A medieval town with its magnificent historic centre owing many of its monuments to the famous Gonzaga family whose wealth contributed greatly in offering us magnificent piazzas and buildings including the famous Palazzo Te.
Many were the visitors this year invading the streets, courtyards, theatres and marquees, many more than ever, all avid with a thirst for literature in this place of full immersion, in spite of the bad weather and the pouring rain. There was as usual Fahrenheit - a place where writers were interviewed every afternoon thus giving visitors a kaleidoscope of what the Festival had to offer. During these interviews, many subjects were touched, political, religious, racial, humorous, nostalgic and the like. In this way the onlooker was able to form an opinion of the background of each author and the reasons behind his or her writings.
This was the year of the young writers - to win a place among the chosen few - a sort of baptism that would hopefully lead to recognition on the literal planet. Writers from many countries endowed with an original attitude towards everyday life and issues, yet each one having a delightfully original approach. Among the already well known authors, there was Nick Hornby with his unbeatable British sense of humour. Although the writings of Ann Marie Macdonald were far from amusing, her personality was fresh and to the point and had a wonderful way of winning the audience to her point of view. It was however Sandra Cisneros who won the heart of all, was the most appreciated. This tiny innocent-looking young lady wrote in a language that sang its way through stories travelling from Mexico to the United States, enthralling the reader from the first to the last word, barring none.
Among the more serious writers, a mention should be made of a Greek poet Nasos Vaghenàs, whose works even when translated into Italian lost nothing of its poetry. The Palestinian poet Darwish too rewarded us with a present of his highly idealistic poetry touching all our hearts, and many others. To end up on a lighter note, there was Thoko Ngoma, the South African story-teller, who danced the rain song as part of her performance and down it came with a vengeance much to the surprise of the young Zulu lady herself who never imagined how potent her cry for rain was! Arrivederci till next year.
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