Tenth Edition of Italissimo Festival Celebrated at Paris Embassy

Paris: The Italian Embassy in Paris hosted a gathering to mark the 10th edition of the Italissimo Festival, an event dedicated to Italian literature and culture. Italian Ambassador Emanuela D’Alessandro met with key figures of the festival, including Festival Director Fabio Gambaro and President of the Italian Publishers’ Association, Innocenzo Cipolletta. The meeting also included renowned writers Milena Agus, Viola Ardone, Alessandro Baricco, and others, along with the artist Lorenzo Mattotti, who designed the festival’s manifesto.

According to Ansa News Agency, Italissimo was launched in 2016 and has become a prominent event for promoting Italian literature in France. The festival is held annually in April and offers an opportunity to meet influential Italian authors and discover new voices translated into French. It aims to foster dialogue between literature and other arts, as well as between Italian and French cultures and their publishing industries.

Over the past decade, the festival has hosted more than 300 Italian and French guests and organized 260 events, including meetings, readings, and screenings. It has collaborated with approximately 20 Parisian venues and 30 partners and sponsors, both public and private. Since 2021, the festival also holds an autumn edition in Lyon. Italissimo’s success was further solidified in 2023 when its program was unified with Italy’s participation as a guest of honor at the Paris Book Festival. In 2024, it will receive the ‘Prix de l’Initiative Europ©enne’.

Ambassador D’Alessandro emphasized the festival’s role in enhancing cultural dialogue between Italy and France, highlighting the added value of promoting Italy abroad. She noted that the presence of prominent Italian literary figures in Paris signifies French readers’ appreciation of Italian literary excellence.