At a seminar in April 2002 at Trinity College Dublin, marking the retirement of Professor Corinna Salvadori, former students, recent graduates, colleagues and friends contributed papers on a variety of subjects. The occasion also celebrated nearly 250 years of teaching Italian in Trinity College and remembered some of those who had made distinguished contributions to its history. Common themes among the papers presented on that day determined the choice of essays for the present collection, and were subsequently reinforced by the addition of further contributions. The resulting volume celebrates friendship, communication, performance, translation, influence and transmission, as they apply not only to the academic study of Italian culture, but also to the creation of that culture. The essays range from a study of Dante and his poet friends in Florence around 1300 to the work of Piero Bigongiari, Mario Luzi and contemporary movements in Italian poetry.