La Spezia, “Voice of the verb: future!” is the theme of Let's free ourselves 2024: presented by mayor Pierluigi Peracchini. 

An unprecedented program for the 14th^a edition of Let's free ourselves. Read everywhere, read anyway it was announced on Wednesday morning at a press conference by Mayor Pierluigi Peracchini, by the director of Cultural Services Rosanna Ghirri and by the artistic coordinator Alessandro Maggi.

The event dedicated to the promotion of reading organized by the Urban Library System of the Municipality of La Spezia will be the undisputed protagonist of the cultural panorama throughout 2024 with a program of national resonance which will run from May to November and which will involve several places in the city such as the Civic Theatre, the Ligurian Regional Media Library “S. Fregoso”, the internal and external spaces of the civic libraries, just to name a few.

"A fourteenth edition under the artistic coordination of Alessandro Maggi with many new features. From May to November – declares the Mayor – we will have meetings, workshops and activities that will educate, entertain and undoubtedly confirm the profound value of reading. We are proud that the main literary festival in La Spezia grows more every year and is able to involve the great national authors, but also local or emerging ones with ad hoc initiatives and is capable of attracting an increasingly heterogeneous audience".

"Verb entry: future!" is the theme of Let's free ourselves 2024, one Vit was an exhortation to learn about the challenges of the future through the ways of literature, poetry, new technologies and the relationship with nature, in particular with that of the sea. The future is a time that has not yet taken place and in recent years humanity has realized that it is also a place not yet reached by time, whose destiny involves everyone. Thus it has become increasingly urgent to question how much the human species affects, with its very existence, the life of the Earth and how the way of thinking and expressing oneself through poetic and literary language must also find a new form. My poems won't change the world, said Patrizia Cavalli, and yet we continue to aspire to it through intellectual and artistic exercise, in ways that will be brought to light through Libriamoci.

Let's free ourselves is a review that reflects Italo Calvino's idea of ​​lightness, not intended as superficiality but as a way of gliding over things from above, without having boulders on your heart. The promotion of reading, therefore, remains the undisputed foundation of the event which looks at books and dialogue with writers as opportunities for profound reflection but also of great light-heartedness.

In 2024 Let's free ourselves will be divided into three major moments"Let's free ourselves Spring” with three days of great authors in May; “Let's free ourselves authors from the Gulf” with a summer season dedicated to local authors and "Let's free ourselves. Read everywhere, read anyway 14^a edition” as per tradition in the autumn period in November with a week full of events.

"Let's free ourselves Spring"

Friday 17, Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 May will be the three days with which it will be inaugurated Let's free ourselves with big names including Giovanni Solimine, Raffaella Romagnolo candidate for the 2024 Strega Prize, Alessandra Sarchi, Dario Vergassola, Mario Tozzi and Lorenzo Baglioni, Federica Iacobelli.

In "Let's free ourselves Spring"there will not only be presentations of books by important authors with a range of major publishing houses on the Italian scene, triangulations of voices through which to explore the challenges of the future, workshops for the little ones, celebrations for the 100th anniversary of Paolo's birth Volponi, films based on books at the Odeon Cinema and shows at the Civic Theatre, but a writing competition will also be launched for primary, secondary and high schools in the area and the "Best Adult Reader Award" and the "Best Child Reader Award" reserved to the members of the Urban Library System who have borrowed the greatest number of books and who will see the awards in November.

"Let's free ourselves authors from the Gulf".

In the days of May the entire program for the rest of the year will be revealed, without stopping here: “Let's free ourselves authors from the Gulf” will continue from June to October with presentations of books by local authors who will respond to the expression of interest launched by the Administration by the end of April and published on the institutional website of the Municipality of La Spezia and on the festival website, an opportunity for writers resident in the province of La Spezia to present their literary works published between 2023 and 2024 by publishing houses through a dialogue with an interlocutor. Let's free ourselves it will offer them an institutional venue where they can present the work and communication within social channels and institutional websites. At the event, bookshops will be present for the sale of books.

“Let's free ourselves. Read everywhere, read anyway 14^a edition".

From the 10 17 November will officially kick off 14^a edition of Let's free ourselves. Read everywhere, read anyway which will have the great honor of being the first event to inaugurate the reopening of the renovated Civic Theater with the new seats.

The program will be revealed in May but some big names can already be announced today: Daniele Mencarelli and Cristina Dell'Acqua, Ilaria Gaspari, Sabrina Mugnos, Stefano Bartezzaghi and Stefano Maragoni.

