St. Patrick Livorno Festival

Back on March 15, 16, and 17, at the former Aurora Cinema (via Ippolito Nievo 28), the San Patrizio Livorno Festival returns, 2024 edition, a breath of Ireland that has been blowing successfully on the Livorno coast for several years now. Important names in Irish literature such as Catherine Dunne (writer), William Wall (writer), Ola Majekodunmi (presenter, writer, performer) will be in Livorno, coinciding with the celebration of the patron saint of Ireland, St. Patrick, during a weekend full of literary events that will also include plenty of music, in a diverse and engaging program that not only celebrates Irish culture, but also aims to foster a deeper understanding of its evolving dynamics. The initiative was presented in detail today in the presence of the Culture Councillor Simone Lenzi and the organizers Massimiliano Roveri (Max’O Rover) and Claudio Monteleone. The festival’s co-founder, the great and beloved Catherine Dunne, was justified absent (but on the way). Present at the conference, and will be at the festival, are the students of the 4th linguistic class of the “Cecioni” high school with teachers Claudia Tirendi and Lorella Ferri. This year, the students have read some books by the great Catherine Dunne during their studies and are eagerly looking forward to meeting their favorite live and being able to interact with her, “a person of great simplicity and availability, despite being an internationally renowned intellectual,” as Councillor Simone Lenzi emphasized. “The San Patrizio Festival – Lenzi added – is a unique opportunity to have the best of Irish culture in our city in a place that I really like, and which offers a stage where we will have the opportunity to experience extraordinary artists, such as a writer with a Nobel scent like Catherine Dunne.” Massimiliano Roveri thanked the “Cecioni” high school and “all those who have been appreciating for 4 years now the somewhat crazy idea of ​​bringing a piece of Ireland to Livorno,” a city where he was born and left many years ago. “This year’s program is even more open to the city, in the evening all focused on Irish sessions and open microphones. Everyone can participate, with songs or story telling, as in a real Irish pub.” Claudio Monteleone, satisfied, will once again bridge Livorno and Ireland with his acting art. At the end of the press conference, greetings from Catherine Dunne arrived from Dublin to those present at the press conference, happy to have the opportunity to meet the young students of Cecioni, or rather, she said, “I can’t wait not only to be able to talk to these young students about books, but also about their aspirations to become writers, or artists, or teachers, or whatever they desire.” Dunne stated in detail: “I’m really sad not to be with you all this morning, as another SPLF is launched in the city of Livorno. Many thanks to the Comune, and to the Irish Embassy in Rome for your constant support. This year, I’m delighted to have the opportunity to meet young students from the Liceo in Livorno. I’m looking forward to a discussion about books, about the value of reading which is so important in the fostering of empathy, and about their own aspirations to be writers, or artists, or teachers – or whatever they want! One of the panel discussions with Ola Majekodunmi will explore the whole issue of diversity in Ireland – an island that only began to be diverse at the end of the 1990s. We’ll discuss the role of language, of culture and of willingness on the part of all citizens to be inclusive and to foster equality in all areas of life. A new novel by William Wall is always a treat and Ti ricordi Mattie Lantry? is no exception. It’s a thriller, a meditation on memory, and an exploration of what ‘truth’ means. Is truth just a construct, as Giambattista Vico claimed – or is it more than that? And we’re delighted to have Federico Platania’s insights about Samuel Beckett and Claudio Monteleone who will delight us with his insightful performance, as always. Here’s to the success of the SPLF 2024!”