Italian author, playwright to open Fowles series

Chapman University’s annual John Fowles Literary Forum, a festival of visiting, internationally recognized novelists, poets and playwrights, opens with author and playwright Dacia Maraini at 7 p.m. Monday, March 7, at 7 p.m. in the Henley Reading Room on the second floor of Chapman’s Leatherby Libraries.

Maraini, daughter of a Sicilian princess and the longtime companion of novelist Alberto Moravia, has won numerous awards, including the Formentor Prize for “L’età del malessere” (“The Age of Discontent,” 1963); the Premio Fregene for “Isolina” (1985); the Premio Campiello and Book of the Year Award for “La lunga vita di Marianna Ucrìa” (“The Silent Duchess,” 1990); and the Premio Strega for “Buio” (1999).  This year, the series focuses on Italian writers.

The series is free and open to the public. For more information, call 714-532-6026.