From the 5th to the 9th of September,
Mantua turns into the welcoming citadel of
Festivaletteratura (
Literature Festival): the streets, the piazzas, the cafes of the city welcome dozens of writers, actors, artists and musicians in a series of meetings, readings, concerts and shows. For five days, culture and literature become entertainment, a live performance, where public and authors meet in a casual way. All the events take place in unusual locations with a rich historical and artistic background. And the public can easily pass from a meeting to a reading, a concert to a show, as everything in Mantua is within walking distance.
This year's edition features a very rich
agenda.
Among the many events on schedule, from September 7th to September 9th,
lettera27 and the staff of
WikiAfrica will be offering a series of workshops whose objective is to contribute new African entries to Wikipedia, providing a concrete and fully visible view of the operation of the Internet's best known encyclopedia: meetings and discussions involving various authors which create, on-site and in real time, new online articles in WikiAfrica. The workshops will produce new Wikipedia contents through a collaborative writing process that will take place both on- and off-line. The participants will contribute to the fine-tuning and improvement of the various entries, and a Wikipedia administrator will provide information concerning the formatting and rules of Wiki projects; the lettera27 editors will upload the content, putting it online in real time, while a cameraman will film the event as it unfolds. All the workshop will be hold in the
Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria.
The
literary meetings are the core of the programme: Italian and famous international writers and poets have been invited to stay in the city for several days in order to take part in many meetings and give readers the opportunity to speak with them in a casual and informal way. The aim of the festival is to create a direct interaction between the authors and their public, but always in a friendly context. The
scienze confidenziali (confidential sciences), late night meetings, are designed to strengthen this interaction. During these events the public will have the chance to easily approach very complex subjects, such as maths, philosophy and physics.
David Grossman, the famous Israeli author, has decided to leave the stage
and meet his readers during a stroll in the natural reserve of
Bosco Fontana .
The meeting with the highest number of authors will be the one with Boris Spassky who will play a chess game with twenty writers at the same time. The central tent of Piazza Sordello will welcome
Scintille (Sparks), 20 short encounters whose themes will be decided to the moment, according to the mood of the authors and the public as well. Not to be missed as well
Colazioni con l'autore (Breakfasts with the Author), morning meetings in the cafes of the historical centre of Mantua and a series of innovative sections, such as
Scritture Giovani (Young Writings), a project to promote new literary talents and
Pagine Nascoste (Hidden Pages) a review of documentary videos on writers and literature. This year, a particular attention will be paid to the theme of
suburbs and the changes they are going through. City planners, sociologists, and photographers will manage several meetings in which they'll talk about the future of our cities.
During the Festival, Mantua opens up its palaces and private gardens to the public and lends its piazzas and streets to meetings and shows. In addition to its art masterpieces known worldwide, Festivaletteratura visits less renowned but equally valuable sites, thus discovering new gems year after year. Throughout the Festival, the whole city springs into action and becomes a stage where shops, cafés and restaurants in the historical centre act together to help visitors discover, enjoy and appreciate Mantua.
MOLESKINE® supports
lettera27 in particular through the
Detour Project.
About the article
Calendar of lettera27- WikiAfrica Workshops
• Friday 7 September, 3:00 pm-5:00 pm: Oral Literature; with the assistance of Cristina Ali Farah and Livia Apa.
• Saturday 8 September, 11:30 am-1:30 pm: Art, with the assistance of Simon Njami and Bili Bidjocka.
• Saturday 8 September, 15:30 pm-7:30 pm: Connections, with the assistance of Sylviane Diop and Frieda Brioschi.
• Sunday 9 September, 11:00 am-1:00 pm: Boundaries, with the assistance of Sandro Triulzi and Marco Aime.
• Sunday 9 September, 3:00 pm-5:00 pm: Migrants' Routes, with the assistance of Sandro Triulzi and Edoardo Marascalchi.
lettera27 is a non profit foundation. Its mission is to defend the
right to literacy, to education, and access to knowledge and
information, all over the world and especially in the more deprived
areas.
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