The association Bradamante ODV announces the traditional autumn appointments of the Valtellinese ariostesque series, confirming the participation of highly respected guests and new important collaborations.

The event is supported by BIM-Provincia di Sondrio, along with other local bodies and private individuals.

The theme for 2026 is LA MAGIA— the narrative engine of Orlando Furioso and a storytelling tool for modern complexity.

Particular attention is given to the world of schools, which—through the study and reading of the great classics—shapes tomorrow’s minds. A journey into the aura of the magical and the marvellous, guided by the voices of esteemed teachers, scholars and writers, linked together by the thread of chivalric epic, leading to the most up-to-date contemporary storytelling. True protagonists of our cultural scene, they tackle many themes from everyday life with lightness, irony and playfulness through literature.

Eight days devoted to schools and readers

Monday 9

The series opens with a full school week dedicated to the Istituto Comprensivo di Delebio, which enthusiastically welcomed the proposal for the Florence-based narration workshop by Michele Neri—From the stories of the paladins to Pinocchio—for primary and secondary schools in the Delebio, Dubino and Nuova Olonio campuses.

Friday 13

At the Liceo Scientifico Donegani in Sondrio, Gino Ruozzi will give a lecture from Ariosto to Fenoglio and Calvino.

That same morning, at Palazzo Muzio, in the Provincia di Sondrio’s Council Chamber, a teaching seminar entitled Magie ariostesche nell’Orlando furioso will take place, with contributions from university lecturers Michele Comelli, Corrado Confalonieri, Gino Ruozzi and Cristina Zampese. It is aimed at the fourth-year classes of the Polo Liceale Città di Sondrio (LS Donegani and Lena-Perpenti). The initiative comes out of the three-year agreement between the University of Milan—Department of Literary, Philological and Linguistic Studies—and the association Bradamante, to develop interdisciplinary projects aimed at promoting the Furioso and the Valtellinese Ariostean heritage. Co-ordinated by Gino Ruozzi and Maria Carla Fay.

In the afternoon, at 5.30 pm at the Biblioteca Pio Rajna, the Emilia-born writer Ermanno Cavazzoni will be present. In the talk Magia, negromanzia e miracoli in Ariosto, poemi cavallereschi e nei santi, he will discuss miracles contrasted with necromancy as early as the Acts of the Apostles, in Italian short stories, and the magic mocked by Boccaccio—and above all, enchanted objects and palaces in Boiardo and Ariosto. And the modern disintegration of the magical.

Saturday 14

The ‘company’ will move to Talamona, where at 5.30 pm, at the Biblioteca Comunale Busnarda Luzzi, the young writer from Bergamo Alberto Ravasio—taking part in conversation with Ermanno Cavazzoni and Ticino journalist Maria Grazia Rabiolo—will present his second novel Il grande mantenuto (Quodlibet-Compagnia extra 2026). A tragicomic satire of the cultural system, literary vocation, family and feelings, set between Milan and the Bergamasque province.

Sunday 15

In Morbegno, at 10.30 am, Auditorium S.Antonio, the turn is of Nunzia Palmieri. A teacher of contemporary literature at the University of Bergamo and curator of publications and exhibitions on Gianni Celati, she won the prestigious Premio Malerba 2025 for the work Il pinguino nell’orto (MUP 2026). She will speak to the public alongside Maria Grazia Rabiolo and Gino Ruozzi. The event is held with the kind co-operation of the Morbegno association éValtellina.

Monday 16

Nunzia Palmieri will be in Sondrio, at the Auditorium Torelli, for a meeting with the first-year classes of the secondary school at the Istituto Comprensivo Paesi Retici.

BRADAMANTE ODV – Via Valtellina, 2 – Teglio (SO)

Contact person Silvana Onetti - Tel. 333 3783467 - e-mail ofstudio@hotmail.com