2024 Festival Program
Special Events
| Time | Description | Presenters |
| Friday May 3rd 7 pm OPENING EVENT Information and RSVP HERE | LIBRISSIMI LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD Librissimi honours Antonio D'Alfonso, writer, editor, publisher and film-maker, for his contribution to Italian Canadian Literary Arts. FOLLOWED BY FESTIVAL OPENING COCKTAIL | Presenters: Tania Abbisso Anita Aloisio Domenico Capilongo Anna Ciamparella Jennifer Dale Damiano Pietropaolo Joseph Pivato Elana Wolff MC: John Calabrò |
| Saturday May 4th 7 pm Information and RSVP HERE | DI CICCO POETRY PRIZE Librissimi hosts the second edition of the prize. Three winners among five short-listed authors will be announced. | Presenters: George Elliott Clarke Giovanna Riccio Carmine Starnino Click HERE to join Zoom presentation. |
Festival Programming
Saturday May 4, 2024
| Time | Description | Presenters |
| 10 am | ITINERARI DI RITORNO, ITINERARI DI MEMORIA / PATHS OF RETURN, PATHS OF MEMORY. Words weaving wonder as we are drawn (back) to natural and urban spaces by means of powerful narrations. Remembered places as literary landscapes. Real-life places inspiring remembered places. Places in our memory become a psychological and aesthetic experience of real-life places. Bilingual presentation in Italian and English. | John Calabrò Stanislao de Marsanich Stefano Mangoni Lino Rufo MODERATOR Maria Laura Mosco Panel available live on Zoom webinar. Click HERE to join Zoom presentation. Registration not necessary |
| 11:30 am | INDEPENDENT PRESSES AND REGIONAL LITERATURE: THE LIFEBLOOD OF CANADIAN PUBLISHING? Key representatives from the world of independent publishing offer us insights into the role that independent and regional presses play in Canadian literature. Topics they will consider include the fit of indies within the broad context of Canadian publishing, their role in a multicultural milieu, current accomplishments, and directions for the future. | Heather Campbell Marc Côté Connie Guzzo McParland MODERATOR Randall Perry |
| 1:00 PM | LUNCH BREAK | |
| 1:30 pm | REPROGRAMMING THE BRAIN The incredible journey of one Parkinson's patient and his doctor from 20 pills a day to two metal rods implanted in his brain | Alfonso Fasano Benjamin Stecher MODERATOR: Emilia Luca Presented in collaboration with AIRIcerca Toronto |
| 3 pm | GENRE DRIFT: BLURRING, BLENDING AND CROSSING THE LINES OF GENRE The publishing business depends on genre clarity to select, produce and market books. However, the lines of genre are becoming increasingly blurred, and complex. | Terri Favro Darlene Madott Vincenzo Pietropaolo MODERATOR: Nella Cotrupi |
| 7 pm | DI CICCO POETRY PRIZE |
Sunday May 5, 2024
| Time | Description | Presenters |
| 11:30 am | SALOTTO DEL ROMANZO New releases in Italian Canadian fiction. Join us to discover the latest novels from these Canadian authors with an Italian “accent”. | A & H Christensen Michael Mirolla |
| 1 pm | LUNCH BREAK | |
| 1:30 pm | FLUSSI DI MEMORIA/TIDES OF MEMORY Memoirs help make sense of the past and chart paths forward, whether they are journeys of discovery or journeys of healing. Experiencing personal and recounted journeys, charting a geography of a world of emotions and memory. Narration and the art of recollection. Bilingual presentation. | Diego Bastianutti Bruno Cocorocchio Damiano Pietropaolo MODERATOR Maria Laura Mosco |
CHILDREN’S PROGRAMMING
| Time | Description | Presenters |
| 3:00 pm | OMAGGIO A GIANNI RODARI Un gruppo di alunni del grado 6/7 della scuola Saint Martha di Toronto reciterà delle poesie del grande autore italiano per bambini di tutte le età Gianni Rodari. Gli alunni saranno accompagnati dal Cantastorie italiano Gianluca Lalli. Presentazione in italiano | Students: Liandra Lopez-Hannah Francesco Nirta Analia Roche Moreno Krystle Villarin Musical perfomance by: Gialunca Lalli MODERATOR Maestra Anna Stalteri |
| 3:45 pm | SONIA AND ALFRED AT WEEFESTIVAL – Storytime and Show Preview Sonia and Alfred have become good friends, and they show us how friendships can cross boundaries and make everyone better. Followed by story time and show ticket raffle. Bilingual presentation. | |
| 4:15 pm | STORY TIME WITH LOUISA, ASSUNTA AND LUIGI A special trio, two kids and their mom who through the stories they have written, will transport us to their magical worlds on and off our planet. | Assunta and Luigi Reda, accompanied by Louisa Reda. |
Exhibition – May 4th and 5th
| Title | Description | Curators |
| CALVINO: QUI E ALTROVE HERE AND ELSEWHERE EXHIBITION | Famed Italian writer Italo Calvino is known worldwide. This exhibition takes the visitor on a guided visual journey of the covers of Italo Calvino’s most celebrated books translated around the world, thus illustrating the vast international success of the author. | Produced by the Fondazione Mondadori and Laboratorio Calvino Courtesy of Istituto Italiano di Cultura Toronto |
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