Science and sentiment

2008, Giulio Einaudi Editore, Torino

Conference with Antonio Pascale, author
Moderator Michele Luzzatto

Despite their lacking a scientific background, many intellectuals have picked up on fundamental questions, turning them into stylish baubles. Conjuring romantic visions, they have tried to capture the audience's imagination with tales of a mythical past or by pitting natural (good) against artificial (bad), organic (healthy) against chemical (poisonous) in mismatched competition. Questionable is the idea that in our romantic hearts we embrace what is natural and organic and shun what is poisonous. And the risk is that the humanities are inciting a new inquisition: the need for a secular view is growing. From a Darwinian narrator comes a secular manifesto for a new discussion on science, and with clear answers to widely debated problems: agriculture, chemistry, biological methods, GMOs.

ANTONIO PASCALE

Antonio Pascale is an agronomist and works at the Ministry of Agriculture. Film, theater, and book author of La città distratta (2001), La manutenzione degli affetti (2003, 2006) and Passa la bellezza (2005), all published by Einaudi, he also writes for "Il Mattino" and "Diario".

MICHELE LUZZATO

Michele Luzzatto earned a degree in evolutionary biology and is editor for the Saggistica scientific series and the Grandi Opere serial titles at Einaudi. He has written articles and science features for the print media, and the chapter entitled "Darwinismo" in Laicità, edited by G. Boniolo (Einaudi, 2006) and Preghiera darwiniana (Raffaello Cortina, 2008).

CIRCOLO DEI LETTORI

Palazzo Graneri della Roccia
Via Bogino 9, Torino

October 9th, 17.00pm

Asbestos Serial Killer

2009, Edizione Ambiente, Milano

Conference with the author Stefania Divertito, Patrick Fogli, author of Vite spericolate, and Bruno Pesce, coordinator "Associazione Familiari Vittime dell'Amianto" di Casale Monferrato
Moderator  Alberto Ibba

Asbestos exposure in Italy. Thousands of deaths from asbestosis, pleural mesothelioma, and lung cancer. An open wound in Casale Monferrato. For the first time, a class action suit will be brought (trial scheduled to start in Turin, 10 December 209) against the heads of Eternit Spa, a multinational asbestos company, over allegations of having known the harmful effects of asbestos exposure but neglected to provide adequate protection. A thriller novelist, a journalist, and a representative of the claimants speak about this drama. Asbestos: Portrait of a Serial Killer describes the countless cases of asbestos exposure: in elementary schools, in residential dwellings, in ships that still pollute ports, in factories. Stefania Divertito reports on the battles against bureaucratic stubbornness and political indifference. Death from asbestos exposure in not casual: those responsible must be brought to trial.

STEFANIA DIVERTITO

Stefania Divertito, writer and investigative journalist specialized in environmental issues, is responsible for the national news for the daily free newspaper "Metro" and writes for "Vanity Fair" and other magazines. For her 7-year long investigation into impoverished uranium she was awarded the 2004 Reporter of the Year prize by the Union of Italian Journalists. Book titles to her credit are Il fantasma in Europa (with Luca Leone) (2004) about Bosnia in the post-Dayton era, and Uranio il nemico invisibile (2005).

ALBERTO IBBA

Alberto Ibba was editor for Radio Popolare for many years before becoming editor-in-chief for "La Rivisteria". A publishers' consultant, he joined Edizioni Ambiente as business manager 10 years ago. He is currently editorial director for the VerdeNero series.

CIRCOLO DEI LETTORI

Palazzo Graneri della Roccia
Via Bogino 9, Torino

October 10th, 18.30pm

Reckless living

2009, Edizioni Ambiente, Milano

Conference with the author Stefania Divertito, Patrick Fogli, author of Vite spericolate, and Bruno Pesce, coordinator "Associazione Familiari Vittime dell'Amianto" di Casale Monferrato
Moderator  Alberto Ibba

Asbestos exposure in Italy. Thousands of deaths from asbestosis, pleural mesothelioma, and lung cancer. An open wound in Casale Monferrato. For the first time, a class action suit will be brought (trial scheduled to start in Turin, 10 December 209) against the heads of Eternit Spa, a multinational asbestos company, over allegations of having known the harmful effects of asbestos exposure but neglected to provide adequate protection. A thriller novelist, a journalist, and a representative of the claimants speak about this drama. Reckless Living: Caterina returns to her native town for her mother's funeral following her death from occupational asbestos exposure. The story begins with Caterina receiving through the post a list of names of persons who had worked in various different places in Italy. The narrative advances as she pieces together the stories behind the names. An account Caterina decided had to be told to render justice and to ensure that this will never happen again. 

PATRICK FOGLI

Patrick Fogli hails from Bologna and has a degree in electronic engineering. When not creating management software and web sites, he writes. His first title, Lentamente prima di morire (Piemme, 2006), a thriller set in Bologna, earned him critical and public acclaim. This was followed by L'ultima estate d'innocenza (2007) and Il tempo infranto (2008), both for Piemme, which distinguished him as one of Italy's best detective novelists.

ALBERTO IBBA

Alberto Ibba was editor for Radio Popolare for many years before becoming editor-in-chief for "La Rivisteria". A publishers' consultant, he joined Edizioni Ambiente as business manager 10 years ago. He is currently editorial director for the VerdeNero series.

CIRCOLO DEI LETTORI

Palazzo Graneri della Roccia
Via Bogino 9, Torino

October 10th, 18.30pm

Sustainable Happiness

2009, Casa Editrice Rizzoli, Milano 

Conference with Maurizio Pallante, author
Moderator Gianni Vattimo

Is the happiness of one person or a whole community sustainable? Under pressure from the economic crisis and the energy and environmental emergency, are there prospects for future wellbeing and peace? Murizio Pallante, creator of "happy degrowth", thinks there  re. However, we need to shift course away from the imperative of growth at any cost as measured by GDP and head for a new model of development. "Happy degrowth" is a concrete philosophy anyone, everyone can put into every day practice and governments into policy. Degrowth does not mean giving up everything, but rather changing habits which cause unnecessary waste. It is not a utopia but rather a new way of life that we can start today. 

MAURIZIO PALLANTE

Maurizio Pallante has long been engaged in energy and environmental technology policies. He founded the "Movimento per la Decrescita Felice" and directs its publications. With Mario Palazzetti and Tullio Regge, he was co-founder of the "Comitato per l'Uso Razionale dell'Energia" (CURE) in 1988. Prolific writer of scientific essays, he also writes for various journals, including "Carta", and collaborates on the "Caterpillar" radio program which advocates "happy degrowth". He is member of the scientific committee "M'illumino di meno", an initiative that promotes saving energy.

GIANNI VATTIMO

Gianni Vattimo taught aesthetic philosophy and theory at the University of Turin from 1964 to 2008. His works are read in Italy and abroad, particularly because of his novel interpretation of hermeneutic ontology which he refers to as "weak thought". This theoretical approach rooted in Nietzsche and Heidegger has made Vattimo an important writer on postmodernism. Besides teaching, Vattimo wrote editorials for major Italian newspapers, including "La Repubblica" and "La Stampa". Between 1999 and 2004 he was member of the European Parliament.

CIRCOLO DEI LETTORI

Palazzo Graneri della Roccia
Via Bogino 9, Torino

Environmental Poetry

“NATURE AND LANDSCAPE IN CINEMA WITHOUT FILM”: AN ENCOUNTER WITH ENVIRONMENTAL POETRY

2009, EDIZIONE AMBIENTE, MILANO 

Conference with the authors Beppe Mariano (Il passo della salita), Claudio Salvagno (L'emperi de l’ombra / L'impero dell'ombra), Lorenzo Volpe (L'ordine dei rami) e Tiziano Fratus (Il respiro della terra)
Moderator Giovanni Tesio

To the reader poetry is a product of the earth, like a wine to be appreciated and slowly enjoyed. Poetry is description, a manufactured product, a weave of words that reveal images of places and states of being. Poetry is cinema without the film, producing sounds, languages, gestures; it is cultivation and handicrafts; it is a trip through time. Four local poets read from their published works on landscape and the land. 

BEPPE MARIANO

Beppe Mariano lives at the foot of Monviso. In the 1970s he was co-founder and editor of the literary journal "Pianura", directed by Sebastiano Vassalli, then the Florence-based poetry journal "Salvo imprevisti". He was theater critic for the dailies "La Gazzetta del Popolo" and "Stampa Sera" and artistic director of the Teatro Toselli, Cuneo. His works include Notizie dalla Castiglia (1996), Ascolto dell'erba (1990), Scenari di Congedo (1996), Il sorriso e le lune del Monviso (2000), Dell'anima assediata (2004). He won the 1997 "Cesare Pavese-Grinzane Cavour" award for Scenari di Congedo.

CLAUDIO SALVAGNO

Claudio Salvagno lives in Bernezzo (CN). He is member of the Comitato di Tutela del Territorio [Committee for Environmental Protection] and co-editor of the bimonthly "Il Caragliese", contributing to the news column Polenta e cus cus and the column on Occitan literature. Titles to his credit are L'emperi de l'ombra, with translation in Italian and French (Jorn, 2004) and works for the Pulcinoelefante series (Casiraghi Alberto Libri) and the anthologies: Anthologie de la nouvelle écriture occitane (Jorn, 2004), Poésie d'OC au xxe siècle (by Jean Eigun, Letras d'OC/Les lettres occitanes, 2004). 

LORENZO VOLPE

Lorenzo Volpe (b. Cuneo, 1968) practices medicine in Cuneo. He has conducted historical and documentary studies on the architectural and artistic heritage of the southwestern Alps. L'ordine dei rami is his first poetry collection.

TIZIANO FRATUS

Tiziano Fratus (b. Bergamo, 1975) grew up on the Bergamascan plain and lives in the foothills of the Cotian Alps. He directs the "Manifattura Torino Poesia". He has published 10 volumes of poetry, including Il Molosso, La torsione, Il Ventre, Il Vangelo della Carne, La staticità dei pesci martello, Il lupo di trana e altre poesie naturali, Una stanza a Gerusalemme. Translated and published in 10 countries, his works have also been adapted for the stage.

GIOVANNI TESIO

Giovanni Tesio, ordinary professor of modern and contemporary Italian literature at the Department of Literature and Philosophy, University of Eastern Piemonte, has edited works on Calvino, Soldati and Pasolini, and literature in dialect, with numerous anthologies of regional interest. His non-fiction works include La provincia inventata (1983); Piemonte letterario dell'Otto-Novecento (1991); Oltre il confine. Percorsi e studi di letteratura piemontese (2007). He is co-director of the journal "Letterature e dialetti" and writes for "Tuttolibri", "La Stampa" and various academic journals. 

CIRCOLO DEI LETTORI

Palazzo Graneri della Roccia
Via Bogino 9, Torino