Riccardo Valla’s activities as a translator, publishing consultant, editor, and reviewer are an excellent case study to foster a better understanding of the speculative fiction translator intellectual profile: specialized in a genre with a recognizable set of conventions and literary genealogies, the translator of science fiction and fantastic genres tends to assume a distinctive publishing and cultural agency. This study, based on a wealth of unpublished documents, concentrates on Valla’s work as a translator and editor of Ursula Le Guin’s work in Italy, offering a survey of Valla’s role in opening the Italian publishing market to new experimentations and forms of critical engagement during the 1970s.
