over 250 pages

There were over 500 sessions with roughly fifty running simultaneously

The deadline to submit proposals for next year's Congress is June 1, 2013

It is so large that it not a conference, it is a congress.  I do not know at what point the classification changes from conference to congress, but perhaps it is with the sheer number of sessions offered.


If you couldn't find something you wanted to attend, you didn't look hard enough.

I grew up in the state of Michigan, but it was only after I moved to California and started reading medievalist blogs that I  learned of this annual event.

It took a fair bit of advance planning over a year ago for me to be a participant in this year's congress. Thankfully, I found some like minded people who all happen to live in Sonoma County to agree to join me in a panel. We all had adapted the legends of Charlemagne in the hopes of introducing these tales to twenty-first century audiences. I also approached a regular attendee of these congresses and asked if he would be our organizer and preside over the session.

Thankfully, Professor Awesome agreed.

Schmoozing with Professor Richard Scott Nokes AKA Professor Awesome.

We were session #402 out of 582 sessions. I think we were lucky in our schedule because it was Saturday morning at 10 am. It could have been an evening session after the wine hour or we might have had an 08:30 am Sunday morning session when people are recovering from the popular Saturday night dance.

I helped Lex Fajardo staff a table in the exhibit hall. We took turns staffing the table during meal times and when one of us wanted to attend a session.

Lex Fajardo and me at the exhibit table

There were several sessions I attended that I want to highlight. The first was "Constructions of Women Warriors in Medieval Eurasia 2.0." In particular, there were two papers that seemed appropriate to my interest in the women warriors in Carolingian legends.

Suzanne Hagedorn of the College of William and Mary gave a paper titled "The Amazon as Temptress: Thalestris in the Alexander Romance Tradition." I had never heard of Queen Thalestris and the story of her approaching Alexander the Great asking to bear his child since she regarded him as being the epitome of male strength, valor and prowess.

It was an interesting paper and it that reminded me of a portion of Orlando furioso that I did not use in my novel.  Canto XX details the history of an Amazonian tribe that warrior Queen Marfisa came across during her travels. Men were scarce in this tribe and those who were allowed to live after venturing near their shores had to pass tests of surviving combat with ten men in a single day and then satisfying ten women later that night.

(While this passage is interesting and humorous, it did not further my plot of Bradamante and Ruggiero's love story and so it was cut by me.)

The second paper from that session that I would like to mention was delivered by Diane Wright of Grand Valley State University. It was titled "Early Iberian Models of the Female Warrior: History, Myth and Legend."

I look forward to corresponding with Diane in the future about those legends.

Schmoozing with Professor Diane Wright

Another session I attended was the French Cultural Traditions in Italy: The Era of Andrea da Barberino. I do not speak or read Italian, so I was unfamiliar with the source material mentioned in the various talks. However, I met scholars interested in the Matters of France and how they were disseminated into Italy and Italian literature. I anticipate having a good correspondance with those contacts.

On Friday I attended a panel regarding E-publishing and Medieval Studies. I wanted to show support for Professor Nokes as well as meet Peter and Sandra from the wildly popular blog Medievalists.net fame.

Peter and Sandra from Medievalists.net and Professor Nokes

Saturday was the day of our session and while I had been hoping for better attendance, those who came were enthusiastic about our topic.

I spoke about the challenges of adapting two epic poems into a novel suitable for 21st century audiences. This included correcting continuity errors with geography, culling extraneous subplots, and balancing the needs of drama vs. historical accuracy.

Lex Fajardo discussed his approach to blending the Beowulf story with heroes of other legends in a graphic novel form. In his Kid Beowulf series, Beowulf and Grendel are twelve year old twin brothers and his stories are "prequels" to the classic legends.

Lex showing images from the prologue of his first graphic novel Kid Beowulf and the Blood-Bound Oath

Doug Gallagher discussed how he and his students adapted Orlando furioso into a stage production using Pink Floyd's album The Dark Side of the Moon  as a soundtrack.

Doug showing a picture of the many visual elements of that incredible stage production.

Brandon Spars then talked about how he taught the Song of Roland to his class. It involved using a tin foil horn as a prop as he read the classic poem and then squirting ketchup on his face to simulate Roland's temples bursting. I am sure none of his students will forget that day's lesson.

Brandon Spars with "blood" on his face

After our session, I participated in a lunchtime roundtable discussion sponsored by Kalamazoo's local independent bookstore Kazoo Books. There were seven (or eight?) authors on the panel discussing writing historical fiction. Most of the authors were also professors, and I believe I was the only one whose genre extended into the fantasy realm. There was a good give and take between the presenters and the audience who asked some thoughtful questions. For the next two days I had people who recognized me from that talk and I was able to extend the conversation with them about our shared love of books.

Here are two other photos of people that I met who helped make this a special time for me.

