Absence initiative

The absence from which the “ Letteral'mente ” starts, a project promoted by the architect Antonio Alberto Clemente, is the lack of confidence in reading.
In 2014, the first of twelve meetings was held that are based on the correlation between city and literature , as the writers were the first to understand the great urban phenomena. The rules are simple: introduction to the author, reading the text and questions that overwhelm the audience.
The peculiarity of " Literally :" is also dictated by its name which, broken by an apostrophe, combines two words: reading and mind. The colon indicates the true reading, which acquires a right of residence in memory by becoming part of thought and reasoning.
The invitation is to “re-read” the books several times, at different times and with different moods. To our question "When does a book become an event?", The professor replied: "When a writer, like Erri De Luca, recites some texts by heart, it arouses emotion!". On May 7, the debate with Erri De Luca framed the cultural calendar of “Letteral'mente:”. The city enters the "d'Annunzio". The classroom was packed with people of different generations, ethnicities, religions to discuss the issue of immigration and integration, defined not as "waves that invade" but "flows that sprinkle". The writer defines today's immigrant as a "commodity" paid in advance without the obligation to be delivered. From an early age they teach us that Italy is comparable to a boot. The writer sees it differently; not a boot that kicks but an arm that detaches itself from Europe and extends an open hand to the Mediterranean, welcoming a mixture of aspects: from food to architecture, from theater to astronomy . De Luca thus closes his lectio magistralis on life and respect for the human being, from a physical and moral point of view, creating an emotional excursus of respect, openness and love.

Ilaria Gargano

Fiorella Bussolotti