Marco Petrelli is Assistant professor of American Literature at the Department of Philological, Literary, and Linguistic Studies, University of Pisa.
He earned his Ph.D. in English-Language Literatures from "Sapienza," University of Rome in 2017. In the following years, he worked as an adjunct professor of Anglo-American Literatures at the universities of Catania, Bologna, Parma, and Turin. Additionally, he served as a research fellow at the University of Turin in the academic year 2021/2022. In 2015, he was a visiting fellow at the IFUSS (International Forum for US Studies), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; and in 2022 he was a visiting scholar at the Department of English at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. In the same year, he obtained the national scientific qualification for associate professorship.
His research interests focus on the literature and culture of the southern United States (with particular attention to the relationship between Old South and Post-South, the literature of Poor Whites, Appalachian literature, and Deep South literature); contemporary African American literature (especially in its connection with history and the Blues); American gothic literature; Critical Race Theory; Spatial Literary Studies; and graphic narratives. He is currently working on a monograph dedicated to African American ghost stories.
He is the author of a monograph on Cormac McCarthy's novels (Paradiso in nero. Spazio e mito nella narrative di Cormac McCarthy, Aracne 2020); a critical edition on the literary influences of singer-songwriter Nick Cave (Nick Cave: preghiera di fuoco e ballate assassine, Castel Negrino 2021); and co-author of a collection of essays on McCarthy's minor works (Cormac McCarthy: saggi a margine del canone, QuiEdit 2020). He has published numerous essays in Italian (Ácoma, Iperstoria, RSA, Status Quaestionis, Annali di Ca’ Foscari, Between) and foreign journals (The Southern Quarterly, Humanities, Polish Journal for American Studies, Metacritic Journal for Comparative Studies and Theory). He recently contributed a chapter to the first collection of essays dedicated to African American writer Jesmyn Ward, Jesmyn Ward: New Critical Essays (Edinburgh UP 2023).He has participated in conferences in Italy and abroad as a speaker, panel coordinator, and organizer. As a critic, he collaborates with “Alias,” the Sunday literary supplement of il manifesto, and L’indice dei libri del mese. He co-directs JAm It! – Journal of American Studies in Italy and is a member of the editorial board of Bibliomanie. He is a member of AISNA, EAAS, IASA, and the SSSL (Society for the Study of Southern Literature).