Here I am with Medievalist blogger and grad student Jennifer Lynn Jordan

I had read Jennifer's Per Omni Saecula blog for many years and grew to appreciate her humor and love of all things medieval. It was even better meeting her in person. She's cool and I hope once her busy academic year is over that we can share a bad medieval movie mash up like she did once with Carl Pyrdum.

I had so many wonderful conversations with medievalists from all over the globe. I was thrilled to meet Italian and French medievalists so that I could talk about the legends of Charlemagne with them since it is a part of their shared heritage.

I also met a man who is descended from the Noble House of d'Este.

Yes, as I read his name badge, I asked James Estes if he was a descendant to the patrons of Boiardo and Ariosto. He admitted that he was.

This led to a spirited exchange with many laughs and this photo.

Schmoozing with James Estes, descendant of the patrons of Ariosto and Boiardo

How many times do I have the opportunity to geek out over the Noble House of d'Este?

More photos from the 48th International Congress on Medieval Studies can be found on my novel's official Facebook page with this open link. (Meaning you don't have to be a member of Facebook to see this album.)

I plan on going back to the Medieval Congress again, but perhaps in 2015 to help spur on the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the original publication of Orlando furioso. Plus by that time, I should have my sequel published.

Please let me know your experiences with the Congress and any other pages with photos, remembrances, etc.

Thank you,

Linda

http://lcmccabe.blogspot.com/2013/05/2013-medieval-congress-in-kalamazoo.html

Travels in Italy or Milan, Part 2

I started my travelogue of my trip to Italy with this post. I promised that I would blog again about that amazing trip and so now I have Part 2 of my time in Milan.

One important piece of information that we learned about Italy before we left was the dress code in regard to entering churches. The Italians are formal and require that shoulders and knees be covered.

I went shopping prior to this trip to make sure that I had quick drying shorts that were long enough in the leg to cover my knees and likewise a nice travel friendly top that covered my shoulders. I was planning on visiting St. Peter's Basilica during my time in Rome and did not want to be turned away due to "immodest" dress.

We arrived in Milan after a long flight from Boston and were feeling a bit exhausted/excited. After checking into our hotel, we took showers to help us feel refreshed and changed our clothes from the ones we had worn on the airplane. I expected that we might visit the Duomo that afternoon, so I wore my appropriate long shorts and capped sleeve shirt. My husband's shorts were almost knee length, but we shared the opinion that middle-aged men's knees were not seen as being scandalous as much as women's knees.

Once we finished our lunch, toured the Teatro Alla Scala, and walked through the Gallerie Vittorio Emanuele II we were ready to visit the Duomo.


Here is a picture of that amazing cathedral.




A golden statue of Saint Mary adorns the top of the Duomo.



My husband had a brand new camera and was busily snapping various pictures. I assumed that he would have taken all the same ones I would have. Wrong. He only took one photo of the Duomo to get a sense of its grandeur.

It is a shame that he did not take any photos of the piazza in front which was a major gathering spot of hundreds if not thousands of people. There was a vibrancy being among people who were there enjoying the sunshine and each others' company.

He took pictures when I asked him to and here are some horse statues nearby the Duomo and have a strange modern art sensibility to them.


I thought it looked like a pile of salt that the black horses were struggling to emerge from or risk drowning. And then well, there is one horse that seems to be having difficulty of a different nature.

I have a new editing tool and discovered how I can add captions. This opens up new vistas of blogging for me. Who knows what mischief I will wreak?

Scott took several photos of the carvings on the front of the Duomo. This one reminds me of Sonoma County in harvest time, however we don't have grape clusters anywhere near this size.


Here are a few others with Medievalist aspects to them such as a priest riding with a contingent of armed foot soldiers.



And here a king is being thrown to the ground as his horse is wounded.

Could one of my Medievalist friends who reads Latin interpret the wording surrounding this panel. I see the word "sex" near the king's elbow and would like to know what it means in context and translation.


We did not have difficulty getting into the cathedral, but we did have our bags searched before we were allowed inside. I believe we might have been denied entrance had my knees and shoulders not been covered.

Here you can get an idea of how large the cathedral really is. I have seen conflicting reports as to the ranking of the Duomo di Milano in relation to other cathedrals, so I will just say that it is quite large and impressive both inside and out.



Next comes a statue of Saint Bartholomew who according to one legend was flayed alive.

Yikes.

His statue is shown with defined musculature and draped with his own skin.


I will leave you with an image of an eagle in the stained glass. Eagles are the symbol for my hero Ruggiero, so I have gotten into the habit of snapping pictures of eagles whenever I see them. (Or asking my husband to be sure to take one for me.)



The Duomo also allows for tours of its rooftop so that people can get a view of additional spires and statues that adorn the top of the cathedral as well as an incredible bird's eye view of the city. Alas, we ran out of time and never had the chance to take that tour. Tickets are sold at a building a block away from the cathedral.

