Theodore Ell

Theodore Ell is an Honorary Lecturer at The Australian National University's School of Literature, Languages and Linguistics. He holds a PhD from the University of Sydney and has lived in Australia, Italy, and Lebanon. His research focuses on Australian, English, and Italian literature, with major projects including a biography of poet Les Murray and an anthology tracing the Italian sonnet's evolution. He has written extensively on Lebanese cultural history and survived the 2020 Beirut port explosion, documenting this experience in his award-winning essay 'Façades of Lebanon' and the book Lebanon Days.

• Education: BA (Languages) Hons I, MPub, GCPP, PhD (University of Sydney)

Research interests include Italian literature and history, Australian literature, Lebanese literature, conflict narratives, literary travelogues, and archival methods. His work on Florentine author Piero Bigongiari and Italian Hermeticism has been published in journals like The Italianist and Quaderni del ‘900.

Recent publications analyze Les Murray’s poetry and the cultural impact of the Beirut explosion. He has translated works by Italian poets and philosophers, and his poetry appears in PN Review and Australian Book Review.

• Awards: 2021 Calibre Essay Prize, 2022 Anne Elder Award

Ell co-founded Contrappasso Magazine and has lectured at the University of Florence and Downing College, Cambridge. His current projects include a study of the Italian sonnet’s global influence and a biography of Piero Bigongiari.