During the 14^a edition of Let's free ourselves in November a day dedicated exclusively to comics will be confirmed and will take place at the Ligurian Regional Media Library “S. Fregoso” from the title “Aerocomic of the Gulf”, which strongly recalls the tradition of La Spezia, edited by Filippo Conte. During the day there will be focuses with great Italian cartoonists and the participation of strong independent labels that have links with the territory. Not only that, there will also be workshops for very young people.

It continues this year too in the tradition of Let's free ourselves the direct participation of local publishing houses and local bookstores.

All events are free with open access while available places last. It will however be possible to book your place through the site from May 1st www.libriamocisp.it .

 

THE PROGRAM

Friday May 17th

inauguration Preview Libriamoci 2024 – 14^a  edition

17.30 – Hall of the Province of La Spezia

Institutional greetings from the Mayor of La Spezia Pierluigi Peracchini

Presentation by Alessandro Maggi of the Libriamoci 2024 programme

18.00 – Hall of the Province of La Spezia

Lectio Magistralis by Giovanni Solimine, “Future reading exercises"

19.00 – Hall of the Province of La Spezia

Raffaella Romagnolo presents “The cedar of Lebanon”, Aboca Editions. Dialogue with the author Antonio Riccardi, editorial director of Aboca Edizioni.

Followed by a literary aperitif

21.00 – Civic Theatre

Mario Tozzi and Lorenzo Baglioni, I don't believe in the climate

Saturday May 18th

10.30 - “PM Beghi” Civic Library 

"What a spectacle it was to read – Stories of the Sea“, educational workshop for children curated by Dario Apicella. Recommended for children aged 0 to 6 years. The workshop lasts approximately an hour and a half. Event in collaboration with the Nati per Leggere Association.

10.30 - Cycling Museum “A. Cuffini”

Massimo Calandri presents “You can't trust people like that“, Mondadori editions. Dialogue with the author Luca Natale.

17.30 - Ligurian Regional Media Library “S. Fregoso”

Federica Iacobelli presents the series “The Seagulls” by Edizioni Primavera and talks with Alessandro Berti, author of the book “The holidays“, Spring Editions.

Launch of the writing prize “The future” aimed at schools of all levels.

18.30 – Ligurian Regional Media Library “S. Fregoso”

Alessandra Sarchi presents “The return is far away“, Bompiani Editore. Dialogue with the author Debora Lambruschini.

Followed by a literary aperitif.

21.00 – Cinema Odeon, Ligurian Regional Media Library “S. Fregoso”

“My poems will not change the world”, an intimate, ironic and free cinematic portrait of Patrizia Cavalli.

Sunday May 19th

10.30 – “PM Beghi” Civic Library

“Books on the corner”, educational workshop for children curated by Alfonso Cuccurullo. Recommended for children aged 6 to 12 years. The workshop lasts approximately an hour and a half.

17.30 – Ligurian Regional Media Library “S. Fregoso”

Dario Vergassola presents “Liguria, land of groans and beauty. Ironic – sentimental guide“, Mondadori Electa.

19.00 – Ligurian Regional Media Library “S. Fregoso”

Lectio Magistralis by Alessio Torino, “Homage to Paolo Volponi on the centenary of his birth".

Followed by a literary aperitif.

21.00 – Cinema Odeon, Ligurian Regional Media Library “S. Fregoso”

Viva Volponi: video memoir and testimonies on the man and the writer, documentary on Paolo Volponi

 

BIO AUTHORS "PREVIEW LET'S LIBRATE"

 

DARIO APICELLA

Narrator, actor, cultural promoter, trainer and actor, Dario Apicella trained at the Acting School of the Teatro Stabile of Genoa. Since 2001 he has been involved in promoting reading and theater by offering reading courses, shows and performances. He organizes events for schools and families at museums, botanical gardens and cultural centers. He conducts workshops and training and refresher courses for teachers, educators, professionals, cultural workers, volunteers and parents. He is a member of the Nati per Leggere Liguria Coordination and an accredited trainer of Nati per Leggere volunteers. He is Doctor Dreams for the Theodora Foundation and as an artist he works in the departments of pediatric hospitals. He takes care of the artistic direction of children's theater shows. He is the author of stories, nursery rhymes and songs for children: The little cloud and other stories to read and sing (KC editions); The rock cloud! And the story train (KC editions); The night school of little monsters (La Cicala publisher), If I had met Gianni Rodari (La Cicala publisher).

