# Event Details - **Event Name**: Torquato Tasso and Female Patrons: A New Reading History - **Event Start and End Date**: Thu, 26 Feb, 2026 at 06:00 pm – Thu, 26 Feb, 2026 at 08:00 pm - **Event Description**: Dr. Kate Driscoll explores the role of women readers and patrons as sustainers of Italian writer Torquato Tasso.About this EventFebruary 26, 2026 ~ 06:00 PMThe Italian Cultural Institute of Washington, in collaboration with the Department of Italian Studies of Georgetown University, presents "Torquato Tasso and Female Patrons: A New Reading History", a talk by Dr. Kate Driscoll.Torquato Tasso (1544–1595), Italy’s finest poet at the twilight of the Renaissance, has long been cast as a solitary figure. Romantic visualizations of Tasso’s years at the Este court of Ferrara repeatedly depict him as withdrawn and enclosed, confined by order of Duke Alfonso II and sealed into a legacy of neglect and abandonment. But how accurate is this history, and whose presence has it obscured?This talk reframes Tasso’s writings and legacy by shifting attention from his enforced isolation to the network of women readers who sustained his work as patrons, interlocutors, and mediators. Tracing correspondence, dedicatory practices, manuscript circulation, and poetic exchange, this discussion draws from Dr. Driscoll’s book, Tasso and Women Readers: Literary Hospitality in Early Modern Italy, forthcoming with Cambridge University Press in Fall 2026. This work proposes reading as a dynamically reciprocal practice through which Tasso sought the engagement and responses of female patrons—beginning with those of the Este House—whose interpretive authority could redirect and, at times, challenge ducal power. Re-centering these women in the history of Tasso’s writings reveals a dense ecology of support that shaped the poet’s reception among later women readers well into the twentieth century, both within and beyond Italy.LOCATION? Embassy of Italy3000 Whitehaven Street, NWWashington, DC 20008REGISTRATION REQUIREDPLEASE NOTE: RESERVATIONS ACCEPTED EXCLUSIVELY THROUGH EVENTBRITE.COM. NO PHONE OR EMAIL RSVP AVAILABLE.Please note that all registered guests must provide their full legal name for accurate event records. Duplicate or incomplete registrations will be rejected.PleaseABOUT KATE DRISCOLLKate Driscoll is Assistant Professor of Italian and Romance Studies at Duke University. She is the author of Tasso and Women Readers: Literary Hospitality in Early Modern Italy, forthcoming with Cambridge University Press in Fall 2026. This study was awarded the 28th annual Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Award for a Manuscript in Italian Literary Studies from the Modern Language Association. Her research centers on early modern literature, classical and romance epic poetry, women’s writing, gender studies, and Baroque performance history. Her articles on these and related topics have appeared in Renaissance Quarterly, I Tatti Studies, Letteratura cavalleresca italiana, altrelettere, California Italian Studies, and The Italianist, with published and forthcoming book chapters on female ambassadors in works by Tasso and Antonio Vivaldi, and on the relationship between acoustics and affect in Tasso and Claudio Monteverdi. - **Event URL**: https://allevents.in/washington/torquato-tasso-and-female-patrons-a-new-reading-history/100001982443508901 - **Event Categories**: art, literary-art, contests, womens-history-month - **Interested Audience**: - total_interested_count: 0 ## Ticket Details - **Ticket URL**: https://consumer.pxf.io/c/1339408/3151484/39691?partnerpropertyid=1191892&MediaPartnerPropertyId=1191892&svlink=14105511&level=1&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eventbrite.com%2Fe%2Ftorquato-tasso-and-female-patrons-a-new-reading-history-registration-1982443508901 - **Ticket Price Range**: min: 0, max: 0, currency: USD ## Event venue details - **city**: Washington - **state**: DC - **country**: United States - **location**: Italian Cultural Institute of Washington - **lat**: 38.917776 - **long**: -77.0604939 - **full address**: Italian Cultural Institute of Washington, 3000 Whitehaven Street NW, Washington, United States ## Event Organizer details - **affiliate_id**: 10 - **organizer**: Italian Cultural Institute in Washington (https://allevents.in/org/italian-cultural-institute-in-washington/22517281) ## Event gallery - **Alt text**: banner - **Image URL**: https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events9/banners/4f341622d0c044f94a673ebc7c8a73fd2ed8958c54a4e43ae51d24c915910360-rimg-w1200-h827-dc14170f-gmir.jpg?v=1770994974 - **Alt text**: thumbnail - **Image URL**: https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events9/banners/12f4ef0bf9ad210d894dd9fe22f7d70ba16454f19e6926656540c4207d2a649f-rimg-w400-h400-dc14170f-gmir.jpg?v=1770994974 ## FAQs - **Q**: When is the event happening? - **A:** Thu, 26 Feb, 2026 at 06:00 pm - **Q**: Where is the event happening? - **A:** Italian Cultural Institute of Washington, 3000 Whitehaven Street NW, Washington, United States - **Q**: What is the ticket price? - **A:** starting from 0 up to 0 USD - **Q**: Who is organizing the event? - **A:** Italian Cultural Institute in Washington - **Q**: What type of event is this? - **A:** art, literary-art, contests, womens-history-month - **Q**: Where can I find ticket details about Torquato Tasso and Female Patrons: A New Reading History ? - **A:** You can find ticket details about this event on AllEvents. ## Structured Data (JSON-LD) ```json [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Event", "name": "Torquato Tasso and Female Patrons: A New Reading History", "image": "https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events9/banners/4f341622d0c044f94a673ebc7c8a73fd2ed8958c54a4e43ae51d24c915910360-rimg-w1200-h827-dc14170f-gmir.jpg?v=1770994974", "startDate": "2026-02-26", "endDate": "2026-02-26", "url": "https://allevents.in/washington/torquato-tasso-and-female-patrons-a-new-reading-history/100001982443508901", "location": { "@type": "Place", "name": "Italian Cultural Institute of Washington", "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "streetAddress": "3000 Whitehaven Street NW", "postalCode": "20008", "addressLocality": "Washington", "addressRegion": "DC", "addressCountry": "US" }, "geo": { "@type": "GeoCoordinates", "latitude": "38.917776", "longitude": "-77.0604939" } }, "eventAttendanceMode": "https://schema.org/OfflineEventAttendanceMode", "description": "Dr. Kate Driscoll explores the role of women readers and patrons as sustainers of Italian writer Torquato Tasso.", "offers": [ { "@type": "AggregateOffer", "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock", "priceCurrency": "USD", "availabilityStarts": "2026-04-06", "availabilityEnds": "2026-02-26", "validFrom": "2026-04-06", "lowPrice": "0.00", "highPrice": "0.00", "price": "0.00", "url": "https://allevents.in/washington/torquato-tasso-and-female-patrons-a-new-reading-history/100001982443508901" }, { "@type": "Offer", "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock", "priceCurrency": "USD", "availabilityStarts": "2026-04-06", "availabilityEnds": "", "validFrom": "2026-04-06", "url": "https://allevents.in/washington/torquato-tasso-and-female-patrons-a-new-reading-history/100001982443508901", "price": 0, "name": "RSVP - Admit One" } ], "organizer": [ { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Italian Cultural Institute in Washington", "url": "https://allevents.in/org/italian-cultural-institute-in-washington/22517281", "description": "The Italian Cultural Institute (IIC) Washington is an overseas office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation dedicated to the promotion of the Italian culture in the United States and is located inside the Embassy of Italy in Washington.The main activities of the IIC include the organization and support of exhibitions and festivals, in collaboration with major local institutions, the development of academic exchanges, the incentives to publishing Italian books and the promotion of the Italian language.RSVP AND EVENT RULESJoin Our Mailing List" } ] } ] ```