The second part of our chat with Tony & Maureen Wheeler, founders of Lonely Planet, at the Travel Literature Festival in Rome to present Author’s Itineraries, their new collection of guides featuring the work of famous illustrators. We talk about the spirit of independent travel with artist Miles Hyman and journalist Elodie Lepage, who worked on the New York and Florence editions.

Places, collective experiences, frontiers and the need to cross them in order to grow. The Israeli writer Amos Oz and Claudio Magris narrate themselves in the video-interviews for the Travel Literature Festival. Their interviews are introduced by a book overview, from fiction, guides and essays to photographic books, in the Traveler’s Bookstore set up in Villa Celimontana

coming soon 

Villa Celimontana, home to the third edition of the Travel Literature Festival. We met Benedetta Dossi, concept artist, illustrator and the Roman correspondent for Urban Sketchers – an international community of artists who “capture the world one sketch at a time.”In our conversation, she talks about travel notebooks and her self-discovery through drawing and movement.

Eight months, twelve thousand kilometers, four bags with all the essentials, from spare bike parts to the camping stove. A physicist and a childhood psychologist, both young and enthusiasts of trekking and cycling (not to mention in love: the marriage proposal arrived while travelling, after having overcome even the desert storms together). From Bangkok to Lugano in the spirit of sweet mobility and a full immersion in eastern culture.

“The desert is the only humble place, it produces humility.” Amos Oz reaches us virtually in Rome via an exclusive video-interview for the Travel Literature Festival; there is also Claudio Magris. He agrees that humility is the key factor in travelling, protecting us from the easy sentimentalism of the rhetoric of hospitality: “There are (ethical, moral) frontiers that we’re not ready to negotiate.”

The writer Gianrico Carofiglio virtually reaches the audience of the Travel Literature Festival. His video-interview (a noir jewel that gives an account of his East, his ‘plural orient’ and his finis terrae, the perception of the self through physical movement and of the observation point, the literary effort) opened the session “Il Nostro Levante” with Nicola Lagioia, Marcello Veneziani, Rino Caputo and Michele Lobaccaro.

A thousand and one Apulias: a lively and somewhat ironic debate about eastern identity,  Carmelo Bene and Andrea Pazienza, the perception of the opposite Adriatic coast, mediatic counterfeiting, Apulians…and a feasible conviviality of differences based on the landing of Albanians in 1991, a rupture point that enabled a reflection about integration.

 A professional adventure and a life-match: Tony & Maureen Wheeler, founders of Lonely Planet and guests of the 2010 Travel Literature Festival, use humor and generosity to narrate a series of anecdotes, intuitions, passions and places in a voyage through time, from the 70s to the present. From their encounter on a bench in Regent Park while hitch-hiking to the world’s most famous series of guides.

On the first day of the Travel Literature Festival we enjoyed a session by the scholar and writer Predrag Matvejević, the anthropologist Maria Silvia Codecasa and the architect and filmmaker Francesco da Mosto. A creative, intense and open debate on the Mediterranean and poetry, geopolitics and linguistics, and migrants and otherness.

In the Euro-Mediterranean section, during the 8th edition of the Ischia Film Festival - which is entirely dedicated to television and cinema locations - we find the story of a voyage made by the writer Joe Lansdale in search of common ground between Puglia and his homeland of Texas. A documentary by Francesco Conversano and Nene Grignaffini

This year the calendar of Città aperte and spiagge d'autore offers more than 1000 events in Puglia among slow and food travel, history and art, sustainable tourism and literary encounters, archaeology and sports - it is better than ever. Even during the off-season, during Puglia's lovely autumn, enjoy Salento è gusto

Presenting Antonella Cirrito, a young restorer from the Madonie area, and her artistic project: “Il Giardino dell’Attesa” focused on the body and its ability to move within living spaces, including those which aren’t traditionally designed to be used for art

Trulli, laces, synapses and sounding boards: a unique festival focused on biodiversity, ecology and socially responsible behavior held at Martina Franca, Locorotondo and Cisternino. Art, meetings with philosophers, historians and scientists, gourmet products and walks though Val d’Itria in a 3-day celebration of the 5 senses

Last year a free-lance journalist living in San Francisco plunged into Salento during the month of August, days dedicated to pizzica and taranta, to discover the roots of “a mystical tradition that became a musical phenomenon”. We are happy to share some of her reflections in anticipation of the final concert for 2010.

Do you remember the series of radio programs on RAI, Le interviste impossibili? The actor Agostino De Angelis made his debut in this very series. Today with his Extramoenia he stages readings and itinerant theatrical shows, including Dante's "Inferno" and "Aeneid", in historically important sites in Apulia and Sicily

On our quest for interesting artists throughout Sicily we once again cross the artistic path of  Michele Ciacciofera, a Syracuse-based artist: in Ortigia we recommend the ARTI-FICI exhibition, hosted by the Montevergini contemporary art gallery

From August 14th to 22nd the picturesque fishing village of Marzamemi, between Noto and Pachino, turns into a gourmet heaven for fish connoisseurs with countless cultural events from Sicilian traditional songs, music, and theater to dialect poetry

Brat (Brother), Cantieri for a Rom Opera, is the revelation of the Napoli Teatro Festival. Based on the Beggars Opera by John Gay and produced by Cantieri Koreja (Lecce) and Teatro Stabile of Salento, it will be hosted by the Castel dei Mondi international festival in Andria August 27 and 28 and Lecce’s Roman Theater the 29 and 30