After all of that, we headed back to our hotel and went to bed early hoping that we would be able to sleep off our jet lag and be adjusted to Italian time.






http://lcmccabe.blogspot.com/2011/10/travels-in-italy-or-milan-part-2.html

Travels in Italy or Milan, Part I

I am now safely home from my quick trip to Italy. I had hoped to blog while there, but lack of access to free wi-fi at the beginning of the trip and exhaustion made it difficult to follow through with my good intentions.

We had one less day in Italy than we had hoped for due to a flight delay in the take off of our first leg, a missed connection, and an unplanned overnight in Boston. So rather than arriving in Milan on Sunday, June 12th, we arrived on Monday, June 13th.

The trick with adjusting to such dramatic shifts in time zones is to try to adjust to your new surroundings as quickly as possible. So while we had lousy sleep on the airplanes on our way to Italy, my husband and I forced ourselves to stay awake as long as possible on the Monday so we could wake up Tuesday morning and have our body clocks "reset" to Italian daytime.

Our first order of business after checking into our hotel was to find someplace to eat. Scott had looked in a guidebook for suggestions and copied down the address. I had purchased a good street map of Milan before we left and felt it was a wise investment.

The Metro system in Milan is easy to navigate once you understand its structure. There are a few colored lines with transfer stations and you look for the name of the end station to determine which direction you need to travel. We were able to use the automated vending machines to purchase metro passes with unlimited travel for three days for only five and a half Euro a piece. I thought it was a great deal especially considering how often we used the Metro over our short stay in Milan.

We found the small Caffe Verdi that had moved into the location of the restaurant whose address Scott faithfully copied down. It was a small restaurant near the Teatro Alla Scala opera house.

We shared a mixed green salad with parma ham and a pizza with parma ham. Mmmmm, it was a great choice. The flavors were incredible and as we sat and decompressed, we began planning what we wanted to see in the area before we collapsed.

One of the places I had put on my "must see" list was the museum associated with the Teatro Alla Scala.




It is one of the most famous opera houses in the world and since Orlando furioso had inspired many operas, I wanted to go there. We discovered that no photography was allowed and had to check our camera bag at the door.

Bummer.

I would have loved to have taken some pictures of the ornate opera house and some of the costumes on display. Not only are you able to see the objects on display in the museum, but visitors can peak inside the gallery itself. We were fortunate to see the stage being set with different theatrical lighting applied and tested.

After the self-guided tour we were ushered into the gift shop on our way out. There were plenty of souvenirs about the opera house itself and some notable operas had their own separate listings on bags, coasters, umbrellas, etc. Try as I might, I could not find anything with Orlando furioso. I asked about this, hoping that I was overlooking the location of these items, but was told that it was not a popular enough opera to warrant having souvenirs.

Scott meanwhile was checking out a statue of Leonardo across the street.

Leonardo spent several years in Milan and has an entire museum dedicated to him. The mural painting of Leonardo's famous "The Last Supper" is in Milan's Santa Maria delle Grazie church. Reservations are mandatory in order to see that famous fresco and alas, once we had confirmation of our trip it we were too late to get a reservation to see it on the days we would be in Milan. More on Leonardo in another post.

We then set out for the Duomo, and walked through an enclosed shopping gallery, the Gallerie Vittorio Emanuele II.



The gallery is named after the first king of unified Italy who reigned 150 years ago. All over Italy, they are celebrating their sesquicentennial as a nation with their nation's flag flying everywhere. It is hard for me to believe that the United States is "older" than the modern country of Italy whose history dates back thousands of years, but until 150 years ago the Italian peninsula was divided into separate kingdoms. Vittorio Emanuele II unified Italy.



Milan is known for its high fashion and it is readily apparent from window shopping and recognizing various designer names such as Gucci, Dolce and Gabbana, and Prada. Frankly, I preferred the people watching over contemplating buying high fashion direct from the source.



I love mosaics and wanted to share with you two different mosaics from the center courtyard of the mall. Here is the symbol of Rome of the she-wolf who suckled Romulus and Remus with the slogan of S.P.Q.R. Senatus Populus Que Republicus.



The other mosaic is of a bull who is the symbol of Milan. There is a local bit of folklore that it is good luck for you to step on the bull's testicles, better luck if you "spin" on them. We had watched Rick Steves' PBS show on Milan and saw this local custom. In his video, and in his guidebook, the testicles are visible but there is an obvious indentation due to the strange wear pattern of the mosaic tiles.

It appears that the city decided to surrender to the custom and create something more durable. There is now a cement cylinder which makes it easy to take your little spin. And yes, I did not want to pass up a chance for good luck and tried it myself.


Our next stop was the Duomo. I will save that subject for another post.

Ciao!

Linda

http://lcmccabe.blogspot.com/2011/06/travels-in-italy-or-milan-part-i.html