Dallo NgoroNgoro al genius loci, dalle farfalle monarca ai neuroni Gps, da Maylis de Kerangal a Ece Temelkuran: una riflessione sulla gioia di definirsi semplicemente «terrestri»

From the Ngorongoro to the genius loci, from monarch butterflies to GPS neurons, from Maylis de Kerangal to Ece Temelkuran: a reflection on the joy of simply calling ourselves ‘earthlings’

Do ‘places of the soul’ really exist? - 

Do ‘places of the soul’ really exist?

Cadastral maps,  ‘rose camune’  and identifying marks

The surveyor meets me in the countryside to show me a map of my land in Mondonico. From there, the conversation turns to the oldest map: the one from Bedolina, engraved on stone and featuring a compass rose

Cadastral maps, ‘rose camune’ and symbols of identity

Remembering our ancestors, just a stone’s throw from the mighty oxen

In the hamlet of Cattabiano, houses and generations follow one another. In the memory of a poet and writer, the changes recorded in the land registry mingle with those of the heart and mind

Remembering our ancestors, just a stone’s throw from the mighty oxen - 

From books to reality: one-way journeys

One way of getting to know the world and its geography? By reading about it: in a document, a memoir, a map from the printing press. In this way, literary journeys ‘precede’ real ones

A gloomy mood and a surprise dinner with Ceronetti

I bought a house in a Tuscan village full of celebrities, and then there was him, the uncompromising poet. He unexpectedly invited me to dinner: his cooking was ‘neorealist’. When I asked for washing-up liquid to do the dishes, it was a sacrilege!

A Molise odyssey with the Ripabottoni walkers

Three months spent in hospital, feeling death very close at hand. And during those sleepless nights, salvation comes in the form of a map bearing the unlikely names of little villages and a few words exchanged with Mr Mario

Maestro Chicco’s Existential Wunderkammer

The brother of the famous architect Vittorio Gregotti, a family friend and a beacon of ‘the good life’. Amidst drawings, whisky, books and friendships: a ‘journey around the room’ that defines a life

Searching for words in Friuli, a land of happy people

From Aquileia, where Saint Mark brought the Christian faith, to the parish church of Zuglio, and on to the Tagliamento: the Friulian language contains echoes of Celtic, Samnite, Latin, Thracian, Median, Lombard, Carolingian, Slavic and German influences

Felix Pedro(ni), from the Apennines to the Gold Country of Alaska

The story of a gold prospector who leaves the Modena area for ‘Merica’, strikes it rich, dreams of returning to his home village in search of love, but is left disappointed. All that remains of him is a dreamlike memory and a festival...

Pampelonne, the dog named after the beach

One summer, many years ago, on the famous beach at Saint-Tropez, we decided to get a golden retriever as blonde as the sand. And nothing in our lives was ever the same again...

Tupaia shows us how to embrace diversity

Tupaia is a Polynesian intellectual with a thorough knowledge of geography. Cook persuades him to come aboard the *Endeavour* to assist him on the return journey. A tale of surprises and misunderstandings

One day I drew up a map of a land that doesn’t exist. Just as Faulkner’s county forms the basis for the stories I’ve written. Alleys, farmsteads, hamlets: material for a novel

On the road leading to my rainy villages

One day I drew up a map of a land that doesn’t exist. Just as Faulkner’s county forms the basis for the stories I’ve written. Alleys, farmsteads, villages: material for a novel

On a minibus to Wiflingen Castle in Upper Swabia, where I was to meet the venerable writer. The garden, the drawing room, his winter habits: a man who lived through a dramatic century

Stories and Hourglasses in Ernst Jünger’s Castle

On a minibus to Wiflingen Castle in Upper Swabia, where I was to meet the venerable writer. The garden, the drawing room, his winter routines: a man who lived through a dramatic century

Compass Rose: Travel Notes and Life Lessons

A Paolo Conte LP as both a geographical and existential map: 40 minutes of sublime music and extraordinary poetic verses. An ‘Academy of Elsewhere’ at last discovered, starting with the cover art

Viaggi e scritture con la Domenica d’estate

Travel and writing with ‘Domenica d’estate’

Dossier

Emotional maps

Do ‘places of the soul’ really exist? - The Dossier