(by Mauretta Capuano)
For five days this month, the
Festivaletteratura literary fest of Mantua will host 340 events
and bring 350 guests to the city in northern Italy, including
Jeremy Rifkin, Francesco De Gregori, and Julian Fellowes
No political figure has yet announced an official presence.
House Speaker Laura Boldrini will be there on an unofficial
visit.
Per Olov Enquist, considered the 'critical conscience' of
Sweden's Social Democrats, will not be able to attend due to
health problems. He had been scheduled to be in Mantua for his
80th birthday on September 26 and the release in Italy of his
autobiographical novel 'Il Libro delle Parole' (Iperborea). An
event on the widely acclaimed author will be held on September 4
with Bruno Gambarotta and Emilia Lodigiani in Piazza Sordello.
Andrei Kurkov, one of the most important contemporary
Ukrainian authors writing in Russian, will be at the festival to
present 'Diari Ucraini' (Keller), a first-hand account of what
happened in Kiev's main square from November 21, 2013, until
late April 2014. The philosopher Nuccio Ordine will be at the
inauguration, speaking of culture as heritage to be protected,
while Michael Cunningham will be the highlight of the closing on
September 7 with his highly original novel 'La Regina delle
Nevi' (Bompiani).
In its 18th year, the festival draws crowds with big name
authors but also actively seeks out new ones like Tommy
Wieringa, who has been compared with J.D. Salinger and Paul
Auster, with 'Questi Sono i Nomi (Iperborea), the Brazilian
Adriana Lisboa, whose 'Hanoi'(La Nuova Frontiera) will be
released during the festival, the Zimbabwean author NoViolet
Bulawayo, shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2013 with her
debut novel 'Abbiamo Bisogno di Nuovi Nomi' (Bompiani), which
will be in bookstores on September 5.
In the centenary year for the outbreak of WWI, the sound
installation 'Caro Padre, Vidirò' at the Cripta di San
Sebastiano will give a voice to the many Italians who were
called on to take up weapons. As memory is the unifying threat
of this year's edition, the lives of relatives and ancestors who
took part in the war will be able to be reconstructed at the
sacristy of the state archives, with special IT stations set up
for the purpose of consulting state records.
One of the previews with be Chicca Gagliardo's new book,
'Il Poeta dell'Aria'(Hacca), a novel in 33 flight lessons
slated for release on September 17, on the basis of notes,
verses and art by Emily Dickinson, Marina Cvetaeva, Bruno
Munari, and Yves Klein.
Other guests include Elizabeth Strout, Pulitzer Prize
winner with 'Olive Kitteridge' (Fazi), which has become a
4-episode miniseries set to go on air in the US in November on
HBO and on Sky Cinema in Italy in January 2015.
The poet Pierluigi Cappello will also be present for the
first time, whose first book of children's poems 'Ogni Goccia
Balla il Tango' (Rizzoli) will come out in September.
Another household name in Italy, Caludio Magris, will speak
about different levels in literature, how an author can keep
their narrative distinct, and about private writing and
correspondence.
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