News

The event will start on Thursday the 4th of July at 18:30 with the opening of the scheduled exhibitions and, from 21:30 onwards, with the official opening of the festival and the highly anticipated revival of the Concerto per l’Europa, an artistic residency project created in 2012 by the joint efforts of the Foreign Cultural Institutes in Italy (Slovak Institute in Rome, Polish Institute of Rome, Austrian Cultural Forum in Rome, Czech Centre of Rome) with the patronage of the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC). Every year, the Concerto per l’Europa project invites a group of international musicians for a weekly stay in Gavoi, during which they bring life to an original musical production and a multivocal storytelling which embraces the synergies between the artists, the location, and the hosting community.
The musicians invited this year are Nikolaj Nikitin (saxophone), Miroslav Hloucal (trumpet), Patryk Dobosz (drums) and Nenad Vasilić (double bass). The singer Francesca Corrias will be representing Italy, while Ukrainian pianist Yuriy Seredin will be this edition’s special guest.

The event programme starts on Friday with the beloved Dal Balcone morning meetings in the S’Antana’E Susu area.  This year, the meetings will be about Universi femminili and will be hosted by journalist and writer Elvira Serra, a long-time friend of the Festival. From Friday to Sunday, the guests who will appear with her on the balcony will be Giulia Baldelli, a writer from Marche who will present her second book Le parole che mi hai lasciato (Guando, 2024), a touching and powerful story both in its narrative and writing; Milena Agus, back on the literary scene with her book Notte di vento che passa (Mondadori, 2024), a bildungsroman about Sardinia and a teenage girl’s dreams; lastly, Nicoletta Verna, author of the recently published and highly praised I giorni di vetro (Einaudi, 2024), about Redenta and Iris’s journey into the female universe, a story of resistance and salvation. 

During the three days of the festival, the Orizzonti cycle will feature several guests in the kids’ section, such as Davide Meloni along with the writer Sarah Savioli; Alberto Emiletti of Internazionale Kids alongside the entomologist and writer Gianumberto Accinelli and, once again, Davide Meloni with the illustrator Andrea Antinori.

The traditional Mezzogiorno di Fuoco space in Piazza Sant’Antiocru will return as well. It will deal with some of the great issues at the heart of the contemporary debate: gender, civil rights, violence against women, as well as geopolitics and Artificial Intelligence.

On Friday July 5th, it starts with Disordine Mondiale, where philosopher Andrea Colamedici – – a populariser of the contemporaneity of the world and, together with Maura Gancitano, founder of TLON – a permanent school of philosophy and imagination with hundreds of thousands of users – will converse with the journalist Witold Szabłowski, author of the report Come sfamare un dittatore (Keller, 2023), Manlio Graziano, a geopolitical analyst who recently hit the bookshelves with his Disordine Mondiale. Perché viviamo in un’epoca di crescente caos (Mondadori, 2024), and Annalisa Camilli, journalist of Internazionale, expert on Italian current events and immigration in particular. The debate is organised in partnership with the Polish Institute of Rome. 

On Saturday the 6th, the meeting Cara Giulia, organised in collaboration with Éntula Festival Letterario Diffuso and hosted by Maura Gancitano, will feature Gino Cecchettin, father of Giulia Cecchettin and author of the book that gives its name to the meeting (Rizzoli editore, 2024), and the feminist philosopher Lorenzo Gasparrini, who recently published a new edition of Perché il femminismo serve anche agli uomini (Eris, 2024). Lastly, on Sunday the 7th, the discussion will focus on La sfida. Intelligenza artificiale e creatività and will be moderated by popular riddler and essayist Stefano Bartezzaghi, one of the most important scholars in the field of puns, humour and creativity, who recently came out with Chi vince non sa cosa si perde. Agonismo. Gioco. Guerra (Bompiani, 2024).

On Saturday and Sunday, the parish hall in Piazza San Gavino will host a new space in which several guests will participate, including the writer and director Alberto Capitta alongside with Sara Puggioni (Friday the 5th at 11:00), Elvira Serra with her book L’Altra. Storia di un’amante (Solferino, 2024) in a new edition for its tenth anniversary (Friday the 5th at 18:00), and the journalist and writer Francesco Abate with La trilogia del 900, an encounter between images and narratives (Sunday the 7th at 11:00).

The festival’s afternoons will begin with the reading space featuring a wide range of guests. In the first two days, the poet and writer Guido Catalano, who can count on a remarkable following both on social media and in his live performances, will bring on the Gavoi stage his book Smettere di fumare baciando (Rizzoli, 2023), with his unmistakable style; he will be followed by Marco Presta, co-host of one of the most popular Rai Radio2 shows, Il ruggito del coniglio, with his book Verso l’abisso fischiettando (Einaudi, 2024). On Sunday the 7th, Oggi splende Michela Murgia will be a homage to the recently deceased writer who was a dear friend of the festival. It will be an occasion to read some excerpts from her book Ricordatemi come vi pare (Mondadori, 2024).

This year, the Altre Prospettive cycle, titled Confronti, will be hosted by the writer Sarah Savioli . The event on Friday the 5th, organised in partnership with the Slovak Institute in Rome and the Austrian Culture Forum in Rome, will host Jana Karšaiová, a Slovak-born writer who authored successful novels such as Divorzio di velluto (Feltrinelli, 2022), and Angela Lehner, with her debut work Padre Nostro (Mendel Edizioni, 2022). On Saturday the 6th, the stage will be taken by Saif ur Rehman Raja, a young Pakistani writer with his incredible first work Hijra (Fandango, 2024), and Carla Fiorentino, writer and lead editor of the publishing house Emons libri & audiolibri, known for her work Forty. Viaggio semiserio nei superpoteri dei quarantenni (Fandango, 2021). Finally, on Sunday the 7th, Claudia Lanteri will present her work L’isola e il tempo (Einaudi, 2024), an out-of-the-ordinary mystery novel characterised by an unusual structure, a fast pace and an original writing style; on the same day, Samuele Cornalba will present Bagai (Einaudi, 2024), a bildungsroman and self-discovery story, on uncertainty and the fears related to being in your twenties.

Terre di mezzo, in the outer court of Casa Maoddi, will host the illustrators Andrea Antinori and Hannah Arnesen; Andrea Colamedici alongside Maura Gangitano, writer of Perché studiare filosofia (non) è noioso. Ora buca (Mondadori, 2024); and Annalisa Camilli, author of L’ultimo bisonte (La Nuova Frontiera Junior, 2023).

At the end of each day of the festival, a wide range of meetings will be held in Sant’Antiocru and will be moderated by the writer Elisabetta Bucciarelli: on Friday the 5th, Storie di Altri Luoghi. Memoria dei Paesi dell’Est with Witold Szabłowski,  in collaboration with the Polish Institute of Rome; on Saturday the 6th, Vicini e lontani. Le città della nostra vita, with renowned writer Eraldo Affinati, who recently published Le città del mondo (Gramma Feltrinelli, 2024); on Sunday the 7th, Storie di Altri Luoghi. Le vite di altri, with Suad Amiry, Palestinian architect, activist and author of several works as Sharon e mia suocera (Feltrinelli, 2013) and Storia di un abito inglese e di una mucca ebrea (Mondadori, 2020). On Friday the 5th, at 22:00 Vicini e Lontani. Letteratura del conflitto will see the participation of the aforementioned Carla Fiorentino alongside the acclaimed Massimo Carlotto with his recent work Trudy (Einaudi, 2024). On Saturday the 6th, at 22:30, Mirto con l’autore will take place in the Binzadonnia Public Garden. 

The longstanding partnership between the Festival and MAN Museum of Art Province of Nuoro will resume with the presentation of Francesco Panozzo’s work Interazioni antologiche. L’alveare e l’enciclopedia, regarding the worn-out ligatures of ten volumes of Enciclopedia Treccani in which 28 families of bees have built their wonderful honeycombs in six months, displayed at Museo del Fiore Sardo from July the 4th to July the 7th. This work is part of the collective exhibit DIORAMA. Generation Earth, showcased at MAN museum of Nuoro from the 5th of July to the 10th of November.

During the three days of the festival, several events intended for younger audiences and curated by the Lughenè association will take place. Firstly, the meeting with Hannah Arnesen and the exposition of the riginal tables from the book Stardust. Polvere di stelle (Stardust) (Orecchio Acerbo 2024), will be hosted inside the former Caserma. In the same place, it will be possible to see the bibliographic expositions Il mondo (che) parte da un libro and Solo una noche. Omaggio ad Andrea Antinori, and it will also be possible to enjoy the reading performances of Alessia Canducci and Alfonso Cuccurullo.

This year’s festival will pay homage to Giorgio Todde, four years after his death, to Maria Giacobbe, with her Diario di una maestrina, and to journalist Franco Di Mare, with his Le parole per dirlo. The L. Cànepa Conservatory of Sassari, the Sigura-Vacca duo and the Ente musicale of Nuoro will handle the musical breaks for the kids’ section. by the 

Technical Data Sheet

L’Isola delle Storie – XVIII edition Festival Letterario della Sardegna
4-7 July 2024
Gavoi (NU), Barbagia, Sardinia

Free entrance

Management
Associazione Culturale L’Isola della Storie
Via Garibaldi 2, 08020, Gavoi (NU)
info@isoladellestorie.it – www.isoladellestorie.it

Funded by
Comune di Gavoi
Regione Autonoma della Sardegna
Assessorato alla Pubblica Istruzione, Beni Culturali, Informazione, Spettacolo e Sport della Regione Sardegna
Camera di Commercio di Nuoro
Fondazione di Sardegna
Unione dei Comuni di Barbagia
Bim Bacino Imbrifero Montano del Taloro

Patronage
University of Cagliari
Rai Sardegna

In partnership with
MAN_Museum of Art Province of Nuoro
Polish Institute of Rome
Slovak Institute in Rome
Austrian Culture Forum in Rome
Ukrainian Embassy in Italy – to be added
Istituto Comprensivo “S.Canio” di Gavoi
Biblioteca Comunale “Fratelli Satta” di Gavoi
Biblioteca Comunale di Bitti
Biblioteca Comunale di Ovodda
Comes- Cooperativa Mediateche Sarde
Sulcis Interurban Library System
Hybris- International Centre of Comics
INAF- Cagliari Observatory
Ipotesi Cinema
Canepa Conservatory of Sassari
Ente Musicale di Nuoro
Éntula Festival Letterario Diffuso
Czech Centre of Rome

Kid’s section curated by
Lughenè Associazione Culturale

Press Office
Francesca Zanardo – GLASS studio
zanardo@glass-studio.it
Phone: +39 328 4780660

Social media
Irene Bosu and Mario Gottardi
Facebook – Festival Isola delle Storie di Gavoi
X – @GavoiFestival
Youtube – Canale Isola delle Storie – Gavoi
Instagram – #gavoifest2022 

Graphics
Sabina Era, illustrations by Toni Demuro

Webmasters
Gaetano Frascolla
Caternia Marchi

Official Photographer
Žiga Koritnik

Media partners
TGR Sardegna
Rai Cultura

Media technical partner
Moovioole for live-streaming

Technical sponsors
Bam-design
Cantine Argiolas – Serdiana (CA)
Cantine Santa Maria La Palma – Alghero (SS)
Libreria Novecento – Nuoro
Sa Marchesa – Gavoi