“Festival of Despair”, the complete program until 16 June 2024

Saturday 8 June the eighth edition of the. continues with a rich second day of events in Andria Festival of Despairorganized on the theme “As you do you make mistakes” from the Circolo dei Lettori of Andria with the artistic direction of Gigi Brandonisio. At 9:00 in the Harvest Garden (entry 5 euros) we start with “Cultivating illusions. Changing the world with a groove“, a planting and weeding workshop between the furrows organized by the writer Barbara Bernardiniwhich will take audiences into the world of agriculture to imagine new paths for humanity.

At 6.00 pm we return to the Episcopal Seminarymain venue of the Festival, with Dangerous Crossroads, a psychedelic dialogue between writers Paolo Pecereauthor of the essay “The sense of nature. Seven paths to the Earth” (Sellerio), Andrea Pivawho recently published his latest novel “The Eternal Girl” (Bompiani), and Nicola Lagioia. A journey that starts from the Eleusinian mysteries up to the encounter with other animal intelligences.

At 7.00 pm with “Disobedience” the writer and professor of philosophy Federico Zuolo will explore the new forms of protest and rebellion emerging in the contemporary panorama. At 8.15pm (entrance 5 euros) will return to the stage Nicola Lagioia with “Soon I will know who I am”, a praise of literature celebrating its transformative power and exploring the vital role that works play in the modern context with their ability to shape our internal and external world. At 9.30pm (entry 8 euros) the writer and comedian Claudio Morici will entertain the public with “The Oyster’s Disease. Pearls of crazy writers who save your life”, a unique look at the life and works of “crazy” authors and the impact they have had on our existence.

Until Sunday 16 June (info and program on festivaldelladisperazione.it) the Festival will propose over 40 appointments between talks, meetings, conferences and shows. The festival will focus on errors in all its forms and contradictions, starting from those we make in our daily lives up to current social and political events. The only cultural event in our country that celebrates the transformative and catastrophic power of desperation (the literary feeling par excellence) in literature and modern life, this year too the festival will bring to the Apulian town writers, actors, journalists, musicians And artists. With a lot humorbut without failing to seriousnessthere are many protagonists who will meet in the Episcopal Seminary, thanks to the support of Saint Thomas Aquinas Diocesan Libraryof theArchconfraternity of the Immaculate Conception and gods Principals of the Book and collaboration with partners Cristal Palace Hotel And Collective 32. THE PROGRAM:

– Sunday 9 June the evening will open at 6pm with Unfinished score of absence with the speech therapist and writer Mariagrazia Fiore and the illustrator and graphic designer Nadiagelsomina to investigate the common process of recovering and healing after a time of profound suffering. At 7pm the sociologist and essayist Francesca Coin and the journalist and writer Niccolo Zancan with “Sample of disappointments” a reflection on the world of work and human vulnerability. At 8.15pm (entry 8 euros) then the writer and comedian Claudio Morici with “Editorial suicides“, a provocative and entertaining analysis of the production mechanisms and creative dynamics in the publishing world. At 9.30pm (entry 8 euros) the narrator, author-actor, writer, poet and popularizer Roberto Mercadini will propose a journey between existentialism and transformation through the pages of Moby Dick, Herman Melville’s masterpiece.

– Monday 10 June In the Episcopal Seminary we will start again to 7:00 pm with “Nostalgia vs Reputation“, a somewhat daring comparison between Anna Voltaggio (press officer specialized in the cultural sector and author of the debut novel “The nostalgia that we will have of us”, published by Neri Pozza) and Ilaria Gaspari (philosopher, writer who recently wrote “La reputation” for Guanda). At 8.15pm (entry 5 euros) continues with “What is the opposite of Despair?” with the theologian Vito Mancusoa meeting on the meaning of hope and the search for meaning in human life. At 9.30pm (entry 8 euros) the fourth evening will end with “Stories for the end of the world. The end is coming” of the writer, actor, comedian and director Massimiliano Loizzi (known face of the Third Secret of Satire) who, in a journey between comedy and tragedy, will move between the challenges and contradictions of today’s life, offering a provocative and engaging vision of contemporary society.

– Tuesday 11 June In the Episcopal Seminary from 7pm (entry 5 euros) the writer and journalist Antonio Pascale with “Oasis of Pessimism” will illustrate the consolatory power of pessimism through a symbolic garden where each plant represents a human theme and is associated with a writer or thinker who explored it. At 8.15pm (entry 5 euros) with “Two hearts and a recherche” the philosopher and writer Ilaria Gaspari and the professor and essayist Guido Vitielloa couple in life and for the first time also on stage, tell together, between the serious and the facetious, “their” Proust: through a careful and passionate analysis the two will offer a unique perspective on the power of narration and its capacity to shape our relationship with time and memory. At 9.30pm (entry 8 euros) the journalist, reporter and writer Saverio Tommasi with his show “Powder fire. Stories of kind revolutionaries who tell us that the world can still be changed“. A unique narrative: pieces whose highest value is that of the knot, of the plot, in which however no story is safe from certainties.

– Wednesday 12 June at 7:00 pm appointment with “The spectacle of evil” by the philosopher Lucrezia Ercoli to reflect on the concept of evil and its representation. At 8.15pm (entry 5 euros) we continue with the writer Ermanno Cavazzoni which will offer an intriguing “Manual for the next life“, an eccentric guide towards possible alternative futures. At 9.30pm (entrance 13 euros), with “A little something like this – It’s not a concert. It’s not a theatrical show. It’s not a monologue“, Ghemon will bring to the stage a mix of music, stand-up comedy and storytelling made of sharing, personal stories, unreleased songs, unexpected covers and moments of deeper reflection. The show, also written with the help of Carmine Del Grosso, will see Giuseppe Seccia on stage on keyboards and Filippo Cattaneo Ponzoni on guitar.

– Thursday 13 June at 7pm women on the brink of a climate crisis Sara Segantin And Alice Franchi they will tell “The right to R-Exist“. At 8.15pm (entry 5 euros) Writer Mauro Covacich will face a melee with a giant of literature, James Joyce, whose world work, Ulysses, celebrated the hundredth anniversary of its first complete edition in 2022. At 9.30pm (entry 8 euros) the actor, author, comedian and theater scholar Andrea Cosentino (Special Ubu Award 2018) with “Rimbambimenti – a senescent ted talk in punk style” will give a unique performance challenging our conceptions of time and matter.

– Friday 14 June double session to 7:00 pm with “The meaning of work for female workers of both sexes” by the journalist Irene Soave And “Revenge of the Orcas” by the science journalist Roberto Inchingolo with Sara Segantin. At 8.15pm (entry 5 euros) after the one dedicated to Joyce, Mauro Covacich will propose a monologue inspired by the life and works of Franz Kafka. At 9.30pm (entry 8 euros) the actor Mauro Pescio with his show “It’s not a hero’s story“. Taken from “Io ero il Milanese”, Rai Play Sound podcast, it is the story of a man who has made many wrong choices in life, a man with whom bad luck has become fierce, a man who has reached rock bottom, but who from that bottom he rose again.

– Saturday 15 June at 5pm the writer Chiara Tagliaferri with Feminisms and Patriarchy will remember Michela Murgia. At 6pm double date with “Toxic Loves” of the psychoanalyst and clinical psychologist Laura Pigozzi And “Ouch! Evil said. What do we call pain” by the presenter and researcher Roberta Fulci. At 7.15pm L’Pocket Apocalypse Of Niccolò Fettarappa And Lorenzo Guerrieria one-act heroic comedy with a theological extravaganza, will deal with the end of the world seen from various perspectives, before attending the match together Italy – Albaniadebut of the Azzurri in the European Football Championships.

– Sunday 16 June the final day will begin to 11:00 with the “Natural history of crying” Of Roberto Inchingolo. At 6pm the evening will start with “And they lived happily ever after” the geneticist Edoardo Boncinelli and the philosopher Marco Furio Ferrario instead they will talk about the natural history of discontentexploring the biological and cultural roots of this feeling through history, science and art, with the aim of accepting it as part of human life. At 7pm double date with “The post-romantics” Of Carolina Bandinelli And “Stories of memorable mistakes” dthe Piero Martins. At 8.15pm the sociolinguist Vera Gheno with “Grammancers“, a monologue on the possibility of loving words taken from his recent volume published by Einaudi. At 9.30pm the eighth edition of Festival of Despair will end with “The shootout – Single act without serious injuries unfortunately” Of Niccolò Fettarappa And Lorenzo Guerrieri. An acute, subtle and bitter reflection by a young man on the death of the Left and on the quiet submissiveness of his generation, now imperturbable to social and cultural abuses.
Info, tickets and program: www.festivaldelladisperazione.it The Festival secretariat in via Largo Seminario 18 in Andria is open every day from 9.30am to 12.30pm and from 4.30pm to 8.30pm.