Today we celebrated the International Week of the Italian Language, and the end of the Italian Festival Season in Auckland, at the Dante Alighieri Society of Auckland with a rich Italian colazione and the book presentation of Lost in the Spanish Quarter, by Dante Auckland member Heddi Goodrich.
Heddi Goodrich, originally from Washington, D.C., spent over a decade wising up in Naples, where she graduated from the city’s Orientale Institute before moving to Auckland. Her debut novel, Lost in the Spanish Quarter, is a love story set in a Neapolitan slum between two university students from completely different worlds. Written directly in Italian, it was published earlier this year by Giunti as Perduti nei Quartieri Spagnoli. This translation into English, which she did herself, is published by HarperCollins.
We enjoyed a delicious Italian breakfast followed by a talk by Heddi, the story of her experience in Napoli, filled with Italian and Neapolitan expressions, the story of how the book was written, and a session of Q&A. Book signing followed.
Click here to find out more about the book in Italian, and here for the English translation.