 

LORENZO BAGLIONI

Lorenzo Baglioni, born in 1986, is a singer, actor and mathematician. He brought these three skills together into a vocation: to simplify, reduce to a minimum, with the help of irony and music, the most difficult themes: one for all, the subjunctive, presented at the 2018 Sanremo Festival.

 

ALESSANDRO BERTI

Alessandro Berti he is an actor, director and playwright, winner of the 2021 Riccione Prize for dramaturgical innovation. After the school of the Theater of Genoa he founded with Michela Lucenti "The Impasto Theater Community“, for which he writes and directs all the shows. In 2002 he won the Gherardi prize with Theater in verse. Since 2006 you have started a research path on the monologue that gives life to Border (2006) Stone, plant (2009) Abandonment (2010) Spiritual warfare ahead of an Ikea kitchen, (2011, I Teatri Del Sacro Award), A Christian (2014). With the following ones Stop (2015) and Leia of the Storm (2016), a two-way dialogue on religions, secularism and the Constitution, deepens the interest in social issues, also at the center of the trilogy Bugie White, a journey through the history and current affairs of the relationship between the white majority and the black minority in Western societies which it includes Black Dick (2018) Negroes without memory (2020) and Blind Love (2022), whose texts will be published in a single volume by Luca Sossella Editore in 2022. In 2022 he publishes The holidays in the I seagulls series and stages it with ERT production and in 2023 he is an actor in K's City Trilogy by Federica Fracassi and Fanny&Alexander. He is the founder of Casavuota, an association that deals with cultural intervention (particularly in the metropolitan city of Bologna) with the involvement of citizens through art - theatre, writing, visual arts - intended as a driver of public reflection on fundamental issues of the present.

 

MASSIMO CALANDRI

Journalist for La Repubblica, Massimo Calandri won the Panathlon International District Italia 2023 Sports Literary Award for the book "You can't trust people like that", the story of the Italian national rugby team who in 1973, in full apartheid, agreed to go on a tour South Africa.

 

ALFONSO CUCCURULLO

He has been working as an actor since the 2003s and since 2007 has been conducting theatre, storytelling and reading aloud workshops in schools and libraries. In 2008 he gave life to “La piccolo bottega dei libri sonanti” creating storytelling shows with live music and singing. Since 0 he has been a trainer and animator recognized by the National Coordination of the "Born to read" project and intensifies his commitment in the field of promoting reading, in particular for the 5 - XNUMX age group, conducting awareness and training courses for parents and educators. He dedicates himself to the creation of audiobooks and collaborates with children's literature experts.

 

FEDERICA IACOBELLI

Federica Iacobelli, graduated in classics and specialized in journalism and screenwriting, works as a writer, screenwriter and playwright. She teaches screenwriting at ISIA U in Urbino in the animated cinema module of the two-year specialist course in Illustration and holds drama writing courses in higher education facilities and schools of excellence such as the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa. Her works, especially those for younger readers, often arise from the encounter with the memory of real lives and the language of different arts. Novels The city is a ship (series “the years in your pocket”, Topipittori 2011) e Carla's story ('i chiodi' series, Pendragon 2015); long stories A studio all to itself (MottaJunior 2007, Pippi Writers for Children Award), The longest porch of the world (Minerva 2019, illustrated by Teresa Sdralevich), Lev of the clearing (rueBallu 2020, illustrated by Pia Valentinis) e An oblique place (start editions 2022, illustrated by Gioia Marchegiani); the albums Mister P. (with Chiara Carrer, Topipittori 2009) e Juliet and Federico (with Puck Koper, Camelozampa 2020) are just some of his publications. Author since 2005 of theatrical texts (some of which have been published in France and have won international awards) and of subjects and scripts for animation, TV and documentary cinema, you have recently worked on the development of a live television miniseries action and an animated feature film. Since 2019 you have directed and edited the theatrical literature series for young readers'The Seagulls' (Edizioni Primavera), which he also created and which won the Andersen prize for the best Italian series in 2023.

 

ANTONIO RICCARDI

Born in Parma but originally from Cattabiano, he obtained a degree in Philosophy at the University of Pavia. For his works he received, among others, the Dessi Prize, the Brancati Prize, the Mondello Prize and the LericiPea Prize. He was director of Mondadori and editorial director of the Società Editrice Milanese, founded by Riccardo Cavallero. Since 2019 he has been editorial director of the Aboca publishing house.

RAFFAELLA ROMAGNOLO

Raffaella Romagnolo was born in Casale Monferrato in 1971 and lives in Rocca Grimalda. She wrote The masna (Piemme, 2012, now Oscar Mondadori) e This whole life (Piemme, 2013). She was a finalist for the Strega award in 2016 with The wrong daughter (Frassinelli), then winner of the Lucchese Readers' Society award 2016, while Breathe with me (Pelledoca) was a finalist in the 2020 Strega Ragazze e Ragazzi award. In 2018 it was released Destination (Rizzoli) and in 2021 Of its own light (Mondadori), winner of the Pisa prize. His books are translated into seven languages.

 

ALESSANDRA SARCHI

Alessandra Sarchi was born in Reggio Emilia in 1971, lives in Bologna. You are trained as an art historian and have worked at the Civic Medieval Museum of Bologna and at the Zeri Foundation. With the Venetian Institute of Sciences, Letters and Arts you published the monograph Antonio Lombardo (2008). She is the author of the novels published with Einaudi, “Violation“, (2012) winner of the Paolo Volponi award, first work; “Normal love” (2014) winner of the international “Scrivere per Amore” award; “The night has my voice” (2017) Mondello prize for Italian opera, selection of the jury for the Campiello prize and Wondy prize; Antonia's Gift (2020). He came out with Bompiani The return is far away (2024), he published the essay again with Bompiani The happiness of images the weight of words. Five reading exercises by Moravia, Volponi, Pasolini, Calvino, Celati. She is the author of two collections of short stories: Subtle and clandestine signs (Diabasis 2008) e Get out of here, Minimum Fax in 2022. Wrote the podcast Lives! performed with Federica Fracassi, which later became a book, Lives! stories of heroines who rebel against their tragic destiny (Harper Collins in 2023). He translated That Amazing Worst Year of My Life by Jesse Andrews (Einaudi 2016, Close Distance by Annie Proulx (Minimum Fax in 2019) and The autobiography by Alice Toklas by Gertrude Stein (Marsilio 2021). He collaborates with La Lettura and Sette of the "Corriere della Sera".

 

GIOVANNI SOLIMINE

Giovanni Solimine, professor emeritus of the Sapienza University of Rome, is president of the Bellonci-Premio Strega Foundation and of the Cultural Centers Library Institution of the Municipality of Rome. Author of the blog Knowledge sets you free (www.giovannisolimine.it), deals with digital consumption and the dynamics of cultural participation. His most recent volumes are The Italy that reads (2010) Without knowing: the cost of ignorance in Italy (2014) Horizontal culture (2020, with Giorgio Zanchini), Amphibian brains, ears and foxglove. Future reading exercises (2023)

 

ALESSIO TORINO

Alessio Torino, born in Cagli in 1975, made his debut in fiction in 2010 for Italic Pequod with “Eleven Tenths” (Bagutta First Work Award and Frontino-Montefeltro Award). He subsequently published the novels “Tetanus” (2011, The Stranger Award), Urbino, Nebraska (2013, Metauro Literary Prize and Subiaco City of the Book Prize), Tina (2016) and, for Mondadori, At the center of the world (2020, Mondello Prize) and “Hearts in full” (2023, Procida Award). He teaches Latin Literature and Creative Writing at the Carlo Bo University of Urbino. He is the artistic director of the Literary Festival "Urbino City of the Book".

 

MARIO TOZZI

Mario Tozzi is a geologist and researcher at the CNR, who for years on TV, radio and through his books has been preaching to administrators, politicians and people the importance of conscious and prudent behavior to preserve the planet from the cataclysms generated by the irresponsible exploitation of resources.

 

DARIO VERGASSOLA

Born in La Spezia, Dario Vergassola is a comedian, singer-songwriter, writer and actor. He has participated in countless television programs including the Maurizio Costanzo Show, Zelig, Reservoir Dogs, Talk to Me with Serena Dandini and theatrical pieces. She approached the world of entertainment at a young age, taking part in Comedian profession, an event directed by Giorgio Gaber: it received both public and critical awards. In 2014 he wrote his first novel The ballad of anchovies. In 2024 you write a book about Liguria, to tell its mysteries and beauties, inhabitants and nature, food and legends, through wonderful itineraries that cross it from West to East with sharp irony.