2019 Program
Event #10
Mazen Maarouf, Matteo Nucci
Jokes on future
Is it possible to have a love affair during a conflict? Is it possible for orphans to escape from bombs? Is it possible to survive soldiers’ tortures? In a contemporary Tale of Tales – in which fascination and fear, magic and dread become an innovative, clever analysis and a literary criticism of the present – Mazen Maarouf reveals us how to blend our daily routine and the cruel unreality of the war in order to resist in the only way possible. Dreaming, joking, imaging the future. In an unknown city, tore apart by the war, the writer observes and tells us about a world in which adults, young people and kids try, nevertheless, to resist.
Interprete: Marina Astrologo
Mazen Maarouf is a Palestinian-Icelandic writer, poet, translator and journalist. Born in Beirut to a family of Palestinian refugees, he lives between Beirut and Reykjavìk, where in 2011 he was hosted by International Cities of Refuge. He has recently published his first short story collection titled “Jokes for the Gunmen”, which was nominated to Man Booker International 2019 and awarded the Al Multaqa Prize, the most relevant Arabic prize dedicated to short stories. It was published by Granta in the UK and at the end of August will be published in Italy by Sellerio.
ph. credits: Raphael Lucas
Matteo Nucci is author of novels, short stories, reportages and essays. He published the novels Sono comuni le cose degli amici (Ponte alle Grazie, 2009) and È giusto obbedire alla notte (Ponte alle Grazie, 2017) both finalist at Premio Strega, together with the novel-essay Il toro non sbaglia mai (Ponte alle Grazie, 2011) and L’abisso di Eros (Ponte alle Grazie, 2018). He translated the translation of Plato’s Symposium (Einaudi, 2009) and the narrative essays Le lacrime degli eroi (Einaudi, 2013) and Achille e Odisseo. La ferocia e l’inganno (Einaudi, 2020). His short stories have been published in collections and magazines, and his reportages on Il Venerdì di Repubblica and L’Espresso and online on minima et moralia. He is editor of a taurine culture website: www.uominietori.it. In September his latest novel Sono difficili le cose belle will be published by HarperCollins.
Event #6
Alessandro Barbero
Popular revolts in Medieval Europe.
The Jacquerie of French peasants (1358)

Event #16Approfonditamente
Dario Bressanini, Lucilla Titta
Yesterday’s and tomorrow's diets. How to survive fake news?

Event #21
Paolo Colombo, Michele Tranquillini
Ernst Henry Shackleton. The hero who defeated the Arctic

Event #25
Roberto Celada Ballanti
The destiny of a community and many religions: is there a dialogue for the future of humanity?

Event #31Approfonditamente
Marco Ortenzi, Marco Parolini
The real truth about plastic and bioplastic (maybe)

Event #62didatticaMente
Alberto Pellai, Barbara Tamborini
The emotive education of the hyper-connected generation
