Mafia Literature – a discussion of “Tina, Mafia Soldier”

Boswell Books hosts an evening with UWM Professor of Italian Robin Pickering-Iazzi for a conversation about her latest work, the first English translation of Maria Rosa Cutrufelli’s classic of Italian feminist mafia literature about a dangerous, enigmatic young gangster pushing the boundaries of gender and propriety.

Great for fans of classic mafia literature like “The Godfather” and “Donnie Brasco”, Pickering-Iazzi’s beautifully rendered translation offers readers a groundbreaking exploration of gender identity and clear-eyed presentation of an unseen side of the mafia. At just eight years old, Tina watched her father murdered in cold blood. Now a teenager, she terrorizes her hometown of Gela, having made it her mission to join the mafia, an organization traditionally forbidden to women as made members. Nicknamed ’a masculidda, or “the tomboy,” Tina has taken charge of her own gang, and is notorious for her cruelty and reckless disregard for societal expectations.

Pickering-Iazzi’s translation offers a fascinating look into a specific moment in queer history: a crypto-trans narrative set in a time when Italian society was incredibly conservative. A beautiful translation of a landmark literary achievement by one of Italy’s feminist icons.

Robin Pickering-Iazzi is author of “The Mafia in Italian Lives and Literature: Life Sentences and Their Geographies” and translator of work such as the novel “Suspicion” by Laura Grimaldi and “Mafia and Outlaw Stories in Italian Life and Literature”.

Preregistration requested and you can order a copy of “Tina, Mafia Soldier” too. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/robin-pickering-iazzi-translator-of-tina-mafia-soldier-a-boswell-event-tickets-491821680887