This week, our editors on the ground are bringing you news of summer literary festivities, publishers fighting back against silence, gatherings of award-winning writers, translation exhibitions, and more!
Amaryllis Gacioppo, Newsletter Editor, reporting from Italy
Italians are known for their ability to delight in la dolce vita, and this exuberance is never more evident than in the summer season, when the entire country throws itself into festivities. The Italian literary world is no exception: from June 9 to June 12, indie publisher festival Una marina di libri held its thirteenth edition in the massive open-air courtyard of Palermo’s Villa Filipina. Along with an indie book fair—which included publishers such as Edizioni E/O (Elena Ferrante’s Italian publisher), Iperborea (an Italian publisher specialised in translations of Northern European literature), La Nuova Frontiera (a Rome-based publisher focusing on Spanish, Catalan, and Portuguese-language translations), and famed Palermitan publisher Sellerio—festival-goers were treated to poetry readings, music, wine, pizza, and magazine launches—such as that of Arabpop, a beguiling Italian magazine on its second issue, which is devoted to Arab art and literature. This year’s festival was dedicated to both Pier Paolo Pasolini and the thirty-year anniversary of the Capaci massacre (in which one of Palermo’s famed and beloved anti-mafia magistrates, Giovanni Falcone, was murdered by Cosa Nostra, along with his wife and three police escorts). One such event featured theatre and music students from Teatro Biondo and Palermo’s Conservatory giving music-accompanied dramatic readings of pieces by Pasolini, Giuliana Saladino, and Leonardo Sciascia at various times and locations around the festival. Others featured educational talks for young people about famous anti-mafia figures including Falcone and Paolo Borsellino (Falcone’s friend and fellow beloved magistrate, murdered with five police escorts by Cosa Nostra less than two months after Falcone), and the presentation of Pietro Grasso and Alessio Pasquini’s new book Il mio amico Giovanni, in which the former spoke about his friendship with Falcone.
In other news, the shortlist for Italy’s most prestigious prize for book-length fiction, the Strega Prize, was announced on June 8. Among the nominees are Marco Amerighi, for his second novel Randagi (Strays); Fabio Bacà for his second novel Nova; Alessandra Carati for her first novel E poi saremo salvi (And then we’ll be safe); prior Strega nominee Mario Desiati for Spatriati (Patriates); Veronica Galletta for her second novel Nina sull’argine (Nina on the riverbank); Claudio Piersanti for Quel maledetto Vronskij (That damn Vronkskij); and Veronica Raimo for Niente di vero (Nothing true). I found the nominees list to be exciting, with many up-and-coming writers unearthed, along with more established writers that have yet to be appreciated in the Anglophone world. With the exception of Desiati, Piersanti, and Raimo, most are relative newcomers on their first or second book, and—with the exception of the latter two—have yet to be translated into English.
Alton Melvar M Dapanas, Editor-at-Large, reporting from the Philippines
On May 12, the chief of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA)—the Philippine version of the CIA and MI6—“red-tagged” children’s book publisher Adarna House. Red-tagging, or accusing individuals and institutions as so-called “legal fronts” of the New People’s Army (NPA)—the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines—has been used as a modern-day scarlet letter to target activists and progressive movements, silencing dissent and the constitutional freedoms of speech and expression. Even best-selling British author Neil Gaiman retweeted a post on the issue and wrote, “Not good.”
The baseless and malicious accusations of “radicalizing” Filipino youth and children are not isolated, and constitutes the latest of a series of attacks against academic freedom. They were hurled when Adarna House launched the #NeverAgain promo bundles of selected children’s book titles on May 11. These were issued after the landslide win of the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr’s namesake of a son, Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr, and current president Rodrigo R. Duterte’s daughter, Sara Z. Duterte-Carpio, as president and vice president respectively in the country’s most openly rigged elections. Both Marcos and Duterte spawns ran on an alt-right, “post-truth”’ kleptocratic campaign masked as “unity” but actually grounded on historical revisionism and disinformation facilitated by complicit online platforms, such as Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok.
The #NeverAgain bundle—named after the battle cry, “Never again! Never again to Martial Law!”—may be ordered internationally through Adarna House’s online bookshop. Ateneo de Manila University Press also reported that some of its Martial Law titles, both literary and academic, recently sold out. On Twitter, the online refuge of liberal, progressive, left-leaning, and anti-authoritarian Filipinos, countless threads circulated Google Drive links storing digitized versions of books that documented the state-sanctioned brutalities (read: 70,000 imprisonments, 34,000 tortures, 3,240 deaths) committed during the first Marcosian regime.
Earlier this year, two independent bookstores in Manila—La Solidaridad Bookshop in Ermita, owned by the late PEN Philippines founder and novelist F Sionil Jose, and Popular Bookstore in Sta. Cruz—were defaced with bloody red graffiti marked “NPA” and “Terorista” [Terrorist]. The Manila Critics Circle has issued a statement condemning red-tagging against publishers and bookstores.
Katarina Gadze, Editor-at-Large, reporting from Croatia
June is the month of literary festivals in Croatia; there is something for everyone—lovers of poetry and prose, young and old readers alike.
For over twenty years, the Festival of the European Short Story has been bringing together new faces and well-known literary names from all over Europe and beyond. The festival has always sought to combine readings by prominent authors in a variety of settings: discussions, workshops, live painting, music, and award ceremonies that combine short stories with other art forms.
From June 5 to 10, the 21st Festival of the European Short Story in Zagreb and Zadar celebrated the international short story scene with this year’s theme “Changes.” As the name suggests, the festival dealt with both the radical changes of recent years and those yet to come. Croatian writer and festival’s Artistic Director, Roman Simić, kicked off the festival with an opening ceremony featuring none other than Hanif Kureishi, a key literary commentator on contemporary British society. A noteworthy part of the festival program was “Me, Myself and the Region: Me & Yu,” where a team of renowned regional authors joined forces to discuss the literary scene in “our shared cultural space.”
The oldest and most important domestic poetry festival, Goran’s Spring, took place in Zagreb and Rijeka from June 3 to 5 for its 59th edition. After the awarding of the Goran’s Wreath Prize to poet Vesna Biga and the Goran for Young Poets to Patrik Gregurc on March 21, Goran’s Spring continued with a fruitful festival program, inviting world-renowned and local poets.
In bilingual Istria, the children’s book and author festival Monte Librić was held in Pula from June 6 to 12. In creative and interactive workshops, the youngest of readers were able to let their imaginations run wild through the art of storytelling and a wealth of bookish activities. For those in inland Croatia, Pričozemska—the first children’s bookstore in Zagreb—opened its doors.
In the world of translation, the Croatian Literary Translators Association opened its 16th exhibition of translations on June 6 in Zagreb, where experts discussed the prevalent role of translation in human communication.
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