CaLibro – Festival of Reading

From October 3 to 5, 2025, Città di Castello hosted the CaLibro Africa Festival, dedicated to the literatures and voices of the African continent and the diaspora. Among the guests were Cameroonian writer Hemley Boum, Senegalese intellectual Elgas, British-Nigerian writer Noo Saro-Wiwa, and French writer Gaëlle Bélem, in dialogue with Italian authors and scholars such as Isabella Dalla Ragione, Chiara Piaggio, Daniele Piccini, and Lara Ricci. The edition paid tribute to the Senegalese writer Abasse Ndione, who passed away in 2024, celebrating his novel 'Spiral Life'.

The venues ranged from the Teatro degli Illuminati to the Carducci Library, from the Sala degli Specchi of Palazzo Bufalini to the Auditorium San Giovanni Decollato, and the Pinacoteca Comunale, confirming the festival's widespread vocation in the heart of Città di Castello.

Friday, October 3

• 9:15 PM — Teatro degli Illuminati: Hemley Boum presents 'The Fisherman's Dream' with Lara Ricci

Saturday, October 4

• 11:00 AM — Carducci Library: Chiara Piaggio, 'Africa is Not Like That'
• 4:00 PM — Libreria Paci La Tifernate: 'Spiral Life', tribute to Abasse Ndione
• 6:00 PM — Sala degli Specchi, Palazzo Bufalini: Noo Saro-Wiwa, 'Returning to Transwonderland' with Daniele Piccini
• 9:15 PM — Sala degli Specchi, Palazzo Bufalini: Gaëlle Bélem, 'The Rarest Fruit' with Isabella Dalla Ragione

Sunday, October 5

• 11:00 AM — Auditorium San Giovanni Decollato: Elgas, 'Black Male' with Giorgia Sallutti
• 3:00 PM — Piazza del Marchese Paolo: Piccoli CaLibri, itinerant workshop on 'Maps for Penguins'
• 5:00 PM — Pinacoteca Comunale: Clan Acustico - Listening Session with Raffaele Costantino (Khalab)