Alessia Carbonaro

PhD Translation & Transcultural Studies

Email: Alessia dot Carbonaro at warwick dot ac dot uk

About

Alessia is a PhD student in Translation and Transcultural Studies at the University of Warwick, funded by the Monash Warwick Alliance Joint PhD scholarship. Her research is supervised by Dr. Caroline Summers and Dr. Cecilia PiantanidaLink opens in a new window at the University of Warwick, and by Professor Rita WilsonLink opens in a new window at Monash University.

Prior to joining Warwick, Alessia has worked as an Italian language private tutor and as a freelance translator in the following language combinations: EN<>IT, FR>IT, ES>IT.

Research

Her practice-based research explores the complex intersection of personal and collective trauma and landscape, particularly Australian native flora, through the translation proposal into Italian of Molly Schmidt's debut novel, Salt River Road (2023). More broadly, it aims to reflect on the ways landscape and translation shape the representation of traumatic events in Australian contemporary fiction, and analyses the challenges of translating texts that are deeply rooted in specific ecological and environmental contexts. Her project is also interested in the metaphorical understanding of texts themselves as landscapes, as well as in the implications of such an understanding on translation.

Research Interests

Literary translation
Trauma narratives in translation
Ecocritical approaches to translation
Translators' authorship
Australian contemporary literary narratives

Conferences

"Translating Australian Trauma Narratives: Western and Indigenous Conceptualisations of Trauma for an Italian Readership" - IV Lisbon Spring School in Translation StudiesLink opens in a new window, 16-21 March 2026 (Lisbon, Portugal).

"Translating Cultural Collaboration: White Authorship and Indigenous Characters in Salt River Road" - Northeast Modern Language Association 56th Annual ConventionLink opens in a new window, 6-9 March 2025 (Philadelphia, PA, US).

Scholarships and Awards

Society & Culture Spotlight Small Grant Scheme 25-26 for conference participation (2025-2026).

Monash Warwick Alliance Joint PhD Scholarship (2025-2029).

Erasmus+ Traineeship Scholarship, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna (2025).

Scholarship for the preparation of MA dissertation abroad, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna (2024).

International Double MA Scholarship, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna (2022).

Premio America Giovani for academic excellence, Fondazione Italia USA (2022).

Scholarship for King's College Undergraduate Summer School in Media, Gender and Culture, awarded by Università di Pisa (2021).

Erasmus+ Study Scholarship, Cardiff University (2020).

Qualifications

International Double MA in Specialized Translation/Translation Studies, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna & Monash University (2022-2025).

BA in Modern Languages and Literatures, Università di Pisa (2018-2022).

Read the blog post I wrote for Fremantle Press on my translation experience of the novel Salt River Road by Molly Schmidt for my MA dissertation: Translating Salt River Road by Molly Schmidt: from Australia to Italy and return