Alfabeto Italiano - ENG

A production of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and storielibere.fm, in partnership with cultural association MonteverdeleggeWhat is the fascination of books that start from an image, a drawing, rather than words? How important are comics, manga and graphic novels in the Italian publishing market? What are the characteristics of the increasing number of publishing houses that put “illustrations” at the centre of their production? And how do illustrators and writers engage in dialogue? Leafing through the Alfabeto italiano, the page opens at the letter D, D as in Drawings, a big word, a kind of umbrella term under which many different books can easily be found: picture books for children and adults, comics, manga, graphic novels… It was almost a niche market until around twenty years ago but it is now one of the most important segments in the panorama of Italian publishing.With Massimiliano Clemente (Tunué) and Lorenzo Mattotti

A production of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and storielibere.fm, in partnership with cultural association MonteverdeleggeHow does an extra-small publishing house operate? What are the challenges that the many small and very small Italian publishers have to overcome to get themselves known by readers? And how much do these miniscule firms, which are often based in secluded locations outside the big cities, count in the publishing market? Leafing through the Alfabeto italiano, the pages opens at the letter X, X as in X-small, the abbreviation for the smallest sizes in garments with which we playfully describe the many miniscule publishing houses that characterise and enrich the Italian publishing panorama.With Alberto Casiraghi (Pulcinoelefante) and Silvia La Posta (Moscabianca)

A production of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and storielibere.fm, in partnership with cultural association MonteverdeleggeHow did audio books – sometimes jokingly called “books for ears” - come about? How were they adopted in Italy? And how can their great popularity in recent years be explained? Leafing through the Alfabeto italiano, the page opens at the letter O, O for Orecchie or Ears in English, which we have become accustomed to using not only to listen to conversations around us and the music we like, but also for experiencing a written text in a different way. With Carla Fiorentino (Emons) and Francesco Bono (Audible)

A production of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and storielibere.fm, in partnership with cultural association MonteverdeleggeWhat does "new” mean when we talk about publishing? How long, that is, can a book be described as “new”? And what is the relationship between new books and those on the catalogue in a publisher’s production? But, above all, how important is it for a publishing house to offer innovative, original texts?Leafing through the Alfabeto italiano, the page opens at the letter N, N as in New, a central word in the lexicon of Italian publishing, and of any other country. Just enter any bookshop to see this confirmed: immediately, the attention is captured by books that have a band or a sticker with "New" written on it - a sort of implicit promise to the future reader: If you read me, you will find something that you don’t yet know.With Benedetta Centovalli and Maura Gancitano and Andrea Colamedici (Tlon)

A production of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and storielibere.fm, in partnership with cultural association MonteverdeleggeWho are the readers that come under the editorial definition “young adults”? What do teens want to read in that most complicated period of life, adolescence? And how has this segment of Italian publishing changed in recent times? Leafing through the Alfabeto italiano, the page opens at the letter Y, Y for Young Adults, an English term frequently used in the publishing field to describe book production intended specifically for adolescents, texts centred on heroines and heroes struggling with their anxieties. Or adventures set in distant galaxies, at the centre of which a young girl or boy is ready to take on the monsters, fight them and rout them.With Mariagrazia Mazzitelli (Salani) and Nicola Galli Laforest (Hamelin - Xanadù)