Speakers

Born in Barbastro, Spain, in 1962, he is a poet, novelist, and essayist. He has worked as a literature teacher and regularly contributes to El País and ABC Cultural.

Born in Rome in 1974, he began his literary career as a poet and published his first novel, La casa degli sguardi, in 2018. It was followed by Tutto chiede salvezza (2020), which won the Premio Strega Giovani, and Sempre tornare (2021).

Melania G. Mazzucco, born in Rome in 1966, is a novelist, essayist, and screenwriter. She made her debut with Il bacio della Medusa (1996), followed by Lei così amata (2000) and Vita (2003), which won the Strega Prize.

Architecture graduate at Florence University, in 1984 Sandro Veronesi published his first and only collection of poems entitled Il resto del cielo (The Remainder of the Sky”) and in 1988 his first novel Per dove parte questo treno allegro (“For Where this Merry Train is Leaving”), followed by Gli sfiorati (“The Skimmed”, 1990) and Venite venite B-52 (“Come, Come, B-52s”, 1995).

Philosopher and historian of African culture, over the years he has been involved in literature and the philosophy of language as well as racism, identity and moral theory, from the perspective of a liberal humanism and a cosmopolitan spirit.

Laurie Anderson, born in Glen Ellyn, Illinois in 1947, is a multimedia artist, musician, and performer. She rose to international fame with O Superman (1981) and has released experimental albums such as Big Science, Mister Heartbreak, and Landfall (with Kronos Quartet).

Nicole Krauss, born in New York in 1974, is a novelist and short story writer. She debuted with Man Walks into a Room(2002), followed by The History of Love (2005), Great House (2010), and Forest Dark (2017). In 2020, she published the story collection To Be a Man, which won the Wingate Literary Prize.

Gabriele Salvatores, born in Naples in 1950, is a film director and screenwriter. After his early career at the Teatro dell’Elfo, he made his cinematic debut with Dream of a Summer Night (1983).

Siri Hustvedt, born in 1955 in Northfield, Minnesota, is a novelist and essayist. Her fiction includes What I Loved (2003), The Sorrows of an American (2008), The Blazing World (2014), and several essay collections.

Pupi Avati, born in Bologna in 1938, is a film director, screenwriter, and producer. His career spans over five decades, marked by a wide range of genres.