Parole di Cura - Narrative Medicine Festival

A festival that makes Ostra the capital of narrative medicine

In the Marche region, amidst the gentle hills of the Valmisa, the small municipality of Ostra (province of Ancona) has carved out a prominent place in the Italian cultural landscape by hosting Parole di Cura - Festival di Medicina Narrativa. The national event is dedicated to a discipline still little known to the general public but increasingly recognized in clinical and academic contexts: narrative medicine, an approach based on the idea that listening to and understanding the subjective experience of illness improves diagnosis, the care relationship, and therapeutic decisions.

Three days of words, listening, and reflection

The festival unfolds over three days packed with events: round tables, book presentations, meetings with authors, readings, and moments of discussion. Writers, doctors, sociologists, and university professors take turns on stage, engaging in a dialogue that intertwines literature, ethics, and clinical practice. The common thread is always the same: words as a tool for care, capable of restoring dignity and meaning to the experience of those going through illness, whether their own or others'.

Symbolic places in the historic center

The meetings take place in two evocative settings in the historic center of Ostra: the Sala delle Lance and the rooms of the former bakery, in the Palazzo dei Conventuali complex, overlooking the intimate Piazzetta Gherardi. The new Multifunctional Hall was inaugurated precisely for the festival, a space intended to become a reference point for the cultural life of the town.

A nationally recognized event

Organized by the Municipality of Ostra in collaboration with the publishing house Ventura Edizioni, Parole di Cura has received prestigious recognition since its inception: the patronage of SiMeN - Società di Medicina Narrativa of Rome, of PaLiNUro - Pazienti Liberi dalle Neoplasie Uroteliali of Milan, and the Andromeda Montefeltro aps Association. A network of entities that testifies to how this festival, born in a small municipality in the Marche region, speaks to a much wider audience than just the local one.

Why it's worth attending

Parole di Cura is not a conference for insiders only: it is designed for anyone touched by the theme of care, from health professionals to family members, from curious readers to those seeking a more human perspective on medicine. In an era where healthcare risks being reduced to numbers and protocols, this festival in the Marche region puts listening, stories, and people back at the center. A young event, but already capable of giving voice to a universal theme.