Poet Mary Jo Bang reaches the end of her 20-year journey through Dante's 'Divine Comedy'

By Ari Shapiro,

Mia Venkat, Jeanette Woods

Published July 10, 2025 at 2:12 PM MDT

Poet Mary Jo Bang has spent the last two decades translating the three books of Dante's Divine Comedy. Purgatorio is the final installment and continues her style of lively, lyrical translation.

Ari Shapiro

Ari Shapiro has been one of the hosts of All Things Considered, NPR's award-winning afternoon newsmagazine, since 2015. During his first two years on the program, listenership to All Things Considered grew at an unprecedented rate, with more people tuning in during a typical quarter-hour than any other program on the radio.

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