CanaDiana Events Beyond Siena
CanaDiana in Rome
May 26, 2026 at 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Curated and hosted by
Anne Giardini
Writer and CanaDiana member
Launch of the collection
LA POESIA DI CAROL SHIELDS
(I Quaderni del Bardo Edizioni, 2026)
translated and presented by
NELLA COTRUPI
Presentation of the novel
THE CIPHER
(Signature Editions 2024)
by Canadian author
GENNI
GUNN
Info:: Anne Giardini <aegiardini@gmail.com>, Laura Forconi <lauraferriforconi@gmail.com>
with the patronage of Ambasciata del Canada in Italia
Book Launch and Author Meeting
Please join us at the Rome launch of La Poesia di Carol Shields, a bilingual English/Italian collection of
the poetry of the late Canadian writer Carol Shields, translated and curated by Nella Cotrupi, and published by I Quaderni del Bardo Edizioni di Stefano Donno. Also presenting will be the Canadian Italian writer Genni Gunn, who will discuss her latest book The Cipher.
Date and time: May 26, 2026, at 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Please contact aegiardini@gmail.com for address and parking details.
*****
Carol Shields: a bilingual collection edited by Nella Cotrupi brings a major Canadian voice to Italy
LECCE/TORONTO 2026 – Published by Stefano Donno's I Quaderni del Bardo Edizioni, the volume The
Poetry of Carol Shields: Translation and Collection is edited by Nella Cotrupi. The national premiere is
scheduled for May 26, 2026, from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM, in Rome. Speakers will include the author/editor
Nella Cotrupi, writer Genni Gunn, and publisher Stefano Donno.
Link to the book: https://shorturl.at/QwIsg or https://iqdbcasaeditrice.blogspot.com/2026/04/la-
poesia-di-carol-shields-traduzione-e.html
“I want readers to have access to the literary ground in which Carol Shields first planted and cultivated
her existential concerns,” says editor and translator Nella Cotrupi. “These translations are a bridge between an extraordinary writer and a linguistic community that has not yet had full access to her most distilled voice.”
Nella Cotrupi is a Canadian writer, translator, and literary critic of Italian origin. She obtained a law degree and a PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of Toronto. Nella has worked as a lawyer and as an educator, teaching literature and law to university students in Toronto. Her book Northrop Frye and the Poetics of Process, on the Canadian literary theorist and critic Northrop Frye, focuses on the contribution of Italian philosopher Giambattista Vico. Nella writes non-fiction, translations, short stories, and poetry, and has been a finalist for the Winston Collins/Descant Prize for Poetry.
****
GENNI GUNN is an author, musician and translator. Born in Trieste, she moved to Canada as a child.
Her sixteen published books include four novels: The Cipher (Sept, 2024); Solitaria, (long-listed for the
Giller Prize) Tracing Iris, (made into the film The Riverbank); and Thrice Upon a Time, (finalist for the
Commonwealth Prize); three story collections, Permanent Tourists, (finalist for the ReLit Prize); On the
Road and Hungers; three poetry collections, Accidents (finalist for the SCWES Book Prize, the DiCicco
Poetry Prize and the Bressani Prize), Mating in Captivity, (finalist for the Gerald Lampert Award), and
Faceless; and a collection of travel essays, Tracks: Journeys in Time and Place. She has also translated
five books from Italian – three poetry collections, a children’s book and the latest, The Ship for Kobe, a
memoir by Dacia Maraini. Her books have been translated into various languages. She lives in Vancouver.
The Cipher is a historical novel of secrets and lies, spies and lovers, which takes place in a relatively
unexplored area of conflict during the Second World War – the battle for control of Italy among the British, Germany's Nazis, Mussolini's Fascists, and Tito's Yugoslav Communists.
We experience this world through the eyes of main characters Olivia Baldini, whose Hyperthymesia, the
extraordinary ability to recall information in vivid detail, makes her invaluable to Churchill's secret
sabotage army, the Special Operations Executive (SOE), and Nino Fabris who is thrust into war when his
merchant marine ship is conscripted. Captured in North Africa and sent to a POW camp in Kenya, Nino
is recruited by the British into the SOE. In the chaos of war, Olivia and Nino's paths intertwine. The Cipher is a gripping tale of love, resilience, and the power of the truth -- and who you trust with it.
****
GENNI GUNN is an author, musician and translator. Born in Trieste, she moved to Canada as a child.
Her sixteen published books include four novels: The Cipher (Sept, 2024); Solitaria, (long-listed for the
Giller Prize) Tracing Iris, (made into the film The Riverbank); and Thrice Upon a Time, (finalist for the
Commonwealth Prize); three story collections, Permanent Tourists, (finalist for the ReLit Prize); On the
Road and Hungers; three poetry collections, Accidents (finalist for the SCWES Book Prize, the DiCicco
Poetry Prize and the Bressani Prize), Mating in Captivity, (finalist for the Gerald Lampert Award), and
Faceless; and a collection of travel essays, Tracks: Journeys in Time and Place. She has also translated
five books from Italian – three poetry collections, a children’s book and the latest, The Ship for Kobe, a
memoir by Dacia Maraini. Her books have been translated into various languages. She lives in Vancouver.
The Cipher is a historical novel of secrets and lies, spies and lovers, which takes place in a relatively
unexplored area of conflict during the Second World War – the battle for control of Italy among the British, Germany's Nazis, Mussolini's Fascists, and Tito's Yugoslav Communists.
We experience this world through the eyes of main characters Olivia Baldini, whose Hyperthymesia, the
extraordinary ability to recall information in vivid detail, makes her invaluable to Churchill's secret
sabotage army, the Special Operations Executive (SOE), and Nino Fabris who is thrust into war when his
merchant marine ship is conscripted. Captured in North Africa and sent to a POW camp in Kenya, Nino
is recruited by the British into the SOE. In the chaos of war, Olivia and Nino's paths intertwine. The Cipher is a gripping tale of love, resilience, and the power of the truth -- and who you trust with it.
