The summer festival "A River of Books in Piazza Cavallotti" kicks off, organized by Libreria Erasmus in collaboration with Carmignani Editrice and promoted by independent publishing houses in the province of Pisa. Now in its sixth edition, it will once again be held this year in Piazza Cavallotti in Pisa, from July 6th to 29th, in collaboration with Confcommercio Pisa and under the patronage of the Municipality of Pisa.

Over the course of three and a half weeks (every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday), to make room for local literary production, this year too, nine publishing houses in the Pisa area will present a series of open-air evening meetings in which they will present some of the best publications of the last year, most of which will be first presentations in the city. Many themes and genres are proposed: as in previous editions, the range is from historical non-fiction to fiction, but, a first for this edition, two presentations of important art books are proposed, also with a screening of quality photography.

The first week will be dedicated to the historical memory of eighty years ago: a book by Saulle Panizza "At the vote of June 2, 1946. The voice of women, the choice of a country" will open the series which will continue, at the second evening appointment with "Pisa 1945. "A City That Is Reborn" by Renzo Castelli and the third with the historical fiction book "I partigiani della Nevilio Casarosa" by Alberto Martini. The large volume "CNR Pisa" just published will be a further proposal of the first week. These will be thirteen editorial innovations that will allow us to find a common meeting point between authors and readers of our city in Piazza Cavallotti. One of the new features of this edition will be that in addition to the eleven evening presentations on the first two Fridays of the festival, two more presentations will also take place in the late afternoon.

The participating publishing houses in the province of Pisa are: Astarte Edizioni, BFS edizioni, Carmignani Editrice, Edizioni ETS, Felici Editore, Marchetti Editore, Pacini Editore, Pisa University Press, Tagete Edizioni.

 

The program

• Monday, July 6

9.15pm At the vote on 2 June 1946. Women's Voices, Choosing a Country (June 2026) by Saulle Panizza

The author talks with Maria Rosaria Tinè (University of Pisa)

Pisa University Press

In Italy, it was the years 1945-1946 that sanctioned the extension of the vote to women, first as the right to vote, then also as the right to be elected. The election of some of them to municipal councils and to mayors, and even more than the 21 constituent Mothers, marked a turning point in the public and institutional life of the country.  Eighty years later, in a context marked by abstentionism, gender balance, both in political representation and in the socio-economic dimension, is still far from being achieved.

• Wednesday, July 8

9.15 pm Pisa 1945. A City That Is Reborn (October 2025) by Renzo Castelli

The author talks with Manrico Ferrucci

Ets Editions

During his long career as a writer, Renzo Castelli dedicated numerous books to his city, focusing on particular moments of the twentieth century. Today the author continues this research with a book that focuses on the life of Pisa 80 years ago, the first year after the end of the war, without neglecting particular aspects such as the phenomenon of the purge resulting from the consensus that had accompanied fascism.

• Friday, July 10

6:45 PM Cnr Pisa by Domenico Laforenza

Curator and publisher Francesca Pacini will speak

Pacini Editore

Twenty-five years of research, discovery, and innovation through the stories of those who work every day to better understand the world and improve people's lives. The volume opens the doors of laboratories normally invisible to the public and shows how science is first and foremost a human adventure of questions, insights, and collaboration. A journey into the heart of contemporary research and the role Pisa continues to play as one of the country's leading scientific centers.

9:15 PM The Partisan of Nevilio Casarosa (May 2026) by Alberto Martini

The author talks with Daniele Luti and Adriana Nannicini

Felici Editore

Giulio, in his early twenties, following the bombing of Pisa on 31 August 1943, joined the Resistance in the Parma-based Nevilio Casarosa formation, which operated in the Pisan Mountains from June until the liberation of Pisa on 2 September 1944. After this date, the protagonist, not considering his task exhausted, enlists in the Freedom Volunteer Corps in the fierce fighting on the Gothic line.

• Monday, July 13

9:15 PM Songs of the Faceless. Melodies of the Revolt (May 2026) by Massimiliano Bacchiet

The author talks with Valeria Della Mea, Duccio Ghelardoni and Stefano Gallo

Bfs Editions

From the barricades of the Paris Commune to the lands of northwestern Tuscany, singing has represented for the lower classes a weapon of resistance and a powerful means of political literacy. A counter-history rooted in the Pisan region, where melody has become an instrument of class struggle and a vehicle for fruitful internationalism. Through the "sound utopias" of the faceless, the book gives voice back to rebellious poets, workers, and the many working women who have challenged authority by drawing strength from a libertarian and cosmopolitan ideal.

 

 

 

• Wednesday, July 15
   

9:15 PM Michelangelo (May 2026) by Acidina Cristina

The author talks with Prof. Pietro Marani and photographer Aurelio Amendola 

Pacini Editore

When he died, it was said that not just one man had died, but four: the sculptor, the painter, the architect and the poet. Through famous works, biographical episodes, and testimonies of his time, this volume recounts the life and genius of Michelangelo Buonarroti, the undisputed protagonist of the Renaissance. The volume is enriched by a prestigious photographic apparatus

• Friday, July 17

6:45 PM Confidence in the Mud (May 2026) by Paolo Fontanelli and Simona Lo Iacono.

The authors and Prof. will speak. Roberto Giannecchini (University of Pisa)

Mds Editore

On June 19, 1996, a catastrophic flood hit Alta Versilia and Garfagnana, sowing death and destruction. Thirty years after that tragedy, we see today an exemplary rebirth, founded on trust in public action and community participation. This book recounts not only the disaster, but also the material and civil and human rebirth: an opportunity to reflect on current issues such as hydrogeological risk and the need for prevention, in an era marked by climate change.  

9:15 PM The Doctor-Patient Report in the Age of Artificial Intelligence (March 2026) by Marco Rossi

The author talks with journalist Candida Virgone. Introduces the publisher Elena Marchetti.

Readings by Giacomo Lemmetti 

Marchetti Editore

Will the entry of artificial intelligence into medicine change the doctor-patient relationship? What scenarios might emerge, and what would be the residual function of the "human doctor" if so-called "generalized" artificial intelligence systems became available in the future? These and other questions are answered in this short essay, which is simple and informative, with the most objective approach possible to the topic.

 

 

• Monday, July 20 
   

9.15pm Comparisons. Art in Tuscany between the 19th and 20th centuries (2026) by Michele Pierleoni (edited by)

The curator talks with Pierluigi Nieri (director of the National Museum of San Matteo)

Pacini Editore

Thirty works, two important Tuscan collections, and a simple yet fascinating idea: comparing art. Through unexpected juxtapositions, dialogues, analogies, and contrasts, the volume takes the reader on a journey through Tuscan art between the 19th and 20th centuries, inviting them to observe the works with a fresh perspective. A journey between famous artists and lesser-known figures, where every confrontation becomes an opportunity for discovery and reflection.

• Wednesday, July 22nd

9:15 PM Brunello's Rooster and Other Stories (April 2026) by Gabriele Santoni

The author talks with Stefano Renzoni, Francesco Bondielli and Duccio Ghelardoni

Felici Editore

A collection of stories ranging from typical stories of the best Tuscan comic-realistic tradition to small, surreal urban tragedies, then flowing into the recesses of an autobiographical memoir steeped in melancholy, saudade, and anger, with glimpses of real life, of missed loves, of political struggles, of lost illusions, of pages that make you smell the closed-mindedness of the Party sections, with debates, also ferocious and tempered in wine glasses and voices that fade, late at night, into the silence of the alleys of a village, Molina di Quosa, the magical wineskin of all these stories.

 

• Friday, July 24

9:15 PM If a Nest Falls (December 2025) by Laura Sordi

The author talks with journalist Ilaria Vallerini. Introduces publisher Anita Paolicchi

Astarte Publisher

When Pietro Romano receives a letter from Rebibbia he immediately understands that the story concerns him. An entrepreneur transplanted to Sicily, Pietro transformed an abandoned salt pan into his reason for living. But the return to Rome, the family from which he has distanced himself and the past that resurfaces undermine the balance built. In an attempt to get the flamingos to rest on his tanks, Peter chases an impossible form of peace. The nests he builds to attract them become the symbol of a deeper need: to belong, to forgive, to return home. A novel about the echo of origins, the bonds that endure, and the inner shocks that bring us back to the truth.

• Monday, July 27

9.15pm Awful loss. Psychiatric Skills and Madness in Shakespeare's Works (May 2026) by Guendalina Perruzza

The author talks with Jessica Paci and publisher Micol Carmignani

 

Carmignani editrice

Hamlet, Lady Macbeth, King Lear... characters that have always struck a chord with our imagination. But what would have become of their immortality if Hamlet had not had night visions and Lady Macbeth had not been gripped by murderous madness? How did Shakespeare so faithfully portray the salient symptoms of mental illness, centuries before the advent of psychiatry? This study delves into the life of the playwright and 16th-century England to investigate whether real people can be identified in Shakespearean plays. To do this, a document dating back to 1598 with the names of patients from a major London asylum: Bethlem Hospital was crucial.

• Wednesday, July 29

9.15pm Pisan Footprints. A Brief History of the City of Pisa (September 2025) by Odoardo Fontani

The author talks with Maddalena Nerini and Giulia De Ieso (La Nazione)

Marchetti Editore

A concise and flowing chronicle of Pisa, rich in anecdotes and curiosities, followed by an appendix with notes on important Pisan figures