Among the most authoritative names of this edition are the master of noir Maurizio de Giovanni , the much-loved war reporter Francesca Mannocchi , the Pulitzer Prize winner Nathan Thrall , the Palestinian writer Adania Shibli , the young French author Mokhtar Amoudi , a revelation of contemporary European fiction, the narrator and podcaster Chiara Tagliaferri , the unpredictable talent of Dario Ferrari , the Icelandic writer Jón Kalman Stefánsson , the refined voice of the singer-songwriter Ginevra Di Marco , the erratic pop-poet Guido Catalano , the rapper Willie Peyote , the singer-songwriter Motta and the visionary musician Tonino Carotone .
"Changing Course" is the theme chosen by Chourmo—the cultural association led by Giacomo Casti, Donatella Mendolia, and Francesco Scanu—for this new edition of Marina Café Noir. It's an invitation to rethink individual and collective trajectories and destinations within an unstable present rife with conflict, technological transformation, and new forms of disorientation. Around the idea of travel, drift, and change—physical, linguistic, emotional, and political—the Festival will once again create a space for discussion, storytelling, and sharing, also inaugurating a new adventure
Among the participants in Korea is Chisca, the brand of Nuoro native Maria Francesca Lunesu.
Giampiero Marras
in the center
24th edition
"Changing Course," the Marina Cafè Noir restarts from Elmas: the program is presented.
The event is scheduled for June 19, 20, and 21. Guests include noir master Maurizio de Giovanni, war reporter Francesca Mannocchi, and Pulitzer Prize winner Nathan Thrall.
Cabras, the Casula family's historic supermarket is closing: "We can't keep going."
In Corso Umberto, the shutters will be lowered after 80 years of activity.
An identical email was sent to numerous schools across Italy: students in public squares from Cagliari to Sassari. Crosetto: "Strategy, but there are also idiots and mythomaniacs."
on the shores of the Giliácquas lagoon in Elmas.
The Festival's international program brings together some of the most interesting voices in contemporary fiction and reportage . Adania Shibli, one of the key figures in contemporary Arabic literature, will be coming to Sardinia to present her novel A Minor Detail (La Nave di Teseo) in conversation with anthropologist Andrea Staid (Friday the 19th, 8:25 pm).
From Iceland comes Jón Kalman Stefánsson, one of the most beloved Nordic authors. His vast body of work, published in Italy by Iperborea, includes seminal titles such as Paradiso inferno, Crepitio di stelle, and I pesci non hanno gambe (Fish Have No Legs), as well as his valuable poetry collections. In conversation with Gianmario Pilo, a key figure in cultural projects such as Accento edizioni and Lucy sulla cultura, a conversation dedicated to the poetic and visionary imagination of one of the great contemporary narrators (Friday the 19th, 9 pm).
There's also great anticipation for Pulitzer Prize-winning American reporter and writer Nathan Thrall, based in Jerusalem and one of the most profound observers of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Nobel Prize winner J.M. Coetzee described his novel, A Day in the Life of Abed Salama (Neri Pozza), as "the best pages on Palestine I've ever read" (Saturday the 20th, 9 p.m.). And finally, from France, one of the most surprising revelations of new European fiction, Mokhtar Amoudi. With The Ideal Conditions (Feltrinelli)—shortlisted for the Prix Goncourt and the Prix Renaudot and winner of the Prix Méditerranée for a First Work and the Prix Goncourt des Détenus—Amoudi recounts with irony and tenderness the life of Skander, a boy raised in foster care and the suburbs of Paris (Sunday the 21st, 9 pm).
Maurizio de Giovanni is undoubtedly one of Italy's most beloved and widely read writers, a voice that has redefined the boundaries of Mediterranean noir and taken his stories beyond the written page, conquering the stage and screen. In bookstores with The Watchmaker of Brest (Feltrinelli) and Children for the Bastards of Pizzofalcone (Einaudi), de Giovanni returns to the Marina Café Noir for a discussion reflecting on fundamental themes such as memory and truth, moderated by Alberto Ibba, a legendary editorial consultant now employed by the Feltrinelli Group (Friday the 19th, 7 pm). A new adventure for Francesca Mannocchi, one of the most beloved, empathetic, and rigorous war reporters in Italian journalism, who experiments with the poetic form in her book Crescere, la guerra (Einaudi), in which she interweaves voices and testimonies collected from the conflicts she witnessed, entrusting poetry with a necessary and uncomfortable task: keeping open the question of humanity, when indifference or facile simplifications tend to ignore it (Saturday 20, 7 pm). Chiara Tagliaferri, an author who has challenged conventional narratives and, over the years of her collaboration with Michela Murgia, redefines the imagery of a new feminist movement, will be at the Marina Café Noir for the first time. In Giliácquas, she presents Arkansas - Storia di mia figlia (Mondadori), the tale of a desire that forges ahead against every biological and geographical obstacle, transforming into an act of political and human vindication, just as a law transforms that desire into a crime. Joining her on stage is one of the great voices of Italian literary storytelling, Florinda Fiamma, host of Fahrenheit on RaiRadio3 (Saturday the 29th, 8:15 PM). The cast is completed by Dario Ferrari, who, after the publishing success of La raccolta è finita (Recreation is Over), has established himself as one of the most inspired storytellers of his generation with L'idiota di famiglia (Sellerio), bringing with him the cultured and ironic writing that has become his trademark. The meeting will be hosted by Sara Sanzi, the voice of "Il tuffo" on RaiRadio3 (Sunday the 21st, 7:00 PM). This slot will also feature a preview of the new issue of The Passenger, Iperborea's iconic literary travel guide, which will soon be released with an issue entirely dedicated to Sardinia. Moderated by journalist Paola Pilia, the panel will feature editor Marco Agosta and two of the volume's authors, Francesco Abate and Cristina Caboni (Sunday the 21st, 8:15 PM).
In a consistently diverse and multidisciplinary vision of culture, music has always played a central role in Marina Café Noir's twenty-year history. And this year, too, it will be an integral part of the Festival's narrative. Willie Peyote, one of the most interesting and innovative figures on the contemporary Italian indie scene and winner of the Critics' Choice Award at the 71st Sanremo Music Festival, will take to the Giliácquas stage for a fusion of music and lyrics, imbued with cutting irony and social commentary (Friday the 19th, 10:15 pm). Ginevra Di Marco will follow with Kaleidoscope, a project that blends folk, world music, and singer-songwriter music (Friday the 19th, 11:00 pm). A multiple winner of the Targa Tenco, her career is a magical intersection of encounters and visions: from her legendary beginnings as the lead singer of CSI alongside Giovanni Lindo Ferretti to her partnership with scientist Margherita Hack and her collaboration with writer Luis Sepúlveda.
The talk and music program also features a meeting with one of the most interesting faces in new Italian singer-songwriter music: Motta, on the tenth anniversary of the album that made him a household name, La fine dei vent'anni (Saturday 20th, 11pm).
Another key figure will be Tonino Carotone (Sunday the 21st, 11 pm), a unique artist who has transformed reluctance into poetry and the "difficult world" into a hymn to life, with his unconventional and surreal imagery. His stage name is already a declaration of love: a tribute to Fred Buscaglione and Renato Carosone, the masters who inspired his career.
But music will also be the calling card of each evening, with a fifteen-minute set that will allow the audience to immerse themselves in the Festival atmosphere. This year, the MCN Sonus band features the great jazz saxophonist Gavino Murgia (Friday the 19th), violinist Maria Teresa Sabato from the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari (Saturday the 20th), and the sonic world of Arrogalla (Saturday the 21st).
Histrionic, light-hearted, profound, and swashbuckling: Guido Catalano deserves credit for bringing poetry back to the stage and to the masses. SEM recently decided to dedicate a series to him, "Vento Forte," which will reissue his most celebrated hits, starting with the iconic "Ogni volta che mi baci muore un Nazi," which Catalano will perform on stage at the Marina Café Noir (Sunday the 21st, 10:15 pm).
Finally, there's space for one of the Festival's defining characteristics: the concept of "applied literature," stories that emerge from the page to become voice, body, music, and stage action. Marina Café Noir has always staged truly original productions developed by the island's top artists, based on texts by the Festival's guest authors. This year's program features "Arkansas," based on the narrative imagination of Chiara Tagliaferri, with Michela Atzeni, Fabrizio Lai, Ivana Busu, and Matteo Leone (Saturday, May 20th, 10:15 p.m.).
This year, the Festival will once again pay tribute to key figures in contemporary literature and music . It begins with "L'uomo delle stelle," a tribute to David Bowie, performed by Ilaria Porceddu's powerful voice. Then comes a tribute to Agatha Christie, 50 years after her death, with lyrics by Emilia Agnesa. Ninety years have passed since the death of Federico García Lorca, and his words will resonate in the lagoon thanks to Nino Landis. And there are also tributes to two Italian Nobel Prize winners: Dario Fo with Elisa Pistis, and Grazia Deledda with Francesca Saba. Meanwhile, Daniel Dwerryhouse brings the great Stefano Benni to the stage, 50 years after a book that marked our literature: "Bar Sport."
Finally, the MCN Kids segment returns, making the Festival a welcoming place for children and families. The program includes street art and juggling shows: Circo a tre ruote (Three Wheels Circus) with Riccardo Tanca (Friday the 19th, 6 pm), Bruscus, l'uomo forzuto (Bruscus, the Strongman) with Andrea Tiana (Saturday the 20th, 6 pm), and Jongo Show (Sunday the 21st, 6 pm) with Simone Lecca. A journey through play, imagination, and storytelling that takes even the youngest visitors into the world of the Festival.
The three-day Festival will, as always, be preceded by three evenings of meetings and music previews: from June 10th to 12th, the Accademia Popolare returns, a series of short, informal lectures conceived by the Chourmo cultural association in collaboration with professors and researchers from the University of Cagliari. This sharing of knowledge is characterized by an informative approach and is open to all. This year, the event will take place in the Elmas Airport departures area, on the first floor.
