The 5th edition of the local summer publishing exhibition "A river of books in piazza Cavallotti", organized by Libreria Erasmus and Carmignani publisher and promoted by independent publishing houses in the province of Pisa, with the sponsorship of the Municipality of Pisa and Confcommercio Pisa, is back this year to animate piazza Cavallotti in the historic center of Pisa from Monday 30 June to Monday 21 July (every Monday, Wednesday and Friday) from 9.15 to 11 p.m.
10 evening meetings, one for each Pisan publishing house, to give space to the literary production of the territory. On editorial novelties of fiction and non-fiction published in recent months by the publishing houses of Pisa, authors and readers of our city will find a common meeting point in the square. The participating publishing houses in the province of Pisa are Astarte Edizioni, BFS edizioni, Carmignani Editrice, Edizioni ETS, Felici Editore, Marchetti Editore, MdS Editore, Pacini Editore, Pisa University press, Tagete edizioni. As already in other past editions the book presentations will take place in the center of the square, The local publishing review "A river of books" is at its fifth edition, after the participation successes that have steadily increased over the years.
- Monday 30 June
"M" as a mother. Letters from women to their mothers (2025) AA.VV.
Presented by Maria Rosa Ceragioli and Micol Carmignani (editor). Authors.
Carmignani Editrice
Synopsis. The words that emerge from letters written by daughters to mothers reveal the great effort and great commitment that growth entails, a cognitive path that puts all to the test, big and small. Let us see what it means to stand side by side, mothers and daughters, and observe how this process together can be crossed by guilt, attributed to one or the other, but also by deep moments of pacification, of forgiveness. There are gratifications and unresolved anger in the exchange with our mothers. Thus emerges the relationship between two generations of women united and separated in the same time, which is not the same.
- Wednesday 2 July
You will find bottle bottoms in my eyes (June 2025) poems by Massimiliano Antonucci
The author talks with Alessandro Scarpellini and Giulia Raffaelli.
Readings by Genny Sollazzi
Felici Editore
Synopsis. The collection of poems raises the question of the search for a possible passage to salvation. According to the author "poetry is the language of those who live the feelings of a real personal faith established by an interest in freedom. In fact, a wall of thoughts is the barrier imposed on the flow of feelings and emotions more authentic, but we can approach the powers that are hidden between the folds of the soul by experiencing the typical possibilities of feeling, discovering deeper parts of a new humanity
- Friday 4 July
Magic in the library. Stories from the Hereafter (October 2024) by Guya Vichi and Samuele Socci
The authors dialogue with Michele Quirici (publisher)
Tagete Editions
Synopsis. We all want to know what is beyond that "open door" that we will open at the end of life. We would all like to be able to cross it, even for a very short time, to meet our loved ones or get to know the magnificent masters who have populated the complicated planet called Earth. If in reality this journey is considered impossible, in literature it becomes accessible and the authors, this time, give us extraordinary "timeless interviews" made in a magical place: a library, an environment that preserves stories and generates them. The book features extraordinary interviews with such figures as Merlin the Magician, Jung, Mozart, Seneca, Leonardo da Vinci and many others.
- Monday 7 July
Gaza syndrome (April 2025) by Maria Grazia Gagliardi
The author talks with Federico Oliveri and Anita Paolicchi (publisher)
Astarte Edizioni
Synopsis. Amelius inhabits the world through numbers and statistics, in a cynical and dissolute routine. In the meeting with Elena he will find the key to face his traumas, recovering hope in the future and desire for justice. In parallel to their story, and closely interwoven with it, the days of Operation Molten Lead, conducted by Israel against Gaza, from 27 December 2008 to 19 January 2009.
- Wednesday 9 July
Riordanze pisane. ways of saying, words, customs, characters: living memories of a city that no longer exists (October 2024) by Brunello Passaponti.
The author talks with Renzo Castelli. Readings by Dante Bonamici
Ets Edizioni
Synopsis. Through the repetition of words, sayings, moments, situations, characters, trades, customs, ways of being and images of the time, this book aims to revive a Pisa today practically disappeared, that of the childhood and youth of the author, which has its roots in the last century. A city that, reemerging to memory, can arouse an invigorating, benign nostalgia in the Pisans of that generation
- Friday 11 July
In your place I don’t know how to stand. Of crimes and punishments according to Fabrizio De Andrè (June 2025) by Fabrizio Bartelloni
The author talks with Laura Antonelli, Athos Bigongiali and Massimo Monacci
Pacini Publisher
Synopsis. The essay follows the paths taken by Fabrizio De André in addressing the themes of law, justice and punishment. Through a thorough research and in-depth work on his songbook, but also retracing his life and the many occasions when he demonstrated that there were no degrees of separation between the way he lived and what he entrusted to his songs, the author, criminal lawyer and honorary magistrate but also a lover and enthusiast of the Italian author’s song, thus returns to the reader, in addition to the poetry of the lyrics of Andrea, also the acuity and lucidity with which the Ligurian minstrel has been able to investigate and decipher the complex dialectic between the human being and criminal justice much better than many «men and women of court».
- Monday 14 July
Vita fronte retro (April 2025) by Maurizio Gazzarri
The author talks with Silvia Panichi
Mds Editore
Synopsis. Twenty-four, like the hours of a day. How many people cross each other over the course of a day, in night dreams, at work, in homes, on the street? A collection of stories with many heads and with many queues between real cities and imaginary places, existing people and invented characters, lived experiences and flights pindarici, hot loves and cold deaths, individuals to avoid and others to embrace. An assortment of styles and subjects with a common thread: humanity seen in skew. We are told of madness, poverty, men and women who touch us, writing on the walls, vegetable soup, painful goodbyes, harvest and cutting, cats, typewriters, wickedness and tenderness. Of life, reverse.
- Wednesday 16 July
Diary 31 August 1943 - 1 January 1945 (April 2025) by Beatrice Giglioli
The curator Stefano Gallo talks with Caterina Di Pasquale and MassimilianoBacchiett
BFS Edizioni
Synopsis. After 80 years of the events narrated, it is surprising how lively and rich this diary is, written during the tragic months of war that affected the territory of Pisa. The protagonists are Beatrice Giglioli, her sister Irene and a large group of people who found refuge in the Villa delle sorelle, in the eastern area of the outskirts of Pisa. They are pages of daily drama, where the author and the small community gathered around, try to survive and, at the same time, to oppose evil and violence by helping each other, not to lose, as well as life, also self-respect. The Diary is accompanied by the memoirs of Antonio Ricci, custodian of the papers of the Giglioli family and living witness to the events, and is complemented by a substantial critical, documentary and informative apparatus. An unpublished document, which opens a new window of investigation on the history that the city of Pisa lived between the summer of 1943 and the first months of 1945.
- Friday 18 July
Amorese erranze (July 2025) poems by Cristina Lastri
The author talks with Daniele Luti, Guido Martinelli and Fabrizio Felici (publisher)
Readings by Rosanna Valentina Lo Bello
Felici Editore
Synopsis. In an attempt to draw a definition of love, the author immerses herself in a wandering path, relying on emotions and music. Like Che cos'è l'amore of Vinicio Capossela, the silloge aspires to transmit varied feelings and sensations, sometimes conflicting: from bitterness, disenchantment and pain in the first section; to anger, rebirth and irony in the second; to the opening and sensuality in the third and last part. Le Amorose erranze resonate as the verse description of something mysterious and elusive, a mixture of passion and suffering sometimes defeated and a certain dignity even in failure.
- Monday 21 July
Roman Pisa. Le domus di piazza Andrea Del Sarto (February 2025) by Fabio Fabiani
The author talks with Stefano Genovesi
Pisa University Press
Synopsis. In Piazza Andrea del Sarto in Pisa, outside the medieval walls that close the famous Piazza dei Miracoli, where the countryside extended until the nineteenth century, are the remains of a residential district of Roman age, with domus equipped with fine decorative appliances, completely similar to those under the lawn of Piazza del Duomo. Both formed the vast western sector of the city. The discovery, made by the Department of Civilization and Forms of Knowledge of the University of Pisa in the context of research related to the "Pisa Suburb Project", now enriches the knowledge about the ancient city, allowing us to reflect on the significant changes that its form has undergone over time.
