Transforming many Italian provincial towns into "Literary Places" is the goal of the project conceived by Gianmarco Murru and Giulio Pisano. The organizers of the format have invited Gianluca Morozzi, Dora Esposito, Michela Tanfoglio, Naike Rivelli, and Vladimir Di Prima—five writers from four towns—to live in residence in Sardinia during the week of May 27th to 2nd, in Capoterra, Teti, Teulada, and Musei.
Contact with communities, the journey through the surrounding territories, rich with stories lost in time, the discovery of economic and anthropological realities will become environments, narrative locations, and epiphanies in the stories destined for the anthology "Literary Places Sardinia 2026." The new "Literary Places" map was presented in Cagliari at the Fondazione di Sardegna, where writers and administrators from the participating towns met with curators Gianmarco Murru, project manager and president of "Mediterranea," and Giulio Pisano, artistic director and publisher of Arkadia.
The current edition focuses on new writing, beginning with novelist Gianluca Morozzi, currently in residence in Musei, a town with agricultural and pastoral traditions, murals, and rammed earth houses, halfway between Campidano and Sulcis. Morozzi is the author of noir and thriller novels, including "Blackout," "Scars," and "The Black Mirror," published by Guanda, as well as "A Bologna con Andrea Pazienza" and "Nel dubbio, scrivi," published by Mondadori.
Capoterra, not far from Cagliari, on the southwest coast, nestled between Mount Arcosu and the Santa Gilla pond, will be the destination of two authors, and thus will live on in two stories. During the week of their residency, Saint Efisio passes through Su Loi on his way to Nora. A solemn mass is celebrated, renewing the memory of his martyrdom in a blaze of colors and scents, amidst ramadura (wooden twigs) and traditional costumes, carts slowly moving alongside pilgrims to the sound of bells and launeddas (traditional instruments). A show of devotion for Dora Esposito, the blogger known as DoraEbasta, who, from her online debut, now writes for film and publishes novels such as "Un giorno ti racconterò" (I'll Tell You a Day), published by Arkadia, and "Apri la porta e vola" (Open the Door and Fly). But also for "Madame Picasso," Michela Tanfoglio, a leading figure in independent publishing, who wrote the essay "Picasso. La mala arte" (Picasso. The Bad Art) and became "Madame Picasso."
Vladimir Di Prima, documentary filmmaker and author of "Le Incompiute Smorfie," "Avaria," and "La banda Brancati," moves between writing and film. The Catania-born writer will be in Teti, at the foot of the Gennargentu mountains, among the woods of Barbagia di Ollolai, inhabited since pre-Nuragic times, where the Nuragic village of S'Urbale is located.
Naike Rivelli, an actress and musician with more than 480 followers, will arrive in Teulada. Rivelli will set out from the coast, with Tuerredda beach, to discover one of the towns in the Blue Zone, the network of municipalities known for its high percentage of centenarian residents.
The commitment of "Literary Places" is renewed because "If the community is aging well, that's good news," emphasize Gianmarco Murru and Giulio Pisano. "It's a shame that in the meantime, young people are leaving and the demographic balance remains negative. Culture can perhaps reverse the trend by attracting new residents and job opportunities."
Grazia Biora
