Faculty of Modern & Medieval Languages Raised Faculty Building °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±¼Ç¼ Sidgwick Avenue °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±¼Ç¼ CB3 9DA United Kingdom
Anna completed herÌýBA in Modern and Medieval Languages (French and Italian) at Clare College, °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±¼Ç¼, during which time sheÌýspent a year in the Collegio Ghislieri at the University of Pavia. SheÌýcontinued herÌýstudies at Clare College with an MPhil in European Literature and Culture. HerÌýstudies primarily revolved around writing for and by women in early modern Italy and included dissertations on courtesans’ dress in Renaissance Venice, Petrarchan beauty ideals in cosmetic recipes, the role of women speakers in court entertainment, and marketing strategies used by ‘poligrafi’, like Lodovico Domenichi, to sell women writers and attract women readers in the sixteenth-century book market. SheÌýisÌýcurrently a PhD candidate, supported by an AHRC Doctoral Training Partnership.Ìý
Other activities:
Lecturer and supervisor for small groups of BA students in Italian art, literature, and film. Lectures on Castiglione and sixteenth-century Italian courts.
Assistant Editor for ‘Women Language Literature in Italy / Donna Lingua Letteratura in Italia’. SeeÌý
Co-convenor of ‘Writing Women in History’, an AHRC-funded reading group. SeeÌý
Co-organiser, musical director, publicity manager, and performerÌýfor several conferences, workshops, and concerts:
- ‘Intersections: Between Music and Theatre in Seicento Italy’, two-day conference with public concert andÌýcommedia dell’arteÌýtheatre workshop, September 2018. SeeÌý
- 'Translation as Music | Music as Translation', public keynote lecture and concert as part of 'Women, Language(s) and Translation in the Italian Tradition' conference, November 2018. SeeÌý
- ‘Reaching Through Time: Approaches to Women in History Today’, one-day symposium and concert to mark Women’s History Month, March 2018. SeeÌýÌý
- ‘Amore, Magia, Follia in theÌýOrlandoÌýfurioso: A Musical Quest’, concert as conclusion to ‘The Fortunes of theÌýOrlando furioso, 1516-2016’ series of public events, November 2016. SeeÌý
Collaborator for book exhibition ‘The Fortunes of theÌýOrlando furioso, 1516-2016’, November 2016. SeeÌýÌý
Collaborator for book exhibition: ‘The Fortunes of the Orlando furioso, 1516-2016’. SeeÌý
Anna's doctoral research is focused on the work of Margherita Costa (c.1600-c.1657). Costa was one of the most prolific female authors of the Seicento, making her way in the courts of Rome, Florence, Turin and Paris as a ‘virtuosa’, a singer-actress, and courtesan. She published fourteen works across radically different genres and ventured into territories explored by few other early modern women writers, constantly bending the rigid rules of female decorum. This eclectic female figure inspired admiration in contemporary writers and patrons, but has been neglected by modern-day scholarship.Ìý
Her PhD project is perfectly suited to herÌýacademic interests in general, as it offers the possibility of interdisciplinary research, connecting literature and music, and encompasses diverse topics, like women’s conduct and education, as well as contributing to the ongoing effort of reclaiming the lost voices of early modern women writers throughout Europe.