海角社区

About

I specialise in Contemporary Italian literature and Photography, particularly their intersection with Place and Landscape; Environmental Humanities; Ecocriticism; Critical Plant Studies; Orality and Vocality.

I was educated at Bologna University (BA/MA in Modern Languages and Literatures), Exeter University (MA and MPhil in Applied Linguistics) and Birmingham University (PhD in Italian Studies).

I lectured in Italian at the University of Exeter University and at the University of Leicester, before joining the University of 海角社区 in 2026. I was Visiting Lecturer at the University of Amsterdam in 2018.

I have acted as external examiner in Italian at the Universities of Nottingham Trent, Liverpool, Salford and Leeds.

Research interests

• 20th/21st Century Italian literature
• Postwar Italian Photography; Photography and Literature
• Cultural & Visual Studies
• Environmental Humanities; Ecocriticism; Critical Plant Studies
• Space/Place/Landscape/Garden studies
• Literary Orality and Vocality

I have published extensively on the above subjects and on leading writer and intellectual Gianni Celati and leading photographer Luigi Ghirri. My publications include two monographs,鈥�Voicing the Word: Writing Orality in Contemporary Italian Fiction鈥�(2004) and鈥�Claudio Piersanti鈥�(2009), eight co-edited volumes of scholarly essays on various aspects of Modern Italian Culture, and several peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on a range of issues. I was Principal Investigator for the British Academy / Leverhulme Trust research grant 鈥榁iewing and writing Italian landscape. Luigi Ghirri and his legacy in photography and literature鈥�, which resulted in two international conferences (Rome and Leicester) and in the co-edited volume (with J. Benci)鈥�Luigi Ghirri and the Photography of Place. Interdisciplinary Perspectives鈥�(2017).

Teaching and supervision

Teaching

I currently teach the following modules:

• IT201 Modern Italian Language II Writing
• IT401 Modern Italian Language IV Writing
• IT401 Modern Italian Language IV Oral
• IT316 Present Futures
• LL2B4 Italian Intermediate Accelerated
• LL2B4 Italian Intermediate Accelerated for Finalists

I have taught and convened a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate modules in Italian, Modern Languages, Film Studies and Translation, including modules on contemporary Italian culture, literature, cinema, photography, language and linguistics.

Supervision

I have extensive experience of PGT and PGR supervision.

PhD students supervised to successful completion at previous Institutions:

• Susanne Lopan, PhD in History of Art (2021-2026): 鈥樷��
• Laura Albertini, GTA/PhD in Italian Studies (2017-2022): 鈥�(Re)exploring place through travel writing: Paolo Rumiz鈥檚 travel writing as a practice of social and cultural awareness in contemporary Italy鈥�:
• Andrea Brondino, PhD in Italian Studies (University of 海角社区 & Leicester), M4C (2019-2022): 'The Decline and Resilience of Irony in Post-1989 Italian Literature', /fac/arts/modernlanguages/academic/postgraduate/brondino/
• Maria Morelli, PhD in Italian Studies (2011-2017): 鈥楺ueer(ing) Gender in Contemporary Italian Women鈥檚 Writing. Maraini, Sapienza, Morante鈥�,
• Alessandro Ba霉, PhD in Italian Studies: 鈥楶ublishing under Fascism鈥� part-time (2010-2017) (second supervisor)
• Oliver Brett, PhD in Italian & French Studies, part-time (1998-2014): 鈥楾he lieu factice: Performance, Identity, and Place in French and Italian Queer Documentary since 2000鈥�,
• Kate Litherland, PhD in Italian Studies (1999-2005): 鈥楶ulp: youth language, popular culture and literature in 1990s Italian fiction鈥�,

Visiting PhD/MA students at previous Institutions

• Camilla Pinto, University of Bologna, 鈥楪li anni di formazione di Gianni Celati: analisi e ricostruzione dalle carte del Fondo鈥� (Sept-Dec 2024)
• Marta Guerzoni, University of Milan (Cattolica), MA on 鈥楪eografie d鈥檃ffezione. Spazi, luoghi, paesaggi nell鈥檕pera di Gianni Celati鈥� (Jan-April 2024)

• Simone Giorgio, University of Trento, 鈥楪ianni Celati and James joyce鈥� (Jan-April 2023)
• Sara Bonfili, European Doctorate in Italian Studies, University of Macerata, Italy (Jan-June 2013): 鈥楨rmanno Cavazzoni tra comico e parodia鈥�,

Current Administrative Roles

• Subject Leader Italian, Language Centre
• Year Abroad Coordinator, Italian

Publications

Selected Publications

Books (authored)

• Spunta, Claudio Piersanti, Florence: Cadmo, 2009
• Spunta, Voicing the Word: Writing Orality in Contemporary Italian Fiction, Oxford/Bern: Peter Lang, 2004

Special Journal Issues

• Belpoliti, G. Gimmelli, M. Spunta (eds), Gianni Celati e l鈥檃rte della traduzione, Elephant & Castle, 29 (2023),
• Martelli and M. Spunta (eds), La scrittura dello sguardo. Gianni Celati e le arti visive,

ReCHERches, n. 24, 2020,

Books (co-edited)

• Spunta and C. Dellacasa (eds), 鈥�Verdi brillanti鈥�: Riposizionare piante, giardini e foreste nella letteratura e nel cinema dell鈥橝ntropocene (Florence: Cesati, 2026)
• Spunta and S. Ross (eds), Tra ecologia letteraria ed ecocritica: narrare la crisi ambientale nella letteratura e nel cinema italiani (Florence: Cesati, 2022)
• Jansen, I. Lanslots and M. Spunta (eds), Viaggi minimi e luoghi qualsiasi. In cammino tra cinema, letteratura e arti visive nell鈥橧talia contemporanea (Florence: Cesati, 2020)
• Spunta and J. Benci (eds), Luigi Ghirri and the Photography of Place. Interdisciplinary Perspectives (Oxford: Peter Lang, 2017)
• Storchi, M. Spunta and M. Morelli (eds), Women and the Public Sphere in Modern and Contemporary Italy. Essays for Sharon Wood (Leicester: Troubador, 2017)
• Rorato and M. Spunta (eds), Letteratura come fantasticazione. In conversazione con Gianni Celati (Lampeter: Edwin Mellen Press, 2009)
• Caesar and M. Spunta (eds), Orality and literacy in modern Italian culture (Oxford: Legenda, 2006)
• Dente, G. Ferzoco, M. Gill, M. Spunta, (eds), Proteus - The language of metamorphosis (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2005)

 Selected Peer Reviewed Articles

• M. Spunta, 鈥�Viaggio in Italia: perdersi come 芦l鈥檌nquieto inizio di un viaggio verso l鈥檌gnoto禄鈥�, Arabeschi, 2026

• 鈥楶ia Pera鈥檚 Poetics of the Planetary Garden鈥�, Italian Studies, 78: 1 (2023),
• Spunta, 鈥淔ar sentire la voce dell鈥檃ltro鈥�: traduzione come risonanza nella poetica di Gianni Celati, in M. Belpoliti, G. Gimmelli, M. Spunta (eds), Gianni Celati e l'arte della traduzione, Elephant & Castle, 29 (2023), pp. 14-29
• 鈥楪ianni Celati, Hartmut Rosa e la risonanza鈥�, in E. Morra and G. Raccis (eds), Prisma Testi, Contesti, Immagini, Ricordi (Milan: Mimesis, 2023), pp. 117-135
• 鈥楪ianni Celati, una questione di meraviglia鈥�, Bollettino 鈥�900, Electronic Journal of '900 Italian Literature, 1-2, I-II semester 2022,
• Spunta, 鈥楪ianni Celati e la fotografia come 芦pratico pensare per immagini禄 - in dialogo con Ghirri e Gajani鈥�, in M. Martelli and M. Spunta (eds), La scrittura dello sguardo. Gianni Celati e le arti visive, ReCHERches, n. 24, 2020, pp. 97-112,
• 鈥樷�楧entro la citt脿鈥�: Gabriele Basilico鈥檚 Photography and the Embodied 鈥淓xperience of Place鈥�, Annali d鈥橧talianistica, 37 (2019), Urban Space and the Body, 79-107
• 鈥樷�樷�楢 magical balance of opposites鈥�. Reading Luigi Ghirri鈥檚 photography through Walter Benjamin鈥�, Journal of Italian Cinema and Media Studies, vol. 2:2, May 2014, 215-235
• 鈥榋ur Geschichte des Foto-Text-Bandes in Italien鈥�, Zeitschrift f眉r Italienische Kultur der Gegenwart; Fotographie in Italien, ed. by T. Bremer and T. Heydenreich, n. 55, Spring 2013, pp. 77-88
• 鈥楶ensar com imagens鈥� (Thinking through images), ZUM, 3, 2012, 58-63
• 鈥楩ossati鈥檚 and Messori鈥檚 Viaggio in un paesaggio terrestre – an imaginative journey through writing, photography, landscape and painting鈥�, Italian Studies, vol. 66, n. 1, March 2011, 93-111
• 鈥楽ense of home and 鈥榚xile鈥� in Giorgio Messori鈥檚 narrative fiction鈥�, Romance Studies, 29, n. 4, November 2011, pp. 285-98
• 鈥楨splorazioni sulla via Emilia e dintorni – la fotografia italiana degli anni 鈥�80 in dialogo con la scrittura di paesaggio鈥�, in The modern Image, Intersections of Photography, Cinema and Literature in Italian Culture, special issue of L鈥檃nello che non tiene. Journal of Modern Italian Literature, ed. G. Minghelli, XX-XXI, 1-2, Spring-Fall 2008-2009, pp. 158-87
• 鈥業l profilo delle nuvole: Ghirri鈥檚 photography and the new Italian landscape鈥�, Italian Studies, 61: 1, Spring 2006, 114-36
• 鈥楲o spazio delle pianure come 鈥渢erritorio di racconti鈥� - verso la foce con Gianni Celati鈥�, Spunti e Ricerche, 18, 2003, pp. 5-28
• Il narrare semplice, naturale di Gianni Celati e i suoi progetti editoriali鈥�, Rassegna Europea di Letteratura Italiana, 22, 2003, pp. 53-72

 Selected Book Chapters

• 鈥楪ianni Celati, Hartmut Rosa e la risonanza鈥�, in E. Morra and G. Raccis (eds), Prisma Celati. Testi, Contesti, Immagini, Ricordi (Milan: Mimesis, 2022), pp. 119-138
• 鈥楪uido Guidi e la fotografia della 鈥榪ualsiasit脿鈥�, in Spunta co-ed (2020), Viaggi minimi e luoghi qualsiasi, 149-159
• 鈥楪ianni Celati e la fotografia come 鈥減ratico pensare per immagini鈥� – in dialogo con Ghirri e Gajani鈥�, in Spunta co-ed (2020), La scrittura dello sguardo, 97-121
• 鈥榁erso la foce: The Experience of Place between Writing and Photography鈥�, in P. Barron (ed), Towards the River鈥檚 Mouth by Gianni Celati (Lanham: Lexington Books, 2019), 77-88
• 鈥楪ianni Celati and the allure of the voice: from 鈥淰oci da terra鈥� to 鈥淣otizie ai naviganti鈥濃��, in M. Ronchi Stefanati (ed), Gianni Celati. Traduzione, Tradizione e Riscrittura (Rome: Aracne, 2019), 49-68
• 鈥楴arrating the experience of place: Luigi Ghirri and literature鈥�, in Spunta co-ed (2017), Luigi Ghirri and the Photography of Place, 199-224
• 鈥業nterfaces of photography, writing and landscape – the landscape photobook from Ghirri to Fossati and Messori鈥�, in G. Minghelli, S. Hill (eds), Stillness in motion. Italy, Photography and the Meaning of Modernity (Toronto: Toronto University Press, 2014), 288-313
• 鈥業l paesaggio e l鈥檈stetica: considerazioni sulla teoria recente鈥�, in P. Chirumbolo, L. Pocci (eds), Bel Paese? The Representation of Landscape in Contemporary Italian Literature and Cinema (Lampeter: Edwin Mellen Press, 2013), 21-51

 Media engagement

• M. Spunta,
• M. Spunta, Review of Guido Guidi鈥檚 Exhibition, Di sguincio, Large Glass, 3 February – 11 March 2023, 17 January 2023,
• M. Spunta, Review of Luigi Ghirri鈥檚 Exhibition, The Map and the Territory, The Burlington Review, March 2019
• M. Spunta, 鈥楲uigi Ghirri鈥檚 photography: 鈥榓 magical balance of opposites鈥�, IMA Magazine, 20, Summer 2017, . This essay was translated into Japanese for Japanese photography journal, in connection with a major exhibition on Luigi Ghirri in Tokyo
• M. Spunta, 鈥楥esare Fabbri, 鈥楾he Flying Carpet鈥�: The Lightness of a Photography Done on Foot鈥�, Blogpost for Interdisciplinary Italy, Creative Snapshots, 3 May 2017,
• M. Spunta, 鈥楾he unseen places鈥�, The Financial Times Weekend Magazine, 6/7 May 2017, pp. 26-30, ;
• M. Spunta, 鈥楨veryday Magic鈥�, Review of Cesare Fabbri, The Flying Carpet, Source, March 2017, p. 69

 Invited talks / Public Engagement

• 鈥楬omage to Gianni Celati鈥�, Italian Cultural Institute, London, 27 April 2022
• Luigi Ghirri. The Map and the Territory, in conversation with James Lingwood, Italian Cultural Institute, London, 22 October 2018
• The Flying Carpet, in conversation with Cesare Fabbri and Michael Mack, Italian Cultural Institute, 20 March 2017
• Guido Guidi, Facciate/Facades: In conversation with David Campany and James Lingwood, Large Glass, London, 15 December 2016,
• Luigi Ghirri. The Complete Essays; in conversation with Julian Stallabrass, Waterstones Gower Street, London, 25 October 2016

Qualifications

PhD in Italian Studies, University of Birmingham (2003)

MA & MPhil in Applied Linguistics, University of Exeter (1997)

BA & MA degree in Modern Languages, University of Bologna (1992)

Teaching qualifications

SFHEA: Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (2017)

TESOL Certificate, University of Manchester (1993)

Awards

Italian Studies journal Article Prize 2023 for

Discovering Excellence Award for Teaching Team of the Year: Modern Languages, University of Leicester, November 2019

Professional associations

• • Essay Prize Coordinator (Jan 2017-Jan 2023)
  • Senior Co-Editor of Italian Studies (post-1700) (2023-2026)
• (AIPI)
  • Members鈥� Secretary (Aug 2018-Jan 2023)
  • UK representative (ongoing)
• • Membership (2004-)

External examining

• University of Leeds, Italian undergraduate and postgraduate courses (2023-2027)
• University of Nottingham Trent, Italian undergraduate courses (2016-2020)
• University of Liverpool, Italian undergraduate courses (2014-2018)
• University of Salford, Italian undergraduate and postgraduate courses (2009-2013)