Second Edition of the Literary Festival
“Il Dio di Mio Padre” dedicated to John Fante

Summary by Giovanna Di Lello (Artistic Director)

This year also, there was a Literary Festival, “Il Dio di Mio Padre”, dedicated to John Fante, held at the foot of the Maiella, in the enchanting scenery of the Sangro-Aventino Valley. He gave a “mythical” element to Torricella Peligna, the place of origin of Nick Fante, the Italo-American author’s father, making it a protagonist of this summer’s culture in Abruzzo, together with the other villages which took part in the project. 

The Festival was held from 22^nd to 26^th August 2007, in other localities too, such as Palena with its beautiful “Theatre of the Aventino” (the smallest in Abruzzo), Casoli with its delightful Church of Santa Reparta, and the Serranella Nature Reserve, where, between the Aventino and the Sangro, our public could enjoy the unblemished green landscape and scenery.  

This Festival, even though only in its Second Edition, proved to be a cultural appointment eagerly awaited by an international public, and the media followed it with close attention.

Readers of all generations and from all geographic regions love John Fante, cult author, hero of Bukowski^[1] and of many other artists. There was an interested, actively participating audience for each section of the Festival, consisting amongst others of many cultural workaholics, present at the meetings from four in the afternoon until late in the evening. It was not by chance that the prestigious Radio 3 programme “Fahrenheit”, spoke about us.

Maybe his father Nick and his grandmother Bettina help, glad that in their little village of origin their famous descendent is celebrated with much goodwill and success. Maybe there are other reasons. What is certain is that the Festival is favoured by fate. Also because there are always important guests present.

From the First Edition, there were many personalities contributing to the launching of our Festival. How can we forget the participation in 2006 of the “minotaur”, Vinicio Capossela, one of the most well-appreciated singer-songwriters of the latest generation, loved by the young and courted by the sternest critics, whose passion for Fante is contained in the verse L’accolita dei rancorosi (The Follower of the Resentful), in his album Il ballo di San Vito (San Vito’s Dance), where the “compari” (Godfathers) from La confraternita dell’uva (The Brotherhood of the Grape) wend their way. In addition, there was Paolo Virzì, Director of Ovosodo (Hard-boiled Egg), a film that owes much to the saga of Bandini, or Francesco Durante, a great scholar of Italo-American literature, translator of Fante, to whom we can surely attribute his rediscovery in the Nineties in Italy.

The names on the banner for 2007 are of no lesser an importance.

Victoria Cohen Fante, daughter of John and Joyce, like last year, was the outstanding godmother of the Festival. With her presence, she gave an authority to the conference that only the Fante family can give.

 In this year’s Edition, to animate the works of the writer, called “the most damned in America” by Bukowski, there was the Neapolitan singer, Raiz, who greatly esteems Fante, and the historic voices of the Almamegretta, an underground group amongst the most innovative on the Italian scene. In his beautiful musical reading, Raiz lowered himself into Bandini’s clothes. As a finale, he sang Wop, a track from his penultimate album as a soloist, which takes its title from the derogatory term that used to be given to Italians in the United States (in all probability it derives from “without passport” or “guappo”^[*]); he parallels the vicissitudes of migration of our people with those of immigrants in search of a fortune in our country. As he explained to the public during the afternoon session, it is precisely that migratory soul of Fante that fascinates Raiz.  (Also read Raiz of Almamegretta tells about his relationship with the writer Fante, living without a passport by Jolanda Ferrara in the newspaper Il Centro, 28 August 07.)

Another aspect of Fante’s writings was displayed by another exceptional guest, Andrea Brambilla, whose name as an actor is Zuzzuro (do you remember the comic duo on television, Gaspare and Zuzzuro of Drive In fame?) His monologue, which takes its title from the novel of the same name,  My Stupid Dog, enabled us to rediscover a very amusing, though rather bitter, late work of Fante’s, in which a bewildered author, obliged to be a scriptwriter in a Hollywood now dedicated entirely to television products, is struggling with his family that is breaking up and a dog with which he identifies himself.

A packed out meeting, led by the Faculty of Languages and Foreign Literature of the “G. D’Annunzio” University of Pescara, developed a further theme related to John Fante’s works. Professor Francesco Marrone, curator of the eagerly awaited meeting, a lecturer on English Literature, spoke of the paradigm of hunger/starvation in Fante’s works and of his teacher, Knut Hamsun^[2]. Professor Andrea Mariani, teacher of Anglo-American Literature, concentrated on a very modern theme, of great scientific interest: American Narrative in a Trans-national Perspective. The other talks also, given by some researchers from the Faculty, were greatly appreciated by the public: Massimo Verzella and his talk on Around a Table: The Ritual Meal and the not Ritual Meal in John Fante, Valentina Polcini with Priests, Altar-boys and Madonnas: John Fante and Catholicism and finally Wendy Columbo with Autobiographic Tale and Nostalgia of Being in John Fante.

There were also other events dedicated to the Italo-American Author: the presentation of a special Issue on John Fante by the prestigious Italian Journal “Quaderni del ‘900” (Notebooks of the 1900’s), edited by Teresa Fiore, Teacher at California State University in Long Beach; and the projection of the video of the film “Il re di Poggioreale” (The King of Poggioreale), dramatised by John Fante, Jerry Mangione and Vittoriano Petrilli at the end of the 1950’s, a period during which Fante returned many times to Italy thanks also to his artistic association with Dino De Laurentiis^[3]

One of the sections of the Festival was dedicated to Italo-Canadian Literature in the English Language. Canada, as we recall, was the destination of many Italian emigrants, especially from Abruzzo.  In fact, the largest community of Abruzzans outside the region live in Toronto.

In this section, we wanted to invite two of the most important English-speaking Italo-Canadian artists, and both accepted our invitation.  The first was Mary di Michele, a prestigious poet of Abruzzan origin.  In the past year she has published a novel inspired by the life of the Tenor, Enrico Caruso, translated in Italy with the title Canto d’amore (Song of Love) by Marlin Publishing. The other Canadian writer was Nino Ricci, who originates from Molise and whose works have been translated all over the world with great success, some of which formed the basis for the film La terra del ritorno (The land of the Return) with Sophia Loren and Sabrina Ferilli.

Along the Canadian route we inserted the experience of Luigi Monteferrante, another English language writer, whose works have been published in Italy for some years ago.  He gave a musical reading called Dago Red, a name familiar to many Fante fans, accompanied by the “Autochthonous” (native of this region) Blues Group. This term is not only the title of a collection of tales by Fante, but it also refers to a disparaging term used for Italians in the United States. The musical group consisted of Nicola Palanza, Marco Pellegrini and Giuseppe Mascitelli, all from Abruzzo.

In the section on “Foreign Italians”, there were another two very interesting meetings: the conference-show of Luca Scarlini, Florentine scholar and playwright, who spoke about Gabriele D’Annunzio’s success in the United States, Il Vate a Little Italy (The Poet in Little Italy); and the section dedicated to Sacco and Vanzetti, eighty years after they died, with the projection of an unedited documentary by Peter Miller accompanied by a presentation of the leaflet “Davanti alla sedia elettrica” (Facing the Electric Chair) written by John Dos Passos, in defence of these two Italo-Americans who were condemned to death without a proper trial. Speaking in remembrance of them, because over the years they have become emblematic of discrimination against Italian emigrants, were the Editor, Giovanni Lamanna and Professor Alain Goussot.  (Also read Sacco and Vanzetti in Torricella Peligna by Giovanni Lamanna.)

Along the same lines was the theme of the musical reading “Il mangianastri di Frank Bastone” (Frank Bastone’s Cassette Player) given by the Calabrian singer-songwriter, Peppe Voltarelli, historic voice of the group “Il parto delle nuvole pesanti” (The Birth of the Heavy Clouds). In this musical journey, Voltarelli told us about his meetings with Italian communities abroad, and offered up some of the songs most loved by emigrants, from Modugno^[4] to Celentano^[5], and including the melodies of Tony Vilar, an Italo-Argentinian. To complete this were tracks from his album as a soloist, Distratto ma però (Distracted But However), amongst which was the very beautiful Italiani Superstar.

One of the objectives of the Festival was also to evaluate recently published Italian Literature. To this end, our Festival sets out to be capable of hosting writers of a National level.

The presence of Wu Ming^[6] was significant; an important Bolognese collective amongst the most followed in Italy. They presented their latest novel in Torricella, Manituania, edited by Einaudi, to a crowded and enthusiastic audience. At the meeting with Wu Ming 3, introduced by the Journalist, Paolo Graziano, Fante’s name was mentioned in the history of America consisting of forgetfulness and minority outcasts.

Giulia Alberico, a much appreciated authoress on the Italian scene, of Abruzzan origin (from San Vito Chietino) and Roman by adoption, in her short story I libri sono timidi (Books are Timid), edited by Filema,  talks about certain summer moments spent in Torricella Peligna for both enjoyment and literature. In numerous readings and “rêveries” (daydreams) of her infancy and youth, the protagonist makes us feel a part of the formative journey, which marked her future life as an intellectual and a lady. Presenting this author were the Regional Councillor Maria Rosaria La Morgia^[7], a professional journalist, and Simona Marino^[8], teacher at the University of Naples as well as editor of the novel.

Another event in which the public participated enthusiastically was the session dedicated to the most successful genre of literature in Italy – crime novels. There was a Round Table entitled Appunti per il prossimo romanzo: Il giallo a Torricella Peligna, (Notes for the next novel: The Crime story in Torricella Peligna), chaired by Franco Farias, a journalist for RAI; Lariano Macchiavelli, one of the masters of Police stories, and the Tuscan, Marco Vichi, one of the most popular “black souls” in Italy, were also present. Playing “at home” instead, was the versatile Bolognese writer, originally from Torricella Peligna, Gianni Materazzo, who chose to present a preview of his latest novel, Album di famiglia (Family Album), actually in Torricella Peligna, which is the setting for some of the novel. Also taking part in the Round Table were young Matteo Bortolotti, author and scriptwriter from Bologna and the gessano (from Gessopalena), Gino Melchiorre, Editor of the magazine Pro Locis.

To present the project of one of the most courageous and innovative series in recent times, the special location of the Oasis of Serranella was chosen, where respect for the environment is shared with reclamation of naturalistic areas. The series “VerdeNero”^[9] (Green Horror Thrillers), edited by Ambiente, was presented by the editor, Michele Vaccari; these novels, written by already famous authors, denounce the wickedness of numerous ecomafias (a sector of the mafia that deals in the trafficking of environmentally hazardous substances) spread throughout our territory.

The very well attended course on Creative Writing, held by the young Pescaran novelist, Alessio Romano, and with special collaboration of Marco Vichi, both of whom are ardent Fante fans, certainly made the Second Edition of the Festival even more highly valued.

As can be seen from this year’s programme, the Literary Festival “Il Dio di mio padre” (My Father’s God) dedicated to John Fante, begins with the works and biography of this author but soon crosses over those boundaries, with a desire to assume with the passing years more of a trans-national and intercultural perspective, with cross-referencing of literature of other Italians, whether from Italy or abroad. The welcoming setting and the interconnection of the Arts are other characteristics that distinguish this Festival from others. 

The commitment of the new Town Hall Administration contributed to the success of the event, in particular the Mayor, Tiziano Teti, and the Assessor for Culture, Carmine Ficca.

Also helping with the organisation of this Second Edition were Giuseppe Di Marino (responsible for logistics and hospitality), Cristiano Crivelli (technical co-ordinator), and Francesca Caraceni (secretary). Ever since the First Edition, the artistic direction has been in my own hands (Giovanna Di Lello).  For further information about the Festival, visit the website www.johnfante.org
	Mayor Tiziano Teti and Giovanna Di Lello