“Villa Bonanno? A bet won. The new space conquered by Via dei librai opens the balance of this ninth edition which ended last night with numbers that confirm the success of the formula of the mix between fair and literary festival. Over one hundred thousand visitors along Via Vittorio Emanuele, where like every year there were bookstores and publishers’ stations, and tens of thousands of contacts on the web, on the website and on social media where live broadcasts of some of the main events of the event were broadcast” . Giovanna Analdi, president of the association. Cassaro Alto, Giulio Pirrotta, president of the Significa Palermo ETS association and director of the event, and Nicola Macaione, representative of the association of Italian booksellers in Palermo, outlined an initial assessment of the ninth edition of the event, choosing one of the new spaces as the venue , the Montevergini atelier, open to books from Tuesday thanks to the series of events that have been scheduled there.
“Villa Bonanno and this atelier were certainly a positive experiment – began Pirrotta – even if it is natural that adjustments will be necessary based on the experience we have had”. Very satisfied with the conquest of Villa Bonanno Giovanna Analdi: “It was a dream come true – she confessed – this space must be dedicated more and more to children who have found their natural dimension in the midst of greenery in a beautiful historic urban garden ”. And Nicola Macaione followed closely: “Villa Bonanno worked thanks to the activities that took place and we must increase them, involving families more and more. But I want to underline the spirit of the event which focuses on the role of the bookseller, his ability to create relationships with the reader”.
The new spaces are therefore a winning card: in addition to Villa Bonanno and the Montevergini atelier, there is also the faculty of Theological Sciences, open to visits for the occasion. Present were Fabrizio Piazza from Modus Vivendi and Rosanna Maranto from the Illustramente festival, who brought their contribution, while Pirrotta wanted to look to the future and to the tenth edition: “This year was a passing edition, we will take into account all the observations to better organize the next one” And Giovanna Analdi wanted to close with a note of optimism about the future of the book: “I think that in the end the paper will win, and that reading on the tablet will be defeated”.
