Gatteo Lectures

A series of author lectures in Romagna

The Gatteo Lectures were created to bring a simple yet demanding format to the small town of Gatteo, in the province of Forlì-Cesena: the author lecture. No grand festival stage, but a series of evenings where an author, poet, or communicator guides the audience through a theme, a book, a language. The series is promoted by the Municipality of Gatteo together with the G. Ceccarelli Municipal Library, which is also its main venue, and over the years has carved out a permanent place in the cultural calendar of Emilia-Romagna.

The edition dedicated to poetry

The most recent offering of the Gatteo Lectures revolves entirely around poetry, explored from different perspectives: the dialectal tradition of Romagna, contemporary writing, the relationship between verse and voice, and irony. Four events spread from January to April form a journey that alternates high language and everyday language, classics and new voices.

• A journey into the classics of Santarcangelo dialect poetry, with a multi-voice dialogue around a "paradoxical language".
• The writing of a contemporary poet and performer, between her own texts and verses by other authors.
• An evening dedicated to irony in poetry, where verses know how to laugh at themselves.
• The closing event entrusted to a beloved narrator and communicator, with a spoken word performance that intertwines poetry and storytelling.

Where and How

Most of the meetings take place at the G. Ceccarelli Municipal Library, on Via Roma in Gatteo, while the final event sometimes moves to other spaces in the town, such as the Oratorio San Rocco, to accommodate a larger audience. The evenings usually start at 9:00 PM and admission is free: given the limited capacity of the hall, booking is highly recommended.

Why it's Worth It

The Gatteo Lectures are an example of local culture: not a spectacular event, but an opportunity to listen attentively, in an intimate setting, to authors who elsewhere appear on major stages. For those visiting the Romagna Riviera and the Rubicone villages, it's a different way to spend an evening, away from beach tourism and close to the cultural identity of the territory. The quality of the program and the free admission make it an event suitable for both poetry enthusiasts and the simply curious.