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Translators Aloud is a YouTube channel devoted to sharing the work of literary translators, for both published and unpublished works.

We provide a space for translators to read their own work and a positive platform for sharing great literature, read aloud by the translators themselves.

We showcase the world’s best new and classic books, poetry, plays, and short stories, presented by the talented people who translate them.


Recent Readings

Alannah Purslow reads from Nieves Herrero's RED MOON (seeking a publisher)

29 Jan, 2026 10:15 am

THERE WAS A TIME FOR SUCH A WORD, Gianni Solla's debut novel in English, has been translated into thirteen languages. Set in a remote part of southern Italy during World War II, it tells the story of Davide, an illiterate pig keeper. His three-sided friendship with Nicolas, a Jewish boy whose family has been banished from Naples, and Teresa, the daughter of a village ropemaker, inspires him to seek liberation through language and learning. Their relationship takes them through the perilous terrain of adolescence in which harsh choices lead to betrayal and remorse. David is forced to escape from a cruel family life to the rubble-strewn streets of Naples where he finds salvation in back-alley theaters through the transformative power of storytelling. As the years pass, he resolves to search for his two lost friends, bringing this heartrending story to its conclusion. “With There Was a Time for Such a Word, Gianni Solla has written a very subtle, quiet story about friendships forged in times of inhumanity.” — Nürnberger Nachrichten “Gianni Solla has written a love story of overwhelming power that unfolds in three parts and reads as thrillingly as a crime novel.” — Badische Neueste Nachrichten Translator bio RICHARD DIXON translated the last works of Umberto Eco, including his novels The Prague Cemetery and Numero Zero. Other translations include works by Giacomo Leopardi, Carlo Emilio Gadda, Paolo Volponi, Roberto Calasso, Antonio Moresco and Stefano Massini. He translated Pope Francis’s Hope: The Autobiography in January 2025. His reading from Paolo Volponi’s THE WORLD MACHINE for Translators Aloud can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7LBdrLMDoI Author bio GIANNI SOLLA was born and lives in Naples. He has published short stories in international anthologies and literary magazines, and collaborated with Il Napoli from 2006 to 2010. His novel Airbag (2008) was followed by Il fiuto dello squalo (2012) and Tempesta madre (2021).

THERE WAS A TIME FOR SUCH A WORD, Gianni Solla's debut novel in English, has been translated into thirteen languages. Set in a remote part of southern Italy during World War II, it tells the story of Davide, an illiterate pig keeper. His three-sided friendship with Nicolas, a Jewish boy whose family has been banished from Naples, and Teresa, the daughter of a village ropemaker, inspires him to seek liberation through language and learning. Their relationship takes them through the perilous terrain of adolescence in which harsh choices lead to betrayal and remorse. David is forced to escape from a cruel family life to the rubble-strewn streets of Naples where he finds salvation in back-alley theaters through the transformative power of storytelling. As the years pass, he resolves to search for his two lost friends, bringing this heartrending story to its conclusion.

“With There Was a Time for Such a Word, Gianni Solla has written a very subtle, quiet story about friendships forged in times of inhumanity.” — Nürnberger Nachrichten “Gianni Solla has written a love story of overwhelming power that unfolds in three parts and reads as thrillingly as a crime novel.” — Badische Neueste Nachrichten

Translator bio
RICHARD DIXON translated the last works of Umberto Eco, including his novels The Prague Cemetery and Numero Zero. Other translations include works by Giacomo Leopardi, Carlo Emilio Gadda, Paolo Volponi, Roberto Calasso, Antonio Moresco and Stefano Massini. He translated Pope Francis’s Hope: The Autobiography in January 2025.
His reading from Paolo Volponi’s THE WORLD MACHINE for Translators Aloud can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7LBdrLMDoI

Author bio
GIANNI SOLLA was born and lives in Naples. He has published short stories in international anthologies and literary magazines, and collaborated with Il Napoli from 2006 to 2010. His novel Airbag (2008) was followed by Il fiuto dello squalo (2012) and Tempesta madre (2021).

YouTube Video VVVqYXE5T1Nwb0Vlb2hQbUs4WlQtQzd3LnJLQnVfaDFDd1Nj

Gianni Solla & translator Richard Dixon read from THERE WAS A TIME FOR SUCH A WORD (HarperVia, 2025)

22 Jan, 2026 3:01 pm



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