Week Of Italian Language
The Mondadori, Italy’s largest publishing group, has a history, as is the case for almost all large industries, closely linked to the life of one man, in this case the “boy printer” Arnoldo Mondadori who in 1907, when he was still very young, began his career as a publisher in Ostiglia, a small village in the Lombardy countryside. The expansion of Mondadori coincided with the growth of the Italian nation. From the first book series, La Lampada, which was created by Arnoldo Mondadori with the intention of spreading a love for literature among the young people of the rural, illiterate Italy of the turn of the century, to the subsequent Classici Italiani, Classici Contemporanei Italiani, Medusa and Lo Specchio, cornerstones of twentieth-century Italian culture, from the successful plans to launch the great illustrated magazines, the first Italian book club, to the first low-priced paperback books, Mondadori has developed the idea of a “publishing house” for all Italians and has continuously expanded the boundaries of literature. It can thus be seen that the main stages in the historical development of Mondadori often coincide with the development of Italian publishing.
Antonio Riccardi (Mondadori Editore) will talk about past and present of the publishing house
Mariarosa Bricchi (Fondazione Alberto e Arnoldo Mondadori) will introduce the project booksinitaly.it, the first platform dedicated to the promotion of Italy’s publishing, language and culture around the world.
In collaboration with Arnoldo Mondadori Editore and Fondazione Arnoldo e Alberto Mondadori.
Antonio Riccardi was born in Parma in 1962. He lives in Sesto San Giovanni, near Milan. He is the current Literary Editor of the publishing house Arnoldo Mondadori. Himself a poet, has issued several poetry book in Italian, among them Il profitto domestico (Mondadori 1996), Gli impianti del dovere e della guerra (Garzanti 2004) e Aquarama e altre poesie d’amore (Garzanti 2009). He has recently published also the critical essay Cosmo più servizi. Divagazioni su artisti, diorami, cimiteri e vecchie zie rimaste signorine (Sellerio).
Mariarosa Bricchi has been chief editor of the publishing house Bruno Mondadori, Pearson Italia, and currently is executive director of Calabuig, a new imprint of international literary fiction.
She has held teching positions at various universities in Italy (Milan, Pisa, Reggio Emilia, Pavia) and in the US (Columbia University).
She has published extensively in the fields of Italian literature and the history of the Italian language. Among her books, there are Manganelli e la menzogna. Notizie su Hilarotragoedia (2002), La roca trombazza. Lessico arcaico e letterario nella prosa narrativa dell’Ottocento italiano (2000), and Due partigiani, due primavere.. Un percorso fenogliano (1988).