Italian authors Viola Ardone and Igiaba Scego were the guests of one of Germany's longest-running and most successful literary formats, 'Das Blaue Sofa' at the event 'The Blue Sofa welcomes the Guest of Honour at the Frankfurter Buchmesse 2024'.
The initiative, organised by Bertelsmann in collaboration with the Frankfurter Buchmesse and the Italian Publishers' Association (AIE) and with the support of the Italian Embassy in Germany, aimed to celebrate Italy's presence as guest of honour at one of the world's most important literary fairs.
The protagonist of the evening was therefore the current Italian literary production with two writers with very different styles and themes, in a foretaste of what will be Italy's wide-ranging programme as guest of honour.
After an introduction on current Italian literary production in Germany by Professor Maria Carolina Foi, moderator Ariane Binder presented the work Café Royal by author Marco Balzano. It was then the turn of the female authors: Viola Ardone presented the German edition of Oliva Denaro (Was wissen sie vom Freisein), while Igiaba Scego spoke about her work Cassandra in Mogadishu (Kassandra in Mogadischu) with Thomas Böhm.
"The works of these authors testify to the liveliness of our literature and also to its ability to confront the ever-changing challenges of contemporaneity. This is a feature that is highly appreciated by our German friends, who are increasingly showing curiosity and interest in our literary production,' Ambassador Armando Varricchio emphasised at the opening, 'Thanks to our country's participation as guest of honour at the Frankfurt Fair, the German publishing industry is in fact proposing lesser-known Italian authors, retranslating the great classics and discovering our new talents.
'The rich programme of meetings and presentations at the Buchmesse is therefore an extraordinary opportunity to present the variety and vitality of contemporary Italian literature,' Varricchio concluded.
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