Liguria. The new essay by Luca Valentini “Mare Monstrum” (Atene Edizioni) will be presented as a preview at the Turin International Book Fair, which will be released in all Italian bookshops and online stores immediately after the most important trade fair event in our country and second only to that of Frankfurt for the rest of Europe.
The presentation will take place on Monday 13 May in the events area of the large stand of the Liguria Region (Pad. OVAL), guest of honor of this year’s edition during the “Focus on the Mediterranean” scheduled from 10.30 am to 1 pm and will be introduced by radio speaker Sabrina Tortarolo.
Mare Monstrum arrives two years after the release of “Sirene” (Athens) and represents the ideal continuation of that successful essay entirely dedicated to the myths and mysteries of the fascinating fish-tailed girls, proposing a new in-depth investigation to discover the legendary creatures that have terrorized men for centuries. Sea monsters.
Megalodons, Giant Squids, Krakens, Sea Serpents, which have today become the protagonists of films, novels, comics and TV series, more or less well-known, such as the Norse island-fish Hafgufa, or the curious globsters, or even the ancient dragon Tarantasio, from origins as fascinating as they are mysterious, once represented a reason for anxiety and fear for those who embarked on the sea journey.
Mare Monstrum is a literary dive into the depths of ancient oceans and lakes that hosted (and perhaps still host?) marine animals feared since distant times such as the biblical Leviathan or the famous Loch-Ness Monster, in search of the answers that science today and able to offer ourselves to better understand its real nature.
From the classical authors to the editors of the numerous medieval bestiaries, everyone, sooner or later, had to deal with the so-called sea monsters, but if many of the creatures reported in the ancient chronicles belong to the imagination of prolific singers and visionaries of the past, it is possible that at least some of them really existed?
As with the Sirens, also in Mare Monstrum Valentini dedicates great attention to the most documentable aspects of the theme, offering an interesting overview of all those existing and known sea creatures which for various reasons could have been mistaken for the fearsome monsters handed down for centuries.
In the Mare Monstrum, legends, traditions, curiosities, history and science are expertly mixed in an essay that rekindles attention on a fascinating and little-covered topic.
Radio host, popularizer, essayist, event organizer and presenter, Luca Valentini has been dealing with mysteries for years, carrying out research related to history, traditions and legends at a local and national level. He regularly participates in debates and meetings and organizes conferences on the mystery every year. In 2019 he created Mare d’Inchiostro, the first literary tour of Liguria.
Often a guest on various radio, television or web programs, he takes care of the organization and artistic direction of dozens of events and demonstrations. He has written for various online and paper magazines and newspapers including the national bimonthly “Misteri”, dealing with culture, puzzles and entertainment. For Atene Edizioni he has already published the essays: Mysteries of Liguria, Il Cinque Per Cento, Once upon a time in Liguria…, Ghosts and Sirens. With Mare Monstrum he will be present for the first time as an author at the Turin Book Fair and, subsequently, he will begin the long tour of presentations also in Liguria and the rest of Italy, touching the cities of Imperia, on June 1st on the occasion of the Book Fair , Diano Marina, on 9 June, Andora on 13 July, and subsequently, Laigueglia, Arma Di Taggia, Celle Ligure, Savona, Loano, Albenga, Genoa and many others.
