On September 6, the 100th anniversary of the birth of writer Andrea Camilleri was commemorated, with a series of celebrations that will continue throughout 2026. The Italian Cultural Institute in Miami is taking part with the evening event Camilleri 100. Lecture and Live Reading.
On Thursday, February 12, starting at 6:30 p.m., the Institute will host an event dedicated to one of the leading figures of contemporary Italian literature: a tribute retracing his human and literary journey, from his earliest narrative experiments to his posthumous works.
The event opens with a lecture by Prof. Giovanni Capecchi, entitled The Literary Path of Camilleri: From His Early Narrative Experiments to Posthumous Publications, which offers a critical reading of the evolution of the author’s writing, rooted in an isolated Sicily yet capable of speaking to the world. As Camilleri himself recalled, writing means sending messages “from a sunken submarine” in the hope that they will reach someone.
This is followed by a staged reading of an excerpt from The Telephone Concession, performed by Lorenzo Patanè and Mario Merone, under the artistic direction of Manuela Filomena, who also oversaw the specially commissioned adaptation. The performance captures the rhythm, irony, and theatrical power of Camilleri’s language, placing at its center the theme of communication and its difficulties in a country marked by profound linguistic and cultural differences.
The event will be repeated on Friday, February 13, at the Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton.
Giovanni Capecchi is a professor at the University for Foreigners of Perugia and a member of the National Committee for the Celebrations of the Centenary of Andrea Camilleri. In 2000, he published Andrea Camilleri, the first volume entirely devoted to the writer, and edited Racconti quotidiani by the Sicilian author, in addition to numerous studies published in specialized journals.
RSVP: iicmiami.segreteria@esteri.it
Photo: Nicola Amato