Uploaded December 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Conversation begins at 10:45
With her amazing new book, DANTE: THE ESSENTIAL COMMEDIA (Liveright, bookshop.org/a/4669/9781324096207 ), scholar Prue Shaw (https://prueshaw.com) brings us a canto-by-canto journey through Dante's masterwork, interweaving translated verses with her commentary, and serving as a Virgil-like guide to the poem. We talk about how she was inspired by John Carey's The Essential Paradise Lost (goodreads.com/book/show/32490567-the-essential-paradise-lost ), why the Paradiso was her biggest challenge, how the poem has changed for her over the course of her life, and why she went with prose translations of Dante rather than verse. We get into Dante's balance of pride in his art and his humility before God, the modern sound of Dante's verse and the challenge of translating Italian into English, what she's learning from helping translate Shelley into Italian, why she wants The Essential Commedia to serve as a gateway drug into Dante, and the nature of language & why the Tower of Babel plays a big role in the Commedia. We also discuss her incredible work on third edition of the Digital Commedia (https://www.dantecommedia.it ), life after the death of her husband, Clive James (chimeraobscura.com/vm/clive-james-bonus-episode ), and putting a collection of his final poems together, how an issue of the X-Men (marvel.fandom.com/wiki/X-Men_Annual_Vol_1_4 ) turned me on to Dante as a kid, my changing views on Ulysses in the Commedia, why sloth is my fave of the deadly sins, and more. More info at chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-665-prue-shaw • Support The Virtual Memories Show via Stripe (buy.stripe.com/dR603B83MbhS4XS3ce), Patreon (patreon.com/vmspod), or Paypal (paypal.me/vmspod), and subscribe to our e-newsletter, https://buttondown.email/vmspod
Conversation begins at 10:45
With her amazing new book, DANTE: THE ESSENTIAL COMMEDIA (Liveright, bookshop.org/a/4669/9781324096207 ), scholar Prue Shaw (https://prueshaw.com) brings us a canto-by-canto journey through Dante's masterwork, interweaving translated verses with her commentary, and serving as a Virgil-like guide to the poem. We talk about how she was inspired by John Carey's The Essential Paradise Lost (goodreads.com/book/show/32490567-the-essential-paradise-lost ), why the Paradiso was her biggest challenge, how the poem has changed for her over the course of her life, and why she went with prose translations of Dante rather than verse. We get into Dante's balance of pride in his art and his humility before God, the modern sound of Dante's verse and the challenge of translating Italian into English, what she's learning from helping translate Shelley into Italian, why she wants The Essential Commedia to serve as a gateway drug into Dante, and the nature of language & why the Tower of Babel plays a big role in the Commedia. We also discuss her incredible work on third edition of the Digital Commedia (https://www.dantecommedia.it ), life after the death of her husband, Clive James (chimeraobscura.com/vm/clive-james-bonus-episode ), and putting a collection of his final poems together, how an issue of the X-Men (marvel.fandom.com/wiki/X-Men_Annual_Vol_1_4 ) turned me on to Dante as a kid, my changing views on Ulysses in the Commedia, why sloth is my fave of the deadly sins, and more. More info at chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-665-prue-shaw • Support The Virtual Memories Show via Stripe (buy.stripe.com/dR603B83MbhS4XS3ce), Patreon (patreon.com/vmspod), or Paypal (paypal.me/vmspod), and subscribe to our e-newsletter, https://buttondown.email/vmspod
