Rob O’Neill on Renato Amato
Rob O’Neill on Renato Amato
Category: Article
| Title | Rob O’Neill on Renato Amato |
|---|---|
| Author | Rob O’Neill |
| Authors/Editors | Stephen Stratford |
| Year | 2016 |
| Publication | Quote Unquote |
| Publisher | Blogger |
| Language | English |
| Geographic reference | Auckland, Wellington, Potenza |
| Time reference | 1950s-1960s |
| Online resource | Yes |
| Topic | Renato Amato, Italian writers |
Extract: Born in Portenza in southern Italy in 1928, Amato fought on both sides during World War II. First he was co-opted into the Fascist Black Brigade and later, using forged papers, he joined the partisans — where he saw many of his former officers taken prisoner and executed.
Filled with a general disgust after the war, Amato tried to build a life for himself. He attended university but did not finish a degree. He began writing and had some pieces published. Moving to Rome, he acted, wrote, took labouring jobs and waited on tables. He met several more-established writers, including Cesare Pavese, but they made little impression on him.
Working for a refugee organisation in the early 50s and learning English, Amato began to think about emigrating. New Zealand was virtually off limits to Italian migrants so, perhaps out of some sense of perversity, he decided that was where he wanted to go.
He arrived in Auckland in 1954 and renamed himself Michael. Again he found a succession of jobs — labouring, selling linen door-to-door — and virtually abandoned writing until, in 1958, he met his future wife, Sheena McAdam.
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