Piazza Letteraria – Catania Reads

A book festival in the heart of Catania

Piazza Letteraria – Catania Reads is an independent urban festival that brings reading back into public spaces, transforming Piazza Scammacca, in the historic center of Catania, into a large open-air living room filled with books, words, and conversation. Promoted by the cultural project Effetto Etneo with the patronage of the Municipality of Catania, the event offers a full day of free activities open to the city, designed to make reading a collective, accessible, and participatory experience.

The thematic islands

The heart of the festival lies in its structure of thematic islands: distinct yet connected spaces that allow the public to freely choose where to stop and what to experience.

• Writers' Island: informal meetings with authors, where the public can ask questions, seek writing advice, and discover creative paths.
• Publishers' Island: dedicated to independent publishing, featuring a space for dialogue between publishers and readers, and a closing talk on catalogs and communities.
• Writing Island: practical workshops, ranging from black-out poetry techniques to bullet journaling.
• Readers' Island: read-aloud sessions, literary performances, and presentations of independent magazines and publications.
• Children's Island: activities for the little ones, including yoga, sensory exploration, and creative workshops.

A shared experience

Beyond the meetings, the day offers moments much loved by the public, such as the book swap party (bring a book, take a book), a bookstore space curated by the historic Legatoria Prampolini, and solidarity initiatives linked to charity book sales. The square thus becomes a place of exchange and community, where reading is not a solitary act but an opportunity to connect.

Catania and its cultural scene

Piazza Letteraria is part of the vibrant cultural season of Catania and Sicily, a city that has seen a surge in projects dedicated to books and independent publishing in recent years. Piazza Scammacca, a former industrial area now reclaimed, is one of the city's iconic urban regeneration sites and regularly hosts events, concerts, and cultural initiatives. For one day, this space becomes the ideal meeting point for readers of all ages, in the informal and welcoming atmosphere typical of Catania.