La Cantonal Library of Lugano will host the next one March 27, 2026, at 18pm, an appointment dedicated to Salvatore Maria Fares, author, essayist and cultural journalist. The meeting will be held at the library in Viale Carlo Cattaneo 6, in the heart of the city, and will offer the public the opportunity to gain a close-up look at the intellectual journey of a writer who over the years has intertwined literature, visual arts, and cultural reflection.
The event – with free admission and also accessible to people with reduced mobility – is organised by Cantonal Library of Lugano The event will conclude with an aperitif open to all attendees. For information, please contact the library office at +41 (0)91 815 46 11 or at the address bclu-segr.sbt@ti.ch.
The dialogue in Lugano
The evening will take the form of a public conversation. The journalist will be in conversation with the author. Antonio Bolzani, well-known voice of RSI Rete Uno, while moderation will be entrusted to Stephen Vassere, director of the Ticino cantonal libraries.
The discussion will explore the various stages of Fares's career, an author who has alternated fiction, essays, and journalism over the years, always maintaining a strong focus on culture and the arts. The meeting will also be an opportunity to reflect on the role of writing in building a dialogue between different disciplines, including literature, art history, and local narratives.
From the first novel to the new narrative season
The narrative career of Salvatore Maria Fares takes shape in 1999 with the publication of the novel My beautiful lady (Milan, Sperling & Kupfer). After that debut, the author continued to move between different forms of writing, returning to fiction in more recent years with a new literary project.
In fact, in 2023 it was released The agave garden (Milan, Morellini Editore), a novel that marks a return to the dimension of sentimental narrative and memory. The work offers a narrative constructed from two voices: that of the protagonist and that of his best friend, a psychologist who observes and accompanies his friend's emotional journey from