This year, Palermo’s annual Book and Reading Festival, which has been held in the heart of the city’s historic center since 2015, focused on an important and timely theme, namely, Citizenship and Humanity. A six-day series of book presentations, interviews with authors, read alouds, debates, and conferences all explored the relationship between humanity, the individual and the State.
In addition to setting up a display in front of their book and media center, the FSPs participated in the event by presenting two new Pauline editions to the public. The first, by Roberto Mistretta, was entitled Rosario Livatino: Man, Judge and Believer. The author discussed his book with Antonio Balsamo, a retired judge who worked for four years with Rosario Livatino, journalist Roberto Greco, who moderated the discussion, and Fernanda di Monte of the Daughters of St. Paul. The second new publication was Ventuno: Le donne che fecero la Costituzione, by Romano Cappelletto and Angela Iantosca. These authors had already traveled to Palermo to present their book in some of the city’s schools. In fact, the teenagers of the Giovanni Falcone National Boarding School had asked that the new book be presented precisely to their academy. The event opened in Palermo’s main square with a flute rendition of Italy’s national anthem, followed by a precise and profound presentation of the text, enlivened by excerpts from it.
