The changes are not scary Marina Di Guardo. The writer (and mother of the three Ferragni) who “from the slaps we receive from life can always give rise to new opportunities” understood soon. And in the last year and a half, that of the darkness for the whole world, he has kept it in mind. And now, looking forward, towards what is to come, aiming for the best. The next steps? A summer that tastes like a return to life, a new book and the appointment – next July – at the Festival de The Possible Book, the cultural event that for 20 years has celebrated literature and the Apulian summer.
This year, to celebrate the important anniversary, it doubles: from 7 to 10 July in Polignano a Mare and from 28 to 31 July in Vieste. «It is one of the most relevant and resilient cultural events in the square in Italy», says the director Rosella Santoro, «a particularly important goal, the result of a journey full of obstacles but always conducted with great enthusiasm and emotion».
“It is only by meeting others that empathy is created”, continues Di Guardo, who has just returned to meetings with readers in the presence, “You can find out who is really behind that book, and what came out of whom. has read”.
The worst is over, hopefully. How would you define this period?
“Definitely full of expectation, of the will to live. There are tables of bars and restaurants everywhere, there is this village festival atmosphere. The life he has resumed, which makes us hope for a return to normalcy. Of course, always with the masks and respecting the spacing. Covid was a really difficult test to face, a sort of third world war. Devastating. With effects and repercussions, from the psychological to the economic level, which we will carry with us for quite a while “.
In July it will be his first time at the Festival de The book possible. Festival, which is directed by a woman (Rosella Santoro, ed), and which sees the presence of more and more authors every year.
«I’m excited, participating is a great honor. Women are often still pushed aside in many situations and that’s a shame. There are many authors of the past who deserve to be known and appreciated even more, and this unfortunately still applies to the present ».
Its origins are in the South, in Sicily. What relationship does it have with the roots?
«My parents were Sicilian, and it really seems to me that I belong to that land, even though I have never lived there. And I am also very attached to Puglia, I often go there for holidays and to present my books ».
His latest novel, In the good and bad luck, also addresses the issue of violence against women.
“Unfortunately, always of dramatic relevance. We must never stop talking about it, the pandemic has also worsened many conditions. Many women have found themselves in dramatic situations, forced to pretend to ask for a pizza to get help. We women have to network, be there for each other. To be sisters truly ».
Where to start?
“In trying to change mentality. It is a problem that still affects all generations. We need to talk about it in the family, teach how to love, respect people. Often those who are violent against women are raised in an atmosphere of violence. Male children must be educated in the culture of respect, often in some families the mentality still remains that a male child is “better” than a female daughter. And then I think it is necessary to give a lot of attention to your daughters too. A daughter who feels loved, understood, valued will be a resolute woman. He will not accept a sick love, or at least he will recognize more easily that that is not love ».
As a mother of three daughters (Chiara, Francesca and Valentina Ferragni, ed), and now also as a grandmother of a little girl (Vittoria Lucia Ferragni, second child of Chiara and Fedez, ed), what do you think is the most important piece of advice?
«Respect towards others, but also towards oneself. Respect each other, understand each other, forgive each other, accept that they are also different from others. There is never wrong or right, I am as I am and I have the right to express myself at my best. I have always been close to my daughters, I tried to encourage them as much as possible. I believe that clipping the wings of children is the worst thing ».
Has your relationship with writing changed during this lockdown period?
“I took advantage of the moment when we were confined, or when we could only take a walk, to get on with my novel. It will come out at the end of October, I could have taken it slow, but I decided that I had to get busy instead. I usually get little sleep, so I woke up every day before 6 and after breakfast I started writing. With consistency and constancy. I finished the book 10 days ago. I am very satisfied that from such a bad time she managed to get something out of it. I had it in my head: I want to create something very beautiful from something very bad ».
Do you learn to see the glass half full?
«Just think that from the slaps we receive from life, new things can always be born. Just change style, way of thinking. This is life: beautiful events, and less beautiful ones. We have to go all out. I believe I learned this when my third daughter was born. Valentina was born tiny, in the 26th week. We spent three months in the hospital, I didn’t know how and she was going to get out. I remember it as a very difficult period, hard, but which made me understand if you want to believe it, in the end you will be happy to have faced that situation with all of yourself. For me the biggest victory was being able to take it home ».

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