Pen and paper

The return of cursive on TikTok and the UNESCO proposal to protect handwriting

There are handwriting influencers with millions of followers. While Unesco launches the preservation project and nominates cursive as an intangible heritage of humanity.

By Barbara Sgarzi

7 January 2026

Un’immagine di scrittura in italico corsivo di Monica Dengo, artista e insegnante di calligrafia, che ha collaborato negli anni con HTSI. ©Carolina Sartori

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Develops concentration and creativity. It fights digital fatigue and enables better memorisation of information. Writing with pen and paper, in a largely digitised world, is not just a fad of the past, but an exercise in manual dexterity and patience to focus thought, too often distracted by the bombardment of moving images. And also a way to distinguish oneself: a handwritten note is so rare that it definitely sticks in the memory more than a hasty message on WhatsApp.

It is no coincidence, perhaps, that one of the earliest examples of writing in the Italian vernacular, that Veronese riddle of our scholastic reminiscences ("se pareba boves, alba pratalia araba..."), dated between the 8th and 9th centuries, celebrates precisely the act of writing, comparing it to a pair of oxen ploughing the white field of the sheet, where the black seed of ink will be sown.

A project for the preservation of handwriting has just been submitted to Unesco. A public collection of signatures has begun with the aim of nominating cursive handwriting as an intangible heritage of humanity. The Promoting Committee of the initiative is formed by, among others, the Graphological Institute Moretti of Urbino, the Italian Graphologist Association and Ossmed, the Language Mediation Observatory.

The debate on the need to teach cursive again in primary school is alive in the world and in Italy, where the third edition of the Manu Scribere festival, promoted by the Italian Graphological Association, was held in Bologna at the end of September. In California, the return to cursive writing for the approximately 2.6 million students between the ages of six and twelve, digital natives, has recently become law, while a recent study by a group of neuroscientists at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology has shown how handwriting expands and intensifies brain connections and aids memorisation. One of the most precious pens in Pineider's Masterpiece Collection is called, not surprisingly, Psycho, to evoke the complexity of the human psyche. In silver with a gold nib, it has an intricate labyrinthine and semi-transparent weave design.

A fashion, that of the return to the pen? Also, exploded in counterpoint on digital platforms. TikTok saw a 63 per cent increase in 2024 for the hashtag #calligraphy, and writing influencers such as Vietnamese Nhuan Dao and Peruvian Paola Gallegos have between 2 and 9 million followers.

Stilografica Psycho in argento con pennino oro, PINEIDER.

Aldo Iotti, a master calligrapher who holds workshops with paper and nibs for Manu Scribere, explains: "Learning this art is an exercise in patience: it takes time and calm and, as when I was in primary school, you have to start from the rods, to learn shapes and proportions". Iotti provides the participants with the calamus, a standard nib that must then be changed according to each person's stroke and pressure on the paper; because, and even here in a standardised world this is a nice novelty, no two handwritings are perfectly identical.

Those at Aurora, a historic writing brand in Italy, who have always focused on personalisation, know this well. The brand, which boasts among its masterpieces the Hastil designed by Marco Zanuso and exhibited at the MoMA in New York, has created and manages the Officina della Scrittura, near Turin, a museum that offers courses in graphology and psychology, and narrates everything related to the culture of writing and the sign of man's hand, from cave paintings to tablets, now evolved to allow writing with a digital nib that is increasingly similar to paper.

The latest craze for collectors? The Diamond line, two dazzling rollerballs of 1,919 De Beers-certified stones with a cabochon set in the head, one with diamonds only, the other with diamonds and sapphires: a writing instrument that is a 30-plus carat work of art.

Meisterstück Inspire Calligraphy Limited Edition 88, MONTBLANC.

A sapphire also adorns the solid white gold nib of the Montblanc Meisterstück Inspire Calligraphy Limited Edition 88, released in September to celebrate this iconic pen, which was also recalled in a short commercial signed by Wes Anderson. The shape of the nib, with sharper edges and less rounded than standard, is designed specifically for practising the art of calligraphy.

Wonderful jewel-pens that embellish the stroke, perhaps to be used with what is known as the most expensive ink in the world, Japanese sumi ink. It takes four years to produce, it is in solid form and, for a 200 gram stick, you get to spend over a thousand dollars. Nothing compared to the purple pigment found in the ruins of Roman baths dating back to the 3rd century AD in Carlisle, England. This is the so-called 'Tyrian purple', an ink obtained from thousands of crushed shells from the Mediterranean, particularly from the coast of Morocco, which at the time was more expensive than gold due to the difficult manufacturing process.

Once pen and ink have been chosen, neo-calligraphy proofs need proper support. A great classic that smells of early school days is Fabriano, which celebrates its 760th anniversary this year. Its Carta Medioevalis has for more than a century been the most prized paper for correspondence, cards and invitations, but also for drawing. Four unblemished edges obtained by manual tearing of the water thread and two colours, ivory and original white, completely natural, free of optical brighteners.

Roller Diamante, con diamanti e un diamante cabochon nella testina, AURORA

Always to carry Moleskine notebooks, evolved for contemporary tastes thanks to the vegan cover produced by Vegea from organic waste from the Italian wine industry, in dark blue and black python effect. On the desk, on the other hand, the Atelier Set combining the notebook brand with the legendary Blackwing for pencils and erasers. Only 500 boxed sets are available, containing two Moleskine classics, a year's supply of pencils - twelve soft ones for drawing and twelve hard ones for notes and quick sketches - along with delightfully vintage accessories such as a crank pencil sharpener and a helical blade sharpener.

SCRIPTA MANENT A.G.I. ASSOCIAZIONE GRAFOLOGICA ITALIANA. AURORA, Diamond collection pens, € 125,000 (in diamonds and sapphires), € 150,000 (diamonds only). For visits and courses at the WRITING OFFICE. FABRIANO, Carta Medioevalis, from 15 €. MANU SCRIBERE, handwriting festival. MOLESKINE, Precious & Ethical collector's box set with two notebooks with vegan cover, document pouch and a Kaweco fountain pen, €200. Atelier Blackwing set for Moleskine, 370 €. MONTBLANC, Meisterstück Inspire Calligraphy Limited Edition 88, 55,000 €. PINEIDER, Psycho pen, 3,300 €.