Lalla Romano (1906-2001)
Romano, born in Cuneo of ancient piemontesi origins, was raised in a rich and
priveleged cultural climate. She enrolled in the writing faculty of the
University of Turin, where professors Ferdinand Neri and Lionello Venturi deeply
influenced her development. On the suggestion of Venturi she attended the
painting school of Felice Casorati, which led to a career as an art critic.
After working as a librarian at Cuneo, Romano moved to Turin with her husband.
Here she continued to cultivate her passion for poetry and painting, attracting
the attention of Montale, who encouraged her in 1941 to publish her first
collection of poems, Flowers (Fiore). During the war she returned to live near
her mother in Cuneo, where she became involved with a band of partisans, the "Justice
and Liberty" group. In the post-war period she was reunited with her husband and
returned to Milan where she began to work on a collection of short works under
the guidance of Pavese, N. Ginzburg and Elio Vittorini. In 1953 she published
her first novel, Maria, and as the next year she won the Veillon Prize for "Courier
of Evening." In 1955 another book of poetry, "Autumn," was released, and in 1957
a new novel "Walled Roof" won the Pavian Prize. After the publication in 1960 of
a book of travels with the title Diary of Greece, she published the novel "The
Man Who Spoke Alone."
She began drawing up her fourth novel, "The Penumbra That We Have Crossed,"
which was released to the public in 1964.
In 1969 she was even more successful with "Le Parole Tra Noi Leggere".
Lalla Romano continued to publish regularly through her death in Milan, June 26
2001.
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