the city of Verona will have its first literary festival
Four days and more than twenty face-to-face meetings with contemporary authors in the name of cultural dissemination and entertainment. From 21 to 24 April Verona hosts the first edition of “Books and roses. Writing, printing, reading”, a literary initiative organized by the Municipality with the Literary Society of Verona and the Kasa dei Libri of Milan on the occasion of World Book Day on 23 April. The kermesse, which takes its name from the Catalan woman to exchange a book and rose on the dedicated day, figuratively represented by the image drawn by the illustrator Lavinia Fagiuoli, will open on Thursday at 5 pm in the Sala Maffeiana of the Philharmonic Theater with the musicologist Enzo Restagno, who will present his recent book on Debussy.
From Friday then it will go live, with meetings divided into five different sections to touch on multiple themes and literary genres. “Fuori classe”, a program for schools, with Eva Cantarella, Marta Morazzoni and Cristina Dell’Acqua, three teacher-writers who will explore literary and social issues, from Homer to gender equality. “Fresh off the press”, which will present some of the most significant innovations of recent months, with the authors Gianni Biondillo, Chiara Moscardelli, Hans Tuzzi and Alessandro Zaccuri. “Relations” will instead explore the universe of relationships and ties, family and not, with Isabella Bossi Fedrigotti, Matteo Bussola, Cristina Dell’Acqua, Marco Missiroli and the Chilean poet Carmen Yáñez, among the key guests of the event.
Download the Books and Roses 2022 program
The last two sections will be “Lives that are not mine”, dedicated to biographies, with the presence of Annarita Briganti, Marta Morazzoni, Pier Luigi Vercesi, and “Behind the scenes”, a couple of meetings to deepen the Veronese art of print with Matteo Codignola, Edoardo Pepino and Stefano Salis. A tribute to the figure of Franco Maria Ricci is also expected. After the preview on Thursday 21st all the meetings during the day from Friday onwards will take place in the buvette room of the Gran Guardia while the two evenings, at 21 on Friday and Saturday, will be at the Literary Society of Verona and broadcast in live streaming, on the website of the Company itself.
The event was presented in the Tapestry room by the councilor for culture Francesca Briani, the president of the Verona Literary Society Daniela Brunelli and the vice president Maurizio Marino, the president of the Verona Philharmonic Academy Luigi Tuppini with Michele Magnabosco, for the Kasa dei Libri. Andrea Kerbaker, founder, writer and lecturer at the Catholic University of Milan. «A literary initiative to which the Department of Culture is very keen and which for some time we have wanted to offer to the city – said Councilor Briani -. An opportunity that we are able to realize thanks to the relaxation of the restrictions linked to the pandemic and to the precious collaboration with Kasa dei libri of Milan. Exchanging a book for a rose is a gesture that summarizes the meaning of the exhibition, a tribute to culture and the general desire for recovery. There will be meetings aimed at all types of public, including schools, thanks to the participation of important authors, including international ones “.
«It was a great pleasure to organize this event, there was an excellent harmony with the organizers, this allowed us to organize a rich and complete review – said Andrea Kerbaker -. The Kasa of books in fact has a handbook which is entitled “Forbidden to bore” and ends with “No one is authorized to take himself too seriously”. The people who will speak are authors who practice literature at the highest levels but who do not neglect its entertainment purposes “.