Melinda Camber Porter In Conversation With Eugenio Montale: Milan, Italy Nobel Prize in Literature, Vol 1, No 1

Melinda Camber Porter In Conversation With Eugenio Montale


Milan, Italy, 1976


"Nowadays, it is becoming harder to distinguish between artistic and commercial life. The role of the artist has been reduced to his success or failure in commercial terms... these mass-produced voices are not those which will tell us whether we are heading for disaster and, if so, how to prevent it." This statement expressed by Eugenio Montale, when speaking to Melinda Camber Porter at his home in Milan, Italy in 1976, after receiving the 1975 Nobel Prize in Literature. With this publication, Melinda Camber Porter In Conversation With Eugenio Montale (ISBN: 978-1-942231-02-8), we have an opportunity to listen to the strong voice of Eugenio Montale discussing literature and its place to push Society in a forward direction. Eugenio Montale describes his observations of the driving forces of human nature that he explored through his journalism, painting and poetry. During the prime of his live, he watched the rise and fall of Fascism in Italy, and his experiences remain relevant today as he discusses the importance of the individual's conscience, the poet's role in society, and the dangers of ideologies, the mass media, and consumerism. The Foreward by Canio Pavone, Professor of Italian Studies, who knew Melinda Camber Porter, introduces us to Eugenio Montale and their conversation. In addition, the book includes both the English and Italian Nobel Prize Lecture by Eugenio Montale. Melinda Camber Porter passed away of ovarian cancer in 2008 and left a significant body of work in art, journalism, and literature. With her background as a journalist for the Times of London, her questions had a unique way of getting to the heart of the creative process used by many widely acclaimed cultural figures, filmmakers, and writers. The Melinda Camber Porter Archive wishes to share these conversations with the public to ensure the continuation and expansion of the ideas expressed in her creative works of art, journalism, and literature. The Melinda Camber Porter Archive of Creative Works comprises two series of books. Volume 1 are books of journalism. Volume 2 are books of art and literature. [ISSN: 2379-2450 (Print); 2379-3198 (E-book); 2379-321X (Audiobook).]

About the author

Melinda Camber Porter (1953 - 2008) was born in London and graduated from Oxford University with a First Class Honors degree in Modern Languages.

She began her writing career in Paris as a cultural correspondent for The Times of London. French culture is the subject of her book Through Parisian Eyes (published by Oxford University Press), which the Boston Globe describes as "a particularly readable and brilliantly and uniquely compiled collection."
She interviewed many leading cultural figures including four Nobel Prize winners such as Saul Bellow and Gunter Grass, and others; Joyce Carol Oates, Joan Diddion, Frances Sagan, Michael Apted, Martin Scorsese, and Wim Wenders. Camber Porter's left over 50 audio recordings of these interviews.
Her novel Badlands, a Book-of-the-Month Club selection, was set on South Dakota's Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Publishers Weekly stated "a novel of startling, dreamlike lyricism."
A film documenting the creation of the paintings featured in this solo exhibition, entitled The Art of Love, showed regularly on Public Television stations nationally and a collection of her poetry and paintings, also entitled The Art of Love, served as companion to the show.
Camber Porter's paintings have also served as the primary inspiration and as backdrops for several of her theatrical works. She created the backdrops, book, and lyrics for the musical Night Angel, with music by Carmen Moore and was originally performed at Lincoln Center in New York City. She created the book, lyrics, and backdrops for the rock-opera-in-progress, Journey to Benares, with music, direction and choreography by Elizabeth Swados, and was performed at the Asia Society and Museum in New York City in November 2003.
Melinda Camber Porter leaves a prolific and creative legacy with thousands of paintings; over two hundred hours of audio and film interviews with global creative figures in the arts, film and literature; and her tens of thousands of pages of writings: novels, plays, essays, journalism and volumes of poetry. Her creative and spiritual works will be enjoyed for generations.

Product details

• Authors: Melinda Camber Porter, Eugenio Montale
• Assisted by: Joseph R. Flicek (Editor), Joseph Robert Flicek (Editor)
• Publisher: Blake Pr
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 30.04.2016
• EAN: 9781942231448
• ISBN: 978-1-942231-44-8
• No. of pages: 80
• Dimensions: 221 mm x 286 mm x 10 mm
• Weight: 584 g
• Subject: Social sciences, law, business > Media, communication > Journalism