The Conversations Around Naples are a series of talks around Neapolitan history, culture, art, and literature delivered by academics across different career stages, mainly from the University of Oxford, hosted at Il Corno in the Covered Market.

In occasion of these talks, chairs and menus disappear, and the premises are magically turned into a little stage to accomodate speakers and audience. Throughout the talks, people can savour a glass of wine with a tarallo, a shot of limoncello or a limoncello spritz, while listening to stories about and around Neapolitan culture, literature, art, from the medieval origins of the patron saint of the city, San Gennaro, to the travel accounts of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century English and French travellers to Naples, and Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels.

FULL PROGRAMME 2026

19 February Dr Giulia Depoli: Sympathy for the Devil: The Occult in Renaissance Neapolitan Literature

26 February Prof Fabio Camilletti, Gennaro Ambrosino, and Prof Bart Van den Bossche: Neapolitan Spiritualism: book launch of Modern Spiritualism in Italian Literature and Culture (1765-1969) (2025)

12 March Andrea Del Cornò: England and the Neapolitan Revolution of 1820-1821

19 March Prof John Robertson: The Neapolitan Enlightenment

7 May Rebecca Boyd: Evil Eye for the Straight Guy? Queer Fantasies of Naples in French Decadent Literature

14 May Dr Alessandra Aloisi: The Philosophy of Pulcinella

28 May Dr Rebecca Walker: Naples in the Novels of Elena Ferrante

4 June Prof Charlotte Ross: Extraordinary People: Compton Mackenzie and Queer Capri in the 1920s-30s’ (event in collaboration with Oxford Pride)

The talks are free to attend but places are limited and sign-up is required by writing an email to oxford@ilcorno.co.uk.