Valentina Maini, born in Bologna in 1987, is an Italian writer and translator. She holds an International Doctorate in Comparative Literature (Bologna-Paris) and is the translator of several French and English authors, such as Sophie Lambda, Emma Clit, Emmanuelle Richard, Karen Taïeb and Louise Kennedy.
Valentina Maini is also the author of the novel La mischia (Bollati Boringhieri, 2020) and the collection of poems Casa rotta (Arcipelago Itaca, 2016) for which she won the Anna Osti prize. Her short stories have appeared in numerous Italian and foreign magazines and anthologies. She herself translated into French her report dedicated to obsessive-compulsive disorder, Généralement, ce qui s’altère en premier, ce sont les couleurs, published in October 2021 by Editions la Variation.
Her residency at the Cité internationale des arts is for her the opportunity to work on French comics, focusing on non-fiction titles capable of addressing complex themes such as feminism and mental health. In the context of this project, Valentina Maini intends to consider the unique capacity of comics to convey in an effective, accessible and entertaining way issues that tend to discourage many readers. Her ambition today is to find a title that can address these delicate subjects in an intelligent, moving and original way.
Valentina Maini is recipient of the Farnese Grant for young translators.