ASMI-sponsored event – Notes on Work. Music, Literature and Labour in Postwar Italy (Cambridge, 30 April–1 May 2026)
We are pleased to share details of the ASMI-sponsored event Notes on Work. Music, Literature and Labour in Postwar Italy, which will take place at the University of Cambridge on 30 April–1 May 2026. The conference features a keynote lecture by Alessandro Portelli and is convened by Erica Bellia and Robert Gordon (Italian, MMLL, Cambridge).
The events are generously sponsored by the Cambridge Intesa Sanpaolo Fund, ASMI, and the Gulbenkian Early-Career Research Fellowship in the Arts and Humanities at Churchill College, and are organised in collaboration with OBERT (Observatoire Européen des Récits du Travail / European Observatory of Labour Narratives).
Programme at a glance
Day 1 (Thursday 30 April) – Performances
Judith E. Wilson Drama Studio (Faculty of English, Sidgwick Site)
Includes the performance Mining Memories, Digging Words and a book discussion & music session on Giulio Carlo Pantalei, Una lingua per cantare. Gli scrittori italiani e la musica leggera (Einaudi, 2025).
Day 2 (Friday 1 May) – Conference (in person & online)
Room SG2, Alison Richard Building (Sidgwick Site), and online
Panels on music, literature and labour in postwar Italy, followed by the keynote lecture:
Alessandro Portelli, Roma forestiera. Migrant Music as the New Folk Music of Italy.
The events are free of charge and open to all, but registration is required for in-person attendance:
- Day 1 (30 April) registration: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1984477104440?aff=oddtdtcreator
- Day 2 (1 May) registration: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1984608538563?aff=oddtdtcreator
Online attendance: Day 2 can also be attended remotely via Zoom. Please contact the convenors to receive the link.
Bursaries: bursaries of up to £100 may be available to unwaged and postgraduate delegates not based in Cambridge. Please get in touch by 10 April to be considered.
For further information (including Zoom access and bursaries), please contact the convenors: Erica Bellia (eb692@cam.ac.uk) and Robert Gordon (rscg1@cam.ac.uk).