In the realm of contemporary literary translation, few ventures capture the imagination quite as vividly as Giacomo Sartori’s Ant. Featured prominently in The Missouri Review’s online-only biweekly series, BLAST—a curated home for prose deemed too vibrant, experimental, or urgent to be constrained within the physical covers of a traditional print journal—this playful yet philosophically dense narrative offers readers a profound look into the dualities of collectivism and individual desire.
Translated into fluid, resonant English by the acclaimed duo Michela Martini and Elizabeth McKenzie, Ant introduces readers to an unnamed protagonist whose life within the strict, highly regimented hierarchy of an anthill is disrupted by sudden, subversive daydreams. Sartori—an established Italian agronomist, soil scientist, and multi-award-winning author—employs his deep ecological and biological insights to construct a satirical and deeply empathetic microcosm. The story balances the comforting, unyielding security of the hive-mind against the dizzying, often terrifying allure of unfettered individuality.
This review-style feature examines the layers of Sartori’s short story, the mechanics of its English translation, and the impressive literary profiles of both the author and his translators. Through an exploration of the text’s narrative architecture, contextual metrics, and critical acclaim, we trace how Ant resonates far beyond the garden floor, echoing fundamental questions of human society, free will, and political conformity.
Read Also
Detailed Chronology: The Anatomy of a Rebellion
The narrative arc of Ant tracks a slow, internal revolution. It is less a sequence of explosive physical events and more a meticulous mapping of micro-moments that destabilize an otherwise monolithic existence.
Phase 1: The Indoctrination of the Hive
The story opens within the comforting, breathless cadence of collective life. The protagonist describes a world where isolation is entirely unknown. Every waking moment is preempted by communal duty: hauling grains, expanding pantries, clearing out debris from crumb caches, tidying the graveyard, and tending to fragile eggs. There is no time for introspection, melancholy, or doubt.
Sartori establishes the auditory texture of this world through the narrator’s observations: the ceaseless, chatty hum of the colony acting as a psychological shield against fatigue. The narrator contrasts this harmonious industry with the brutal "law of the jungle" governing other creatures—such as solitary predators or self-interested foragers who operate on personal gain and mutual hostility. Within the anthill, the sacred maxim reigns supreme: what’s mine is yours, and the good of the anthill supersedes all else.
Phase 2: The First Deviation
The psychological fracture begins on a hot afternoon during a routine straw-hauling assignment. While a close companion—affectionately and ironically likened to a "political extremist, a Maoist"—debates the relative merits of toiling in the sun versus the rain, the protagonist experiences an uncharacteristic internal glitch.
Described as a vague attraction or a daydream, the narrator feels an irresistible urge to step away from the linear, orderly procession. While the rational mind warns, "Come here, you’re making a mistake!" the physical form drifts perpendicularly away from the marching line. The internal panic sets in: Where was I? What the hell had happened? Left entirely at her own mercy for the first time, the protagonist confronts the terrifying silence of an empty meadow.
Phase 3: Epiphany Among the Crickets
Straying from the path leads the protagonist to an unexpected encounter behind an endless chestnut leaf. Two crickets—creatures operating on a nocturnal schedule—are locked in an intimate embrace, whispering tender words and caressing one another.
For an insect raised in a society where affection is sacrificed for efficiency, the sight triggers a violent inner turmoil. It is not merely confusion, but a dizzying, heartbreaking sense of emptiness mingled with the sweet, intoxicating fragrance of jasmine and a fiery sunset. The desire to merge with another individual—to experience intimacy outside the structural demands of the state—crystallizes as a supreme, beautiful folly.
Phase 4: Public Shaming and Relapse
Returning to the anthill without her assigned straw, the protagonist faces immediate censure. Labeled a scatterbrain, a poetess, and a village idiot, she becomes the center of a disciplinary storm. Her closest friend leads the reprimand, declaring her a "public menace" and prescribing double the workload as the ultimate cure for such bourgeois neurosis.
Though the protagonist initially yields—promising to repent and toil twice as hard—the psychological damage is already done. In a subsequent episode involving a pile of seeds and a fallen poppy petal, the narrator finds herself slipping back into subversive reveries. She imagines hiding beneath the crimson petal, wondering what her comrades are saying about her absence: "Where on earth could that anarchist have gone? Doesn’t she know there are things you just don’t do?"
When snapped back to reality by her friend’s sharp query, the protagonist’s response—whispering of "the crickets’ sighs"—signals that the spark of individuality cannot be permanently extinguished by manual labor alone.
Supporting Context & Metrics
To fully appreciate the weight of Ant, it is essential to examine the literary ecosystem that produced it, along with the quantitative and qualitative measures of its creators’ success.
The Venue: The Missouri Review’s BLAST
- Series Focus: Online-only, biweekly prose publications.
- Purpose: To showcase high-energy, formally adventurous, and conceptually vibrant fiction and nonfiction that pushes past traditional print boundaries.
- Historical Echoes: By pairing Giacomo Sartori’s translated fiction with Robert Hooke’s historic 1665 microscopic illustration (Microscopic view of an ant or pismire), the publication bridges early modern scientific inquiry with contemporary literary philosophy.
Giacomo Sartori’s Literary Footprint
Giacomo Sartori’s unique perspective as both a trained agronomist/soil scientist and a celebrated novelist deeply informs works like Ant. His dual career grounds his fiction in tangible, earthly realities while allowing him to satirize human socio-political structures through non-human lenses.
- Year of Birth: 1958 (Born in Trento, Italy; lives and works across France and Italy).
- Total Published Works: 8 novels, 4 short story collections, 4 picture books, 1 poetry collection, and multiple volumes of essays on agriculture, soil, and the environment.
- Major Award Finalists & Winners:
- Baco [Bug] (Novel): Finalist for the 2020 Premio Procida and Gelmi di Caporiacco awards.
- Fisica delle separazioni [Physics of the Separations] (Novel): Finalist for the 2024 Premio Chianti.
- I am God (English Translation, 2018): Financial Times Best Book of 2019; Winner of the 2019 Foreword INDIE Gold Award for Literary Fiction; Winner of the 2020 Italian Prose in Translation Award; Finalist for the 2022 Philip K. Dick Award.
- Additional accolades include the Premio Frontiere Grenzen Award (2011) and the Premio Cesare Guasti (2025). He also serves as an editor for the prominent Italian online literary collective Nazione Indiana.
Official Statements & Translational Mastery
The English-language availability of Sartori’s work is largely thanks to the meticulous, award-winning collaborative efforts of translators Michela Martini and Elizabeth McKenzie. Their partnership represents a powerhouse of transnational literary exchange.
Translation Grant and Upcoming Releases
In 2023, Michela Martini and Elizabeth McKenzie were awarded a prestigious NEA Translation Grant to support their rendering of Giacomo Sartori’s novel Anatomy of the Battle, slated for publication in 2027 by McNally Editions. This recognition underscores the cultural significance of their ongoing mission to bring Sartori’s sophisticated, ironical Italian prose to the English-speaking world.
Translator Profiles: Bridging Cultures
- Michela Martini: An esteemed educator who has taught Italian language and culture at institutions such as Suffolk University, Indiana University, Cabrillo College, and UC Santa Cruz. A cofounder of the Dante Alighieri Society of Santa Cruz, Martini’s translation portfolio spans major poets and novelists—including Edoardo Sanguineti, Giorgio Caproni, Patrizia Valduga, and Emanuele Trevi. Notably, Martini was selected as a juror for the 2025 Premio Strega, Italy’s most prestigious literary prize for contemporary fiction.
- Elizabeth McKenzie: A celebrated American novelist whose accolades match her translational prowess. Her novel The Dog of the North was named a New York Times Editors’ Choice and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in fiction. Her earlier work, The Portable Veblen, was longlisted for the National Book Award, shortlisted for the Women’s Prize, and received the California Book Award. Her fiction regularly appears in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and Best American Nonrequired Reading.
Future Outlook
As The Missouri Review continues to champion boundary-pushing prose through its BLAST series, pieces like Ant signal a growing appetite for ecologically grounded, philosophically rich fabulism. In an era marked by intense debates over algorithmic conformity, corporate collectivism, and political polarization, Sartori’s satirical fable feels remarkably prescient.
The successful collaboration between Sartori, Martini, and McKenzie not only enriches the landscape of translated literature but also sets a high watermark for cross-cultural artistic dialogue. With upcoming projects like Anatomy of the Battle set for 2027, readers can anticipate further explorations into how literature can subvert rigid systems—proving that even the smallest voice in the meadow, when touched by imagination, can dream of a world beyond the march.
Comments
Facebook App ID not configured. Please add it in the Customizer.