Speakers

Brian Selznick, born in 1966, is an American writer and illustrator. After debuting with The Houdini Box (1991), he gained widespread success with La straordinaria invenzione di Hugo Cabret (2007), winner of the Caldecott Medal and adapted into a film by Martin Scorsese.

Carlo Verdone, born in Rome in 1950, is an actor, director, and screenwriter. He made his film debut in 1980 with Un sacco bello, which earned him the David di Donatello for Best New Director. He has directed and starred in over twenty films.

Eraldo Affinati, born in Rome in 1956, is a writer, teacher, and pedagogue. He debuted with the novel Veglia d’armi. L’uomo di Tolstoj (1992), followed by narrative and essay works such as Campo del sangue, La città dei ragazzi, Berlin, Vita di Vita, and L’uomo del futuro, dedicated to Don Lorenzo Milani.

Nicholas Boggs, born in 1973 in Washington, D.C., is a writer, critic, and academic. In 2018, he co-edited the reissue of James Baldwin’s Little Man, Little Man and in 2025 published Baldwin: A Love Story, a biography that was a finalist for the Kirkus Prize.

A. M. Homes, born in 1961, is an American writer and screenwriter. She debuted at the age of 19 with the novel Jack (1989), followed by In a Country of Mothers, The End of Alice, Music for Torching, This Book Will Save Your Life, and May We Be Forgiven, winner of the 2013 Women’s Prize for Fiction.

Benjamin Taylor, born in 1952, is an American writer, critic, and university professor. He debuted with the novel Tales Out of School (1995), followed by The Book of Getting Even (2008).

Alessandro Piperno, born in Rome in 1972, is a novelist, essayist, and literary critic. He debuted in 2005 with Con le peggiori intenzioni, an editorial success and finalist for the Premio Viareggio.

Richard Ford, born in 1944 in Jackson, Mississippi, is considered one of the greatest contemporary American writers. With Independence Day (1995; Feltrinelli, 1996), he won the two most prestigious American literary awards, the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Pulitzer Prize.

Luciano Violante, born in 1941, is a jurist, university professor, and politician. A former magistrate, he participated in trials against terrorism in the 1970s. In 2024, he released “Ma io ti ho sempre salvato. La maschera della morte e il nomos della vita.”

Pier Ferdinando Casini, born in 1955, is an Italian politician. First elected to the Camera dei Deputati in 1983, he served as Presidente della Camera from 2001 to 2006.