L’Americana
In viaggio con la bimba, or, Julia’s Italy
Back to Monza! my toddler screamed, throwing herself on the ground. Monza was the sedate city, just north of Milan, where we’d spent the first part of our 10-day trip [...]
A part of me is leaving
It feels strange to mourn someone you’ve never met, but this is how I feel about the daughter that I carried for 13 weeks. I was a little shocked to [...]
From Bologna to Iowa City
When I studied at the University of Bologna my junior year of college, I loved having friends from all over Europe. I met most of them in an Italian language [...]
How fireflies came to matter
It's summer, high time for columnist Kristine Crane to turn the clock back to small-city Iowa life and the mysteries of youth.
Memories of mouse toast
Once upon a time, as a young American in Rome, columnist Kristine Crane stood out from her housemates in more ways than one.
A dress and a friendship
Every year when I clean out my closet, I think about giving away a green dress that I bought one summer in Umbria. My friend Jyl was visiting me from [...]
Home is where…my hairdresser is
Good hairdressers are like good editors. They accentuate what you've written and smooth any mishaps. My newest stylist, Gina, gets this. She didn’t criticize my previous haircut, which I thought [...]
Chronicles of a worrywart
I never got sick when I lived in Rome. The occasional cold, and one New Year's Eve I couldn't hold down a meal of lentils and zampone, stuffed pig’s foot. [...]
The unforgotten soldier
Recently I gave my students a lecture in the history of journalism. I told them it’s important to have a sense of their professional lineage. I’m also partial to history. [...]
From Signorina to Signora
A few years ago, when I visited Rome for the first time since living there in my twenties, it was disheartening to be called signora. I had always been signorina. [...]
Love letters to heal the pain
A decade ago, columnist Kristine Crane met a man on an Italian train and felt a pull. From this came an email bond forged of grief.
The Mamma Mission
One of my missions when I visited Rome a few years ago was to find out about mamma, the mother of my Italian boyfriend. Mamma was born in 1917, the [...]
Author, Associate Editor
Kristine Crane
Kristine Crane, who writes the “L’Americana” column, lives and writes in North Central Florida. She was formerly a Fulbright scholar and journalist in Rome, where she helped found “The American.” She is originally from Iowa City.