Visit from Ticino

As part of the program Il vicino Ticino: voci in traduzione, Yari Bernasconi and Alexandre Hmine, moderated by Ruth Gantert, will be guests at the Leukerbad Literary Festival.
For place and time, see detailed Festival programme

The Casa della Letteratura per la Svizzera italiana, the Ticino House of Literature, opened in 2019 and is the result of an initiative of A*dS, the Association of Authors of Switzerland. The idea was to create a meeting place south of the Alps, a place of discovery and encounter with writers and poets to provide insight into their writing processes. A common thread runs through the readings and conferences each year, and in 2021 it is Di fronte (opposite, in front). The presenters have the same importance as the authors.
The idea has been successful from day one; the program offers conferences organized directly by the Casa della Letteratura as well as collaborations with various institutions such as the Terra Nova Prize of the Schiller Foundation, the Babel Festival of Translation in Bellinzona, the Carl Spitteler Foundation, the newly founded Edorfine Festival, the Festival du Livre in Sion, the Literaturhaus in Zurich, the Studer Ganz Foundation. The Casa della Letteratura has its home in the prestigious Villa Saroli in the center of Lugano, but events are also held outside the house. These are part of the support program to meet people where they live. The program has been a great success and was expanded last year; the Casa della Letteratura now collaborates with the MRL in Geneva, SOS Ticino in Bellinzona, the Literaturhaus in Zurich, the Chiassoletteraria, the Longlake Festival in Lugano, Pro Grigioni Italiano and, last but not least, the Leukerbad International Literary Festival.

Il vicino Ticino: voci in traduzione is a program created by the Casa della Letteratura per la Svizzera italiana. The title is a play on words: “vicino” means both “home, neighbor” and “close, not too far away”. The aim is to bring Ticino authors and their translated books to other language regions of Switzerland. Often the translations do not reach an adequate audience. As a result, publishers do not invest, even when translation grants and financial support are available. In addition, the readings of Ticino authors are too often in Italian only, which cuts off a large portion of the non-linguistic audience.
The program aims to present the books in translation, with dialogue and moderation in the local language. This will allow access to the event and also to the books. The aim is to create, in a simple and smooth way, an awareness of what the Ticino literary scene has to offer, benefiting both the authors, the translators, the publishers, the festivals, but above all, the audience.

casadellaletteratura.ch