Livi, Grace

Grace Livi was born in 1930 in Florence in the family of university teachers ^[2] . She spent several years in London ^[3] , from where she moved to Milan ^[4] , where she lived until her death. Abilities for literary creativity appeared in her at an early age. Grace's favorite genres were essays and short stories. Her passion for reading led her to conclude that the prose of female writers differs in many ways from the work of male writers.

She studied with , , Roberto Longa , Gaetano Salvemini and . She completed higher education, receiving a specialist diploma in romance philology . In a short time, Grace managed to be married twice. The married life and the birth of Gabriel's son did not prevent her from engaging in literature. At that time, she worked as a journalist, was fond of psychoanalysis and traveled a lot. From 1960 to 1970, Grace collaborated with the editors of the Italian periodicals , , and ^[5] . She interviewed Le Corbusier , , Albert Schweitzer .

After some time, Grazia abandoned her journalistic career in order to devote herself completely to literary work. Her first novel, “Bachelors from London,” ^[6] received critical acclaim. The poet Eugenio Montale, in an interview with Corriere della Cera , said that "there are few women who can write like Grace Livi." Another poet, Mario Lutsi, wrote her a letter of thanks.

Influence on the work of Grace had an acquaintance with the writer ^[7] , to whom she devoted an essay in the collection of essays "Letters of My Name" ^[8] . Anna Banti advised her to write a series of articles about the life and work of Virginia Woolf and helped publish them in the journal “ ”. In the collection “Letters of My Name”, the writer also included essays about famous women of her time - Ingeborg Bachmann , Agnes Boyagiu , Colette , Anne Frank , , , Gertrude Stein and Virginia Woolf. Many years of friendship with Mariza Bulgeroni, translator Emily Dickinson, Gabriella Fiori, author of the biography of Simone Weil and philosopher Maria Zambrano also influenced the work of Grace.

Her essay collection “From Room to Room” included essays on Jane Austen , Emily Dickinson , Catherine Mansfield , Anais Neen , and Virginia Woolf ^[9] . In the storybook Wind and a Motorcycle. Passion, memories, leaked and sweet "writer confirmed her ability to perceive reality as a miracle ^[10] .

While working on the novel “An Impatient Groom” ^[11] , whose main characters are the Russian writer Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy and his wife Sofya Andreyevna , Grace spent some time in Russia, where she studied archival documents. She died in Milan on January 18, 2015. ^[12]

Novels and Collections

• “Bachelors from London” ( Italian: Gli scapoli di Londra , “Sansoni”, Florence, 1958)
• “Distance and love” ( Italian: La distanza e l'amore , “Garzanti”, Milan, 1978)
• “The Invisible Support” ( Italian: L'approdo invisibile , “Garzanti”, Milan, 1980)
• Secret Ties ( Italian: Vincoli segreti , La Tartaruga, Milan, 1994)
• "No more of my dreams" ( Italian. Non mi sogni più , La Tartaruga, Milan, 1997)
• “Light in the window” ( Italian: La finestra illuminata , “La Tartaruga”, Milan, 2000)
• The Mantle ( Italian: Il mantello , San Paolo, Milan, 2002)
• “An Impatient Groom” ( Italian: Lo sposo impaziente , “Garzanti”, Milan, 2006)
• “Wind and motorcycle. Passion, memories, leaked and sweet ”( Italian: Il vento e la moto - Passioni, nostalgie, fughe, dolcezze ,“ Garzanti ”, Milan, 2008)
• “I Still Dream” ( Italian: Sognami ancora , Ev, Macerata, 2014)

Essays

• “Alberto Sordi” ( Italian: Alberto Sordi , “Longanesi”, Milan, 1967)
• “From room to room” ( Italian: Da una stanza all'altra , “Garzanti”, Milan 1984; “La Tartaruga”, Milan, 1992)
• “The letters of my name” ( Italian: Le lettere del mio nome , “La Tartaruga”, Milan, 1991)
• “Women without a heart” ( Italian: Donne senza cuore , La Tartaruga, Milan, 1996)
• “Stories of Fate” ( Italian: Narrare è un destino , La Tartaruga, Milan, 2002)

Other

• Afterword to the Virginia Woolf Orlando novel (Mondadori, Milan, 1982)
• Preface to the novel “Courageous Women” by Anna Banti (La Tartaruga, Milan, 1983)
• Edited by Virginia Woolf's London Backstage (Mondadori, Milan, 1987)
• Preface to The Time of Love by Rosamund Lehmann (Garzanti, Milan, 1987)
• Preface to the novel Friends and Lovers by Elizabeth Bowen (La Tartaruga, Milan, 1992)
• Editorial board of the anthology "I Did Not Say No" by Gilberto Finzi (Leonardo, Milan, 1992)

In 1959, for her first novel, “Bachelors from London,” Grace Livi received the “Bagutta Prize” - “Three Seniors” ^[13] . In 1961, she was awarded the " ", in particular for her work in the Epoch magazine. In 1984, the writer became a laureate of the Elba Literary Prize for the novel From Room to Room. In 1991, Grace Livi received the Viareggio Prize for the novel Letters of My Name. In 1994 she became a laureate of the Strega Prize for her limited edition short story collection. In 2002 - the laureate of the "Women's Prize of the City of Rome" for the collection of essays "History of Fate" ^[14] . In 2006, for the novel “The Impatient Groom,” the writer was awarded two prizes at once - the Alessandro Manzoni Prizes and the Alghero Donna Prize ^[15] .

• Marotti, M.O. Brooke, G. Gendering Italian Fiction: Feminist Revisions of Italian History : [ eng. ] . - London: Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 1999 .-- P. 93, 98, 100 - 101, 250. - 253 p. - ISBN 978-0-83-863771-5 .

• Scheda autore su Grazia Livi su Garzanti (neopr.) (Inaccessible link) . www.garzantilibri.it. Archived July 12, 2013.
• La biografia di Livi Grazia (neopr.) . www.wuz.it.
• Scheda su Grazia Livi (neopr.) . www.beniculturali.it.