“I’m going to talk to you about the desire to write and about the two kinds of writing it seems to me I know best, the first compliant, the second impetuous,” writes Elena Ferrante to begin the first of the four essays in this slim but powerful collection by the author of the Neapolitan novels. Composed as lectures—the first three for the Umberto Eco Lectures series sponsored by the International Center for Humanities of the University of Bologna, the fourth for the Dante and Other Classics conference presented by the Association of Italianists—these pieces offer a look at Ferrante’s influences and inspirations as well as probing discussions of the work of Ingeborg Bachmann, Emily Dickinson, María Guerra, Gertrude Stein, and others.
