In the bicentenary of Lord Byron’s death, it is crucial that we reconsider why and how we should go back to his literary works. This talk explores Byron’s continued fascination and relevance through the lens of his distinctive ways of writing the present – that of his times as well as our own.

After an initial overview of the poet’s contradictory figure and rich literary output, the talk turns to focus on some of the innovative features of his works, especially those that still speak to us today: fragmented and unstable identities, the travel narrative, his conflicting Britishness and Italian-ness, environmental change and crisis, or the many forms of love and passion. Works under examination will include his diaries, Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, ‘Darkness’, Manfred and Don Juan, as well as the paintings they inspired.

Diego Saglia is Professor of English Literature at the University of Parma (Italy). His research focuses on Romantic literature and culture, also in relation to other European traditions. A member and current director of Italy’s Interuniversity Centre for the Study of Romanticism (CISR), he also sits on the advisory committee of Ravenna’s Museo Byron. His co-edited book Byron and Italy (with Alan Rawes, 2017) was awarded the Elma Dangerfield Award of the Association of International Byron Societies in 2018. His latest publications include a new translation of Lord Byron’s Manfred (2019) into Italian and a chapter on the Classics and Romantics debate in the Cambridge History of European Romantic Literature (2023).