I first visited Italy in the winter of 1986 at the age of nineteen. Until then, I had been a keen student of French, but Italian had something that delighted and intrigued me. Following that trip, during the summer of 1987, I attended Middlebury College Language Schools and acquired a strong foundation in the language with Prof. Mario Moffa. As an undergraduate student of Comparative Literature at Mills College, I cross-registered at UC Berkeley and took as many Italian literature classes as possible. I went on to spend my entire junior year at the University of Florence studying medieval manuscripts, Renaissance history, and contemporary cultural studies.   

After receiving my Bachelor's degree, I moved back to Florence to teach English, then made my home in the nearby Casentino Valley for four years. In 1994, I returned to the States, this time to the inspiring chaos of New York City. I worked at the Italian Academy at Columbia University and later at the Consulate General of Italy; I obtained a Master’s degree in Italian from Columbia University, taught English in the NYC public schools, and started translating literature. Early in my career, I won a fellowship from the American Literary Translators Association and have attended their conferences whenever possible. In 2001, I published my first translation with City Lights and have been translating novels, short stories, and non-fiction ever since. In 2009, I moved back to Italy. 

In 2018, I taught a graduate-level translation class at Middlebury College Summer Schools. In 2019, I participated in a literary translation workshop with Tim Parks. Also in 2019, I attended the Middlebury College Breadloaf Translation Workshop. In 2021, I followed a specialized course on teaching literary translation hosted by the British Centre for Literary Translation, the European School of Literary Translation, and the Fondazione San Pellegrino. I enjoy attending the Salone del Libro, conferences and literary festivals whenever possible.

Contact me with any questions you may have.