Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

Milan, October 26 2020 – BookCity Milano today presented its ninth edition, which will take place from 11 to 15 November exclusively in digital format.

“The link between Bookcity and the city of Milan has always been very strong and, paradoxically, in this new extraordinarily online edition it is strengthened thanks to an even broader model, in time and in urban space – declared the councilor for Culture Filippo Del Corno –. Thanks to the 'Reading around' project, not only from 11 to 15 November but throughout the year, Bookcity will promote the sharing of reading in the different neighborhoods of the city, helping to avoid the risk of cultural impoverishment to which this situation can lead if not appropriately manned. Bookcity then joins the city program 'I Talenti delle Donne', connecting to the cultural programming promoted by the Municipality of Milan and thus strengthening the sense of city identity. In fact, the 2020 edition opens with the lectio magistralis by the writer Zadie Smith. Furthermore, the international dimension of the Bookcity programme, since its first editions, has constituted one of the fundamental elements of UNESCO's recognition of Milan as the 'City of Literature', which has projected the relationship model beyond our borders virtuous relationship between the editorial chain and the city community".

The ninth edition of Bookcity Milan will therefore be held from 11 to 15 November, a completely streaming schedule, with national and international personalities, to reflect on highly topical issues, such as the climate-environmental emergency, explored in depth in the meetings dedicated to # terranostra, or gender equality, at the center of the Municipality of Milan project “The talents of women”.

BookCity Milan opens on Wednesday 11 November at 21.30 pm with "Impressions from the Earth", a lectio magistralis by the British writer and essayist Zadie Smith on the role that literature can play in understanding the reality in which we live, between social justice, inclusion, multiculturalism and pandemic. The evolutionary philosopher Telmo Pievani will then dedicate his speech to the #terranostra focus, and, finally LaFil – Filarmonica di Milano, the orchestra that unites young promises and established musicians from the main Italian and international orchestras, will conclude the first day with a musical program that ranges from Ives to Strauss, Debussy and Mahler.

Thursday at BookCity Milano, as per tradition, is dedicated to meetings for schools.
In a difficult year like the one we are experiencing and which has had and continues to have a particularly strong impact on the world of schools, BookCity for Schools becomes more than ever a point of reference for reflection on the great transformations of the scholastic universe and on new teaching models. And it is precisely from this awareness that the “Milanese Lessons” project was born, in collaboration with BookCity University: a series of lessons held by teachers from Milan's universities, designed and dedicated to students of different age groups that the teachers and students can freely use (starting from December 2020, on www.bookcitymilano.it).

Despite the difficulties caused by the pandemic, BookCity wants to be a meeting point for citizens, who are increasingly convinced of the need for a widespread culture capable of reaching the entire urban territory and involving all social groups. And it is precisely with this objective that the BookCity project was born: reading around promoted by the BookCity Milano Association in collaboration with the Municipality of Milan and conceived by the Cariplo Foundation as part of the "Lacittàintorno" program.
The project is aimed at the entire city of Milan and aims to create a reasoned network of the different cultural offers present in the area in order to encourage the meeting and collaboration of all those who see books and culture as indispensable tools for growth and of social emancipation: schools, teachers, educators, publishers, booksellers, librarians and associations that, at any level, promote reading.

BookCity Milano 2020 has not forgotten the audience of children and young people to whom it is aimed with numerous initiatives and proposals from the Civic Libraries of Milan for BCM Young.

BookCity Milano 2020 is, as always, particularly attentive to the social segment of the less fortunate, who in their fragility are often forced into a tiring marginalization and dedicates a series of initiatives to them included in the BCM Social Programme.

Finally, there are numerous opportunities to reflect and discuss, always in streaming, the most varied themes: #architecture, #design, #urban planning, #art, #illustration, #comics, #children, #teens, #food, #cooking, #classics , #Italianclassics, #legality, #justice, #music, #newproposals, #literaturepremiers, #internationalpolitics, #psychology, #philosophy, #entertainment, #cinema, #sport, #history, #travel.

Among the events that enrich the #BCM2020 schedule we remember the celebrations for the 150th anniversary of the Ulrico Hoepli Publishing House; the awarding of the Fernanda Pivano Prize 2020 to Valeria Luiselli, who won with the novel “Archivio dei bambini perduti”; the award ceremony of the finalists of the XXI edition of the Edoardo Kihlgren Opera Prima Città di Milano literary prize; the book-interview with a historical voice of the Ambrosian community and at the same time president of international foundations involved in the field of modernization and innovation with Elio Franzini, Piero Bassetti, Stefano Rolando, Riccardo Fedriga and Luca Sossella; the appointment in memory of Pia Pera “When life is a seed” with Piergaetano Marchetti, Emanuele Trevi, Emanuela Rosa-Clot, Marco Vigevani and Fra Carlo Cavallari.

#BCM2020 will end with an appointment of the #terranostra focus, "Earth, community of destiny"; Edgar Morin, one of the most prestigious intellectuals of our time, who opens the doors of his home to us and from there, thanks to his rich interdisciplinary education, helps us reflect on the world, its complexity and the increasingly pressing need to eliminate every barrier cultural (Sunday 15 November, 20.00 pm).

BookCity 2020 will be celebrated through the Radio 3 project “The radio between the lines” which will dedicate an entire episode to the event: Sunday 15 November at 20.30 pm.

Promoted by the Department of Culture of the Municipality of Milan and the BOOKCITY MILANO Association, made up of the Corriere della Sera Foundation, the Giangiacomo Feltrinelli Foundation, the Umberto and Elisabetta Mauri Foundation and the Arnoldo and Alberto Mondadori Foundation, BOOKCITY MILANO is supported by Intesa Sanpaolo (main partner ), by Esselunga (premium partner), by the Cariplo Foundation and by the Lombardy Region. Also participating are Borsa Italiana, Enel, Pirelli, Burgo Group, Federation of Paper and Graphics, Spazio Lenovo, Fondazione AEM, Intesa Sanpaolo Assicura, Messaggerie Libri SpA, Rotolito, Progetto M360, Action Aid (Charity partner), Bird&Bird. BookCity Milan is created under the auspices of the Center for Books and Reading, in collaboration with AIE (Italian Publishers Association), ALI (Italian Booksellers Association), AIB (Italian Libraries Association), and LIM (Independent Bookshops Milan). The following are media partners of the 2020 edition of BOOKCITY MILANO: Corriere della Sera, Gruppo Mondadori, RAI Radio3, Feltrinelli, ibs.it, ilLibraio.it.

Program and live streaming on the site www.bookcitymilano.it