2023 Festival Program
We’re so glad to be back in-person after 3 years!
Join us for the 2-day, in-person program as well as some online presentations from Italy.
Exhibitions – May 6 and 7, 2023
| Title | Description | Curators |
| LUCIANO IACOBELLI: ARTE E POESIA THE EXHIBITION | Luciano Iacobelli's paintings, sculptures and books, illustrating his life and work as a poet, visual artist, publisher, bookbinder and mentor. | Curator: Luciana Varone |
| HOW DOES IT FEEL? DANTE'S INFERNO IN 7 EMOTIONS | Student's works inspired by seven emotions described by Dante Alighieri in the first Canto of Inferno. The exhibition will also feature an immersive virtual reality presentation. | Curated by University of Toronto Department of Italian Studies, Accademia dei Ragazzi, Villa Charities. |
| GRAZIE DELLA POESIA | A hommage to the Italian Canadian poets we've lost in recent years. Visitors will have a chance to pause, read their poetry, and leave thoughts and dedications. | Curator: Lisa Ariemma |
Friday May 5, 2023
| Time | Description | Presenters |
| 11 am - ONLINE Click HERE to join Zoom presentation. Direct access, no registration required | NATIONAL WRITING COMPETITION LINGUA MADRE Announcing the winners of the XVIII edition of the renowned writing competition and a discussion with past winners on the issues and tensions of transition and inclusion and the complexity of women's multiple identities. | Yeniffer Lilibel Aliaga Chávez Chiamaka Sandra Madu Daniela Finocchi Michela Marocco |
| 12:30 pm - ONLINE Click HERE to join Zoom presentation. Direct access, no registration required. | PARCHI LETTERARI: LITERATURE AND ENVIRONMENT ACROSS CONTINENTS. For the last few decades the Parchi letterari organization in Italy has been dedicated to the promotion of Italian literature and the natural environment it is tied to. More recently this mission is expanding abroad with initiatives from Italy to Norway, France and soon the US. | Stanislao de Marsanich Anne Cecile Pedersen Ilaria Serra |
| 7 pm - Columbus Centre SPECIAL OPENING EVENT Information and RSVP HERE | LUCIANO IACOBELLI: ARTE E POESIA Fellow writers, artists and friends acknowledge Luciano’s life and work as a poet, visual artist, publisher and mentor in a presentation that includes video, photography, readings, and an art show. FOLLOWED BY FESTIVAL OPENING RECEPTION | Co-curators: Luciana Varone, Julian Iacobelli Moderator: Deborah Verginella Speakers: Corrado Paina, Robert Marra, John Romano, Domenic Capilongo |
Columbus Centre – Saturday May 6, 2023
| Time | Description | Presenters |
| 10 am | RECENT TRANSLATIONS IN ITALIAN CANADIAN FICTION A translation in another language is an important milestone in the life of a book. This panel will feature some recent translations of Italian Canadian originals and look at the translation process. | Nino Famà Connie Guzzo McParland Annalisa Panati Damiano Pietropaolo |
| 11:30 am | FROM BIOGRAPHY TO LEGACY: The Many Ways to Tell the Stories of Our Lives. Biographies are one way to tell the story of a life. This panel will explore a variety of ways in which the impact of a life can be captured and crystallized. | Anna Ciardullo Villapiana Antonio D'Alfonso Angela De Salvo and Anna Romano |
| 1:00 PM | LUNCH BREAK | |
| 1:30 pm | SALOTTO DELLA POESIA New releases in Italian Canadian poetry. | Rocco De Giacomo Michael Mirolla Gianna Patriarca |
| 3 pm | SALOTTO DEL ROMANZO New releases in Italian Canadian fiction | Darlene Madott Rosanna Micelotta Battigelli Carmelo Militano |
| 4:30 pm | THE LANGUAGE OF POWER A far-reaching enquiry on the strength of Italian vis-à-vis German, Portuguese and Spanish in the Greater Toronto Area and in the local linguistic space. The panel will reflect on the current state of the Italian language in Ontario and, by extension, abroad. | Simone Casini and Salvatore Bancheri Michela Di Marco Daniela Sanzone |
Columbus Centre – Sunday May 7, 2023
| Time | Description | Presenters |
| 10:30 am | RISKING YOUR LIFE FOR A BETTER LIFE How migration can turn tragic. Deaths at border crossings, whether in the mountains or at sea, is a well-know phenomenon in Italy, but it is becoming a tragically familiar story in Canada as well. Taking their cue from Lisa Ariemma's essay longlisted for the CBC Nonfiction prize, the panel will look at the issue as it unfolds on both sides of the Atlantic. | Lisa Ariemma Amedeo Clivio |
| 12 pm | GENRES: THE MANY WAYS OF SPINNING A TALE We're all familiar with the usual classifications of writing as prose, drama and poetry, but there are at least a dozen fiction genres, from crime to sci-fi, from many more in between. Meet some authors who will tell us how their choice of genre helped tell the story. | Guglielmo D'Izzia Terri Favro |
| 1:30 pm | LUNCH BREAK | |
| 2 pm | STORYTELLING La magia delle storie: Storyteller Mariella Bertelli will tell Italian folk and fairy tales using storytelling methods of the Contastorie, like the Crankie (a story that unrolls) the Bankelsang (visual panels) or large puppets. For children 4-12, their parents and grandparents. | Mariella Bertelli |
| 3 pm | IT'S CIRCLE TIME! Italian Canadian authors will read their recently-published books and stories for a younger audience. | Bruna Di Giuseppe Bertoni Annamaria Falbo Gianna Patriarca |
| 4 pm | DANTE'S EMOTIONS The students whose works were selected will talk about how they related to the emotions expressed by Dante in the Divine Comedy, what inspired them most and will present their works. | Accademia dei Ragazzi |
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