Milan is transformed into a huge open-air bookstore. For a week, 1,600 events will take place during BookCity, to explore themes linked to current events, through the prism of literature. The theme chosen for this 13th edition – War and Peace – reflects the urgency of reflection on the current situation, by offering literature to provide keys to understanding conflicts and imagining a peaceful future.
Between deep thoughts and desires, utopias and dystopias, escapes and fights, nightmares and fears, the program addresses all facets in a succession of suggestions, stories and encounters.
The opening and closing events: from Edith Bruck to Daniel Pennac
The opening evening, on November 13 at 8 p.m. at the Teatro dal Verme, immediately plunges us into the heart of this year's theme with the guests of honor Edith Bruck and Claudio Magris, who will receive the seal of honor for the occasion. the city in the hands of mayor Giuseppe Sala.
Edith Bruck, writer, poet, translator, director and witness to the Shoah, reminds us how important it is to preserve and cultivate the seed of memory, to try to germinate a future in which we can all learn from the mistakes of the past . Claudio Magris, writer and specialist in German literature, helps us understand how the limits of our own understanding and the tools with which one person or culture claims to understand or judge another, cause us to miss the opportunity to learn from each other of others and to grow together.
Daniel Pennac, in dialogue with Stefano Bartezzaghi, will close the week. Eclectic writer, author of plays and monologues, but also comic book writer, the French author, much appreciated by Italians, returns with a highly anticipated new novel. A meeting to discover behind the scenes of writing, revealing how a character is born, how an author's work works and where his inspirations come from. See you on November 17 at 8 p.m. at the Franco Parenti Theater.
From the Castello Sforzesco to the ADI Museum, the flagship locations of the program
The program is organized around major thematic areas. THE Sforza Castleat the heart of BookCity, welcomes many foreign authors, such as Fernando Aramburu, Josep Maria Esquirol, Marina Garcés and Michel Jean, but also Italian authors, including Milena Gabanelli, Beppe Severgnini and Vittorio Sgarbi.
The Triennale Milan focuses on fiction, while the National Museum of Science and Technology hosts events relating to science and health.
Au MUDEC – Museum of Culturesit will be about encounters between cultures: stories of escape, sea and citizenship, while in the theater Franco Parentivarious events are organized, from sport to politics, from current affairs to identity, from orientation to sexism.
L’ADI Design Museum is interested in design that has marked history, geographies beyond design and much more, while Veneranda Ambrosiana Library focuses on the art world.
In total, 339 locations will host the event's nearly 1,600 events and their 3,000 speakers and authors.
Appointments to note
The Corriere della Sera Foundation will host a rich program of events on Saturday November 16: Bruno Vespa will talk about “Hitler and Mussolini”Andrea Riccardi will offer a reflection on the “Cry for Peace” and the evening will end with a tribute to the journalist Maria Grazia Cutuli, who died tragically in Afghanistan.
The Giangiacomo Feltrinelli Foundation will devote a large space to the analysis of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, with experts such as Alberto Masoero, Niccolò Pianciola and Anna Zafesova, and will look at tensions on the borders of Europe with Massimo Congiu and Luca Jahier.
On Saturday, November 16, the Franco Parenti theater will host a meeting on the future of international law in Palestine, with the participation of experts such as Donatella Martini, Maurizio Donati, Francesca Albanese, Roberta Monticelli and Donatella Bisutti.
For meetings in Frenchmeet at the Institut français Milano on November 13. Blandine Rinkel will present her latest work Towards violence (Fayard ; Create a wolfEditions Clichy). Elle Readers’ Grand Prix 2023, the novel recounts the education in violence of Lou, daughter of a cruel but well-loved father: an unforgettable story which powerfully analyzes the dark side of relationships.
For children, the William Crocodile bookstore is part of BookCity week and invites Agnès Hostache, author of the bilingual book Disorders / DisordiniFriday November 15 at 2:45 p.m. On the program of the meeting: a reading in French and Italian of his beautiful album for ages 5 and over, published by Matita, a publishing house founded in Venice, followed by a snack offered by the Ateliers Cuisine de Zohra. Free entry subject to availability, online registration.
Literary guided tours through Milan
This year, enthusiasts will have the opportunity to take literary walks, discovering the districts of Milan which have inspired literary works: Naviglio who helps my flesh is the title of a guided route dedicated to Alda Merinidiscovering the channels that appear so often in his work, scheduled for Saturday, November 16 at 11 a.m. (in English, by reservation).
On Thursday, November 14 at 6:45 p.m., at the ADI Design Museum, Gianni Biondillo will take the public into a unique urban tale dedicated to the city and its sporting architecturefrom the Scintille to the Vigorelli, from the Palazzone to the Palazzo del Ghiaccio, with an intervention by Francesco Moser and the legendary bicycle on which he broke the hour record.
From novels to comics, nonfiction to young adult novels, poetry to detective stories, children's books to fantasy, every reader will find something to enjoy. For the complete program and all the details: www.bookcitymilano.it.
Please note that BookCity Milano events, located throughout the city, are free and entry is free, unless otherwise indicated on the pages dedicated to the different events.