Letter from the Editor
Dear Readers ,
Welcome to the first , and only , edition of La Civetta for the 20 / 21 year ! I am proud to present it to you all despite the incredibly strange circumstances ! As we all know , and have heard countless times , this year has been weird , hectic and crazy ! This has meant that our university year so far has looked quite different . Sometimes rolling out of bed onto a 9am seminar seemed like a blessing , rather than trekking to Woodland Road , at other times we wish for a full day of in person lectures just so we can see new faces ! Our flatmates have become our surrogate course mates- which certainly doesn ’ t help when , as the only linguist in my flat , I can ’ t just whip out some Italian and hope to get some practice in whilst I ' m cooking my carbonara ! La Civetta is also looking rather different . Gone are the Wednesday afternoon meetings in 17 Woodland Road , replaced by a sparse Zoom and countless Facebook messages ! It ’ s a shame we haven ’ t been able to meet in person , especially for the new faces of the first years , but we have pulled together as a team nonetheless and we have put together an unforgettable issue !
The theme that pulls the issue together is ‘ community .’ Italy paved the way for the rest of Europe last year , showing that , although life was looking alien , we could still find pleasure by interacting with those surrounding us .
There is something for all of us to read in this issue . Whether the effects of Covid on Italy ’ s rich culture with Anna Kell , who spent lockdown in Palermo on her year abroad and tells us first hand about those balcony concerts and the inevitable decline in morale . Or how art imitates life in the pandemic with De Chirico , and what the world of Italian sport looks like without spectators . Discover Italian films and TV with reviews , including Melmaridè , a docu-film for which the Italian department ’ s own Stefania Placenti organised a Q & A with the co-director ! Finally , escape the pandemic with everyone ’ s favourite new lockdown hobby , cooking , and pull together a four course meal !
Finally , I would like to thank everyone for all their help , including the brilliant design team who pulled together a fantastic issue , topped by Jennifer Earp ’ s beautiful cover art , depicting the typical Italian balconies and their new community that we came to recognise on the news !
Take care , we hope to see you soon and enjoy !
Jemima Fennell
Photo by : Jemma Fowler