It’s been 28 years since Melina Marchetta released her debut novel, “Looking for Alibrandi” to critical and commercial acclaim. The novel about an Italo-Australian teenager, Josie Alibrandi navigating her way through her final year of high school in Sydney’s Western Suburbs was a revelation. Never before had an Australian author accurately depicted an Italo-Australian’s adolescence. (Photo KIREN)

A stones throw from the centre of Melbourne lies a suburb called Carlton. It is home to the Museo Italiano, CO.AS.IT, the Dante Alighieri Society and the Italian Historical Society. The bars and cafes on popular Lygon Street are diverse, some are historical establishments, with touters thrusting menus into the hands of passers by, the love projects of post-war migrants. (Above: John Hajek - Professor of Italian Studies at the University of Melbourne - Photo: David Hannah)

Back In 1929, the University of Western Australia (UWA) became the first Australian university to appoint a professor of Italian, Francesco Vanzetti. Vanzetti, from Venice, was a true pioneer for the Italian language in Western Australia. When he reached retirement age, he lobbied for the University to create a full Italian department and refused to retire until his dream was realised. 20 years later, the University finally fulfilled his wishes and he retired at the age of 85.

At Brunswick South Primary school, the children are not ‘taught’ Italian, they simply use the language to learn 50% of their curriculum. The school has been running a bilingual program since 2017. One unseasonably cold, windy spring morning, we took the opportunity to get to know some of these students, Melbourne’s future Italian speakers, and find out some of their favourite things about Italy, Melbourne, and life.

‘If I could, I would like to end my career sitting in a piazza telling stories and, at the end of my life, weave through the crowd with my coppola in my hand’. This was Andrea Camilleri’s response when asked why, at the age of 93, he had not yet decided to retire.

It all depends / on what happened yesterday; / it all depends / on what the papers / say; / whether / today / you are a wog, / a New Australian / or an alien.

When we think of linguistic influences in Australian culture we often think of the languages brought to us by migrants from foreign lands.

From a young age, Daniela Pruiti Ciarello would often get lost in the magical worlds of the fairy tales and fables she was told. “I’ve always been a dreamer,” she proclaims. “Faries, goblins, dragons and magic mirrors populated my childhood, and I often nestle into this world to escape from reality.”

Clichés about Italians are the image, often distorted, that foreigners abroad have of us. They began in Europe with the spread of travel diaries of the intellectuals who visited our country, struggling with the educational journey called “Grand Tour”. Centuries later, in the early 1900s, the stereotypes were reinvigorated thanks to migratory phenomena.

A few weeks ago, at the Italian Institute of Culture of Melbourne, a group of key stakeholders met a delegation of members of the Italian Senate to discuss the current state of Italian language education in Victoria. The delegation was accompanied by the Italian Consul-General Dr. Marco Maria Cerbo and comprised Sen. Claudio Micheloni, Sen. Francesco Giacobbe, Sen. Pippo Pagano and Sen. Vito Rosario Petrocelli.

ONCE BITTEN TWICE SHY is a witty yet poignant tale of Maxine. A professional 30 something gal that seemed to have her life in order when all of a sudden she finds herself suddenly single and facing the dole queue.