Francesco Chiamulera's insights reveal a literary festival deeply rooted in the values of storytelling, personal connection, and cultural exchange, set against the unique backdrop of the Dolomites. Through a blend of tradition and innovation, "Una Montagna di Libri" continues to thrive as a significant cultural event.
How did "Una Montagna di Libri" begin?
"Una Montagna di Libri" was born in 2009 from the slightly adventurous and pioneering initiative of myself and a few friends, some from Cortina d'Ampezzo and some from elsewhere. We wanted to bring back to Cortina the excitement of meeting authors, of returning to the book, creating an environment where the paradigm was being together around a story or engaging with fascinating and stimulating ideas.
Over the years—fifteen, which have flown by like all the beautiful things in life—we have brought some of the great voices of world literature to the Dolomites: from Azar Nafisi to Emmanuel Carrère, from Peter Cameron to Fernando Aramburu. We've also featured Paolo Sorrentino and mountain storytellers like Sylvain Tesson and Reinhold Messner, as well as unforgettable figures like Alberto Arbasino and Raffaele La Capria, who are sadly no longer with us. And, of course, many debut authors, especially the new voices of Italian female narrative.
Cortina d'Ampezzo has always been, with its magnificent mountains, a cosmopolitan meeting point where international and local dimensions happily mix. We continue in this vein, meeting authors under the shade of larches, by the lakes of the Dolomites, with a simple blanket spread on the grass, or in halls where up to 600 people gather.
What are the current trends in Italian literature?
Family stories, particularly concerning fathers, mothers, and ancestors, have become very strong and attractive in the past two or three years in Italian literature. Excellent novels by authors like Emanuele Trevi and Antonio Franchini have exemplified this trend. As noted by the insightful reader and literary connoisseur Camila Baresani, there has also been a somewhat clinical and introspective trend. Perhaps due to the pandemic or for reasons we don’t entirely understand, many authors have referenced health-related conditions and situations, with detailed descriptions of medical treatments, illnesses, and the like.
Fortunately, the literary landscape is always plural, dynamic, and varied—in one word: free! So it can happen, as with Michele Masneri's latest work, that a book happily defies trends and carves out its own autonomous life. In this case, it’s a journalistic and ironic account, sometimes bordering on the grotesque, of a bourgeois Italian world—decadent and frivolous—depicted without bitterness or resentment.
Regarding mountain literature, I sense a desire to clean the pages of excessive rhetoric that often portrays the mountain alternately as a "stepmother" or "mother," invested with values that do not belong to it. For instance, Marco Berti's latest book seeks to do just that.
Are you thinking about exploiting the format as a TV Show?
Not really. In fact, the vast majority of "Una Montagna di Libri" events are available live-streamed and can be re-watched on our YouTube channel or broadcast on television. We aim to reach the widest possible audience while maintaining the essence of a literary festival, where the hope is always to meet in person, in the flesh.
How did "Una Montagna di Libri" begin?
"Una Montagna di Libri" was born in 2009 from the slightly adventurous and pioneering initiative of myself and a few friends, some from Cortina d'Ampezzo and some from elsewhere. We wanted to bring back to Cortina the excitement of meeting authors, of returning to the book, creating an environment where the paradigm was being together around a story or engaging with fascinating and stimulating ideas.
Over the years—fifteen, which have flown by like all the beautiful things in life—we have brought some of the great voices of world literature to the Dolomites: from Azar Nafisi to Emmanuel Carrère, from Peter Cameron to Fernando Aramburu. We've also featured Paolo Sorrentino and mountain storytellers like Sylvain Tesson and Reinhold Messner, as well as unforgettable figures like Alberto Arbasino and Raffaele La Capria, who are sadly no longer with us. And, of course, many debut authors, especially the new voices of Italian female narrative.
Cortina d'Ampezzo has always been, with its magnificent mountains, a cosmopolitan meeting point where international and local dimensions happily mix. We continue in this vein, meeting authors under the shade of larches, by the lakes of the Dolomites, with a simple blanket spread on the grass, or in halls where up to 600 people gather.
What are the current trends in Italian literature?
Family stories, particularly concerning fathers, mothers, and ancestors, have become very strong and attractive in the past two or three years in Italian literature. Excellent novels by authors like Emanuele Trevi and Antonio Franchini have exemplified this trend. As noted by the insightful reader and literary connoisseur Camila Baresani, there has also been a somewhat clinical and introspective trend. Perhaps due to the pandemic or for reasons we don’t entirely understand, many authors have referenced health-related conditions and situations, with detailed descriptions of medical treatments, illnesses, and the like.
Fortunately, the literary landscape is always plural, dynamic, and varied—in one word: free! So it can happen, as with Michele Masneri's latest work, that a book happily defies trends and carves out its own autonomous life. In this case, it’s a journalistic and ironic account, sometimes bordering on the grotesque, of a bourgeois Italian world—decadent and frivolous—depicted without bitterness or resentment.
Regarding mountain literature, I sense a desire to clean the pages of excessive rhetoric that often portrays the mountain alternately as a "stepmother" or "mother," invested with values that do not belong to it. For instance, Marco Berti's latest book seeks to do just that.
Are you thinking about exploiting the format as a TV Show?
Not really. In fact, the vast majority of "Una Montagna di Libri" events are available live-streamed and can be re-watched on our YouTube channel or broadcast on television. We aim to reach the widest possible audience while maintaining the essence of a literary festival, where the hope is always to meet in person, in the flesh.
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