Gregory Dowling
@gregorydowling
Taught American literature at Ca' Foscari University, Venice. Translator, literary critic, crime-fiction writer.
Now also newly available as a paperback. My thanks to my son Alessandro for the cover-design (tweaked from the e-book version, also by him). www.amazon.com/dp/B0H8YN99R...
(Probably the first time I’ve ever made a post about football.)
Bad things happen in the mountains: ex-voto paintings in the church of S. Maria Addolorata, Cavalese.
A photo shoot in central London, temperature 36 degrees. A poor model was being asked to wear an autumnal outfit; her smile seemed a little strained…
Perhaps there's a reason why Notting Hill reminds me a little of Burano...
Gustavo Modena was one of Italy's greatest actors in the 19th century, as well as a firm believer in the Italian nation. This statue in the Giardini Pubblici in Venice pays tribute to his constant desire to branch out in new directions.
So this Saturday Diego Saglia and I will be talking in Ravenna about Byron and Vampires (or 'Vampyres'). As the title specifies, 'from Lord Byron to Dracula - and beyond'. Which can take us all the way to Tom Holland and Essie Fox, among others...
A now lost monument in Rome, once in the Pigneto Sacchetti: the Tomb of 'Grillo' - a donkey so smart that it would do its own shopping. (You’ll see the carved effigy of the donkey on the pedestal.) Museum of Rome, Palazzo Braschi.
Taking camouflage a little too far. Stone lion in the Public Gardens, Castello, Venice. (The full statue shows Minerva sitting side-saddle and apparently shouting 'Look, no hands!)
This time from the Bridge of Sighs (imagine the word 'from' in italics).