biography

Though born in the United States, my family moved to Scotland when I was 2. After a gap year in Florence I studied English Literature in London before moving to New York to study journalism.

Following an internship at Saveur magazine, I spent two years at Food & Wine before moving to Italy in 2004 to study Italian regional cooking. After working in the Communications Office at the Slow Food-founded University of Gastronomic Sciences, in 2007 I moved to Nairobi, Kenya, and began working as a freelance translator (Italian to English), editor and writer. Between 2010 and 2022 I lived in London, where I took painting, drawing and collage classes at Central Saint Martins, the Royal Drawing School and City Lit. In 2022 I moved to Turin, Italy, with my family.  

education and qualifications

• University College London
  Bachelor of Arts with Honours in English Literature, June 2001

• Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, New York, NY
  Master of Science in Journalism, May 2002

• Ital.Cook, Jesi, Italy
  Slow Food Master in Italian Cooking, December 2004

• Institute of Linguists, London
  Diploma in Translation (Italian to English), January 2009

• Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, UK
  Certificate in Botanical Illustration, June 2021

family

My father was mathematician Andrew Ranicki, and my grandfather was literary critic Marcel Reich-Ranicki. His cousin is artist Frank Auerbach.

My grandmother, Teofila Reich-Ranicki, was also an artist. These are drawings that she started while in the Warsaw Ghetto.

My mother, Ida Thompson, is the author of the National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Fossils and a paleontologist whose research into clams led to her conversion to vegetarianism.