Welcome to POSTCOLONIAL HORRORS.
Registration is now open for the third edition of the International Summer School ENTANGLEMENTS, hosted by the University of Padua from July 6 to 10, 2026.
The Department of Linguistic and Literary Studies is inviting undergraduate and master’s students, PhD candidates and young researchers to take part in an immersive cultural experience focused on postcolonial horror in multiple languages, and featuring dialogues with exceptional international guests.
The School guarantees the acquisition of 4 academic credits (ECTS).
Deadline for registration: May 15, 2026
Registration fee: 500€ / 250€ for UNIPD students (more reductions apply, please see below)
Overview
At its third edition, in 2026 the Entanglements summer school is centered on Postcolonial Horrors and aims to explore horror as an aesthetic, political, and epistemological symbol through which postcolonial literatures stage the traumatic memories of colonization, identity tensions, diasporic movements, and the re-emergence of the spectral within global modernities. The goal is to interpret horror not only as a genre, but as a critical and deconstructive tool capable of destabilizing ethnocentric categories of subjectivity, body, sovereignty, and knowledge.
Plenary talks by leading international scholars hailing from different spheres of knowledge will be followed by workshops enabling participants to put the acquired insights into practice. The lingua franca of the School will be English, although workshops will be provided in Spanish and Italian, as well.
The four-day attendance will serve as an introduction and a facilitated access (Summer Term) to the Postcolonial, Afro-descendant and Global South Cultures programs offered by the Master’s Degree Course in European and American Languages and Literature (LM-37).
The School, in its second year, falls within the third line of action addressing the phenomena of literary transculturation in the global era as envisaged by the 2023-2027 ‘Digital and cross-cultural TRANSmission of TEXTs (TRANSTEXT)’ Project of Excellence, which the Department of Linguistic and Literary Studies received funding for from the Ministry of Culture.
Guest Speakers
Gaia Giuliani – Institute of Contemporary History NOVA School of Social Sciences and Humanities / IN2PAST
Keynote: Monday 6 July 2026, 5:30 PM
Dr. Gaia Giuliani is a political philosopher & cinema studies scholar. She is an associate researcher (permanent position)/Investigadora Auxiliar (carreira) at the Institute of Contemporary History, NOVA School of Social Sciences and Humanities / IN2PAST — Associate Laboratory for Research and Innovation in Heritage, Arts, Sustainability and Territory. Her fields of expertise include: Postcolonial studies, Critical race theory, Cultural studies, and Gender studies across Political philosophy, Contemporary history, Visual studies & Cinema. Among her more recent publications: Zombi, alieni e mutanti. Le paure dall’11 settembre ad oggi (Le Monnier/Mondadori education 2016), Race, Nation, and Gender in Modern Italy: Intersectional Representations in Visual Culture (Palgrave Macmillan 2019), Monsters, Catastrophes and the Anthropocene. A Postcolonial Critique (Routledge 2021)
Priya Sharma – writer
Lecture and seminar: Tuesday 7 July 2026, 10 AM
Priya Sharma is a contemporary British writer best known for her horror and weird fiction stories, characterized by an evocative and often deeply emotional style. Born in the United Kingdom and of Indian descent, her cultural identity significantly influences the themes of her fiction, which frequently explores a sense of belonging, loss, desire, and human relationships through a fantastical and unsettling lens. Sharma first made a name for herself in the world of short fiction, publishing stories in prominent fantasy magazines and anthologies. Her work has received widespread critical acclaim, leading her to win major awards: She is the recipient of several British Fantasy Awards and Shirley Jackson Awards, as well as a World Fantasy Award. She is a Locus Award and a Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire finalist. Her work has appeared in venues such as Tor.com (now Reactormag.com), Interzone, Black Static, and Weird Tales. Among her best-known works is the collection All the Fabulous Beasts, which showcases her ability to blend horror elements with lyrical and intense prose. Priya Sharma’s writing is acclaimed for its psychological depth and her ability to create evocative atmospheres in which the supernatural intertwines with authentic human experiences. Today she is considered an original and influential voice in contemporary horror fiction. She lives in the UK, where she works as a medical doctor.
Giovanna Rivero – writer
Lecture and seminar: Wednesday 8 July 2026, 10 AM
Giovanna Rivero (Bolivia) holds a Ph.D. in Latin American Literature from the University of Florida. She is the author of the short story collections Para comerte mejor (2015), Tierra fresca de su tumba (2020)—chosen by critics and writers as the best Bolivian book of the first quarter of the 21st century, and whose English translation was a finalist for the Queen Sofía Prize. She also authored Un resplandor (2025), as well as the novels 98 segundos sin sombra (2014), adapted for the screen by Juan Pablo Richter, and Alma oscura del alba (2025). She was selected by the Guadalajara International Book Fair as one of the “25 best-kept literary secrets of Latin America” (2011). She is an associate professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Iowa, where she teaches literature and creative writing.
Roberto Mazzini – teacher
Lecture and seminar: Thursday 9 July 2026, 10 AM
Roberto Mazzini, founder of Giolli (1992) and a former elementary school teacher, has gained experience in various theatrical disciplines, ranging from Third Theater to mime and Commedia dell’Arte, as well as in nonviolent, bioenergetic, and psychodramatic training.
He holds a degree in Psychology and later trained in biosystemic therapy with Jerome Liss. He leads workshops using the methods of Boal (Theater of the Oppressed) and Freire (Pedagogy of the Oppressed), and coordinates and supervises various Giolli projects.
He has written articles and contributed to books on the Theater of the Oppressed method and its applications in various fields.
As a trainer, he has worked in psychiatry, prisons, and schools, both with disadvantaged groups and with the staff of these institutions.
He has also served as coordinator for several European projects led by Giolli, such as Fratt (against racism), Fotel (against early school leaving), Fhofij (for the inclusion of LGBTI people in the labor market), Vivien (on violence against women), The TIP (on Islamophobia), CaaD (creative method against discrimination), Migreat! (counter-narrative on migration), and three local participatory projects in the province of Parma.
Daniele Comberiati – Université de Montpellier Paul-Valéry
Lecture and seminar: Friday 10 July 2026, 10 AM
Daniele Comberiati is Associate Professor in Italian Studies. His research interests include Migrant and Postcolonial Italian Literature and Culture, Contemporary Italian Literature, Italian Science Fiction, and Italian Comics. He published with Simone Brioni Italian Science Fiction. The Other in Literature and Film (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019) and Ideologia e rappresentazione. Percorsi attraverso la fantascienza italiana (Mimesis, 2020). On Italian Comics, he published the book Un autre monde est-il possible? Bandes dessinées et science-fiction en Italie, de l’enlèvement d’Aldo Moro jusqu’à aujourd’hui (1978-2019) (Quodlibet, 2019). With Barbara Spadaro, he co-edited Transnational Italian Comics (Routledge, 2026). As a writer, he published with the photographer Eugenio Barzaghi L’uomo dall’altro mondo. Fantascienza di un’Italia (im)possibile (DeriveApprodi, 2025).
Schedule
MONDAY 6 JULY, 2026
10:00 – 12:30
Workshop: Introductory Group Activity on the Keywords of Postcolonial Horror
12:30 – 14:00
Lunch
14:00 – 17:00
Workshop: participants’ introductions
17:30 – 19:30
Keynote speech: Gaia Giuliani
20:00
Welcome aperitivo
TUESDAY 7 JULY, 2026
10:00 – 12:30 – Anglophone Literatures
Lecture and workshop with the author: Pryia Sharma
12:30 – 14:00
Lunch
14:00 – 17:00 – Anglophone Literatures
Workshop: Postcolonial Horror Movies
WEDNESDAY 8 JULY, 2026
10:00 – 12:30 – Latin American Literatures
Lecture and workshop with the author: Giovanna Rivero
“Restos de vida en lo hórrido o la microscopía como subsistencia”
12:30 – 14:00
Lunch
14:00 – 17:00 – Latin American Literatures
Workshop on selected texts
THURSDAY 9 JULY, 2026
10:00 – 12:30
Theater of the oppressed workshop: Roberto Mazzini
12:30 – 14:00
Lunch
14:00 – 17:00
Theater of the oppressed workshop: Roberto Mazzini
FRIDAY 10 JULY, 2026
10:00 – 12:30 – Comparative Literature
Lecture and workshop: Prof. Daniele Comberiati
“The “Unexpected” Horror: Postcolonial Memories in Contemporary Italian Literature”
12:30 – 13:30
Closing remarks
Registration
Registragion for the summer school will be open until May 15, 2026, at a cost of €500. The following fee waivers apply: 20% fee waiver for students of partner universities / 50% fee waiver for students from Arqus Alliance universities (including UNIPD students). A maximum number of waivers might apply.
Applications received will be evaluated by the scientific committee, which will confirm admission as soon as possible. In order to participate, all those who have received confirmation must complete payment of the registration fee, in a manner to be indicated at a later time.
The initiative will be launched with a minimum of 20 registrants.
For questions regarding the terms and conditions of partipation or advice regarding accomodation during the event please contact: international.disll@unipd.it.
In order to register, please complete the form below:
Complesso Universitario Beato Pellegrino
Scientific committee
DIPARTIMENTO DI STUDI LINGUISTICI E LETTERARI
Via E. Vendramini, 13
35137 – Padova
