Frankfurt Book Fair: Italy in the spotlight at PEN Berlin

The other Italy

In June, 34 prominent Italian writers addressed the public with an open letter, an act of public protest far more unusual than in Germany. They sharply criticised the official programme of this year’s Guest of Honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair, Italy, as well as the non-invitation of mafia expert and outspoken critic of the Meloni government, Roberto Saviano. 

There was also talk of various types and degrees of violation, of more or less explicit forms of censorship, of personal attacks to discredit and defame, and of the growing use of legal proceedings against writers, journalists and intellectuals by those in authority. All this, they said, showed “an explicit desire for ever greater political interference in cultural spaces”.

The Italian writers called for spaces for discussion with German and international writers, where these experiences and developments could be discussed across national borders. Because not to do so, our colleagues wrote, ‘is unacceptable in the Europe we believe in and is incompatible with a healthy expression of democracy’.

In close cooperation with the signatories of this open letter, PEN Berlin has now organised just that: international meetings and discussions on current issues.

Location: PEN Berlin stand (Hall 3.1, H 27), in the Frankfurt Book Fair pavilion and at the stand of the Italian Publishers Association (AIE – Associazione Italiana Editori). 

Roberto Saviano will be with us twice: at the PEN Berlin stand, in conversation with our member, Italy correspondent and author Birgit Schönau, and at the Pavilion, in conversation with PEN Berlin spokesperson Deniz Yücel. Paolo Giordano, one of the most prominent voices in contemporary Italian literature and co-initiator of the Open Letter, has also accepted our invitation and will be coming to the Frankfurt Book Fair after all. 

Here is our Italian programme / lieti di presentare  / we proudly present: 

Wednesday, 16 October

• 11 am, Pavilion: Radici nel presente / Roots in the present

Paolo Giordano, Melania Mazzucco, Francesca Melandri and Antonio Scurati. Host: Birgit Schönau (IT/DE/ENG)

• 2 pm, at PEN Berlin Stand: Scrivere in tempi illiberali 1 / Writing in Illiberal Times 1

Paolo Giordano and Eva Menasse in conversation (EN)

Thursday, 17 October

• 2 pm, at PEN Berlin: Microcensure quotidiane / Everyday Microcensorship

Donatella Di Pietrantonio and Vincenzo Latronico in conversation (IT / DE)

• 17:30 AIE stand: Come cambia nel tempo il talento letterario? / How does literary talent change over time? 

Antonio Franchini and Gianluigi Simonetti. Host: Maike Albath (IT/DE)

Friday 18 October

• 15.00, PEN Berlin stand. Alle democrazie servono eroi? / Do Democracies Need Heroes? 

Roberto Saviano in conversation with Birgit Schönau (IT/DE)

• 17:30, AIE stand: Il ritorno dei fantasmi. Memoria collettiva e racconto del presente / The Return of the Ghosts. Collective memory and the narration of the present 

Donatella Di Pietrantonio, Helena Janeczek and Katja Lange-Müller in conversation. Host: Birgit Schönau (IT/DE)

Saturday 19 October

• 11 am, PEN Berlin: Italia, Europa / Italy, Europe

Nicola Lagioia and Susanne Schüssler in conversation. Host:  Maria Carmen Morese (IT/DE)

• 2 pm, Pavillon: Scrivere in tempi illiberali 2 / Writing in Illiberal Times 2

Roberto Saviano and Deniz Yücel in conversation. Host: Karen Krüger (IT/DE/EN)

PEN Berlin. We stand by our word.