Sassari: The "I Go Back, I Look Forward" festival kicks off.

The first session of "I go back, I look forward. Plots, subplots, clandestine stories" begins at the Sassari Municipal Library, a series promoted by the Il Colombre Association. with the municipal administration.   Three days of meetings and creative writing workshops on the urgent and timely issues of the ecological crisis and climate change.

“I go back, I look forward” is   A phrase that expresses a concept of the Swampy Cree First , an indigenous group of Canada, inspired by the porcupine Erethizon dorsatum, which retreats into rock crevices so it can peer out at the danger ahead. "To speculate safely on a habitable future, perhaps we should find a crevice in the rocks and retreat," writes Ursula Kroeber Le Guin , one of the most important science fiction and fantasy authors of the 20th century.

It starts on Tuesday 10 February , at 5 pm, in the conference room of the Sassari Municipal Library, in Piazza Tola:   The event features philosopher and essayist Claudio Kulesko, who will present his book “Ecopessimism. Paths of the Future Anthropocene,” a provocative work that explores ecological collapse through a philosophical and narrative approach. It features short essays, fragments, and narratives that cover recurring themes in contemporary literature (as well as cinema and TV series), such as sylvan and folk horror, technological acceleration, prepperism, survivalism, and an “indifferent” and destructive nature.

February 11 Claudio Kulesko He will meet with high school students. In the afternoon, starting at 5:00 p.m., he will lead a creative writing workshop at the Sassari Youth Center in Piazza Santa Caterina. Participation is free, but registration is required at 3515616082.

Thursday, February 12 , Also at 5pm, in the Conference Room of the Municipal Library, Kulesko will introduce a reflection based on the book he translated “Bestiary of the Anthropocene” edited by Nicolas Nova , which collects the hybrid creatures of our time.

Plastiglomerates, robotic surveillance dogs, Fordite, artificial grass, antenna trees, SARS-Covid-2, eagles battling drones... All this is symptomatic of the rapidly transforming "post-natural" era we live in. Often without us realizing it, these creatures are spreading exponentially and coexisting with us.