Should Italy have a Dante Day?

Dante Alighieri statue next to Santa Croce church, Florence (Italy), 1865, Enrico Pazzi

Dante Alighieri statue next to Santa Croce church, Florence (Italy), 1865, Enrico Pazzi Source: Wikimedia/Public Domain

Italian poet Dante Alighieri is deemed to be the father of Italian literature, and ahead of the 700th anniversary of his death some are asking to dedicate a special day to celebrating his contribution to Italian culture.


Dante Alighieri, also universally known as Dante, should be recognised with a day dedicated to him. This is the proposal of some Italian academics, who think it is time, almost 700 years after the poet's demise, to celebrate him and his Divine Comedy, widely considered to be the most important poem of the Middle Ages and the greatest literary work in the Italian language.

But what do Italo-Australians think of this proposal? Dantesì, Danteno, Dantemaybe?

We asked to our guests and our audience what they think of the proposal of a Dantedì.

Our guests are: Dr Simon West, poet and lecturer, literary agent Kylie Doust, lecturer Matthew Absalom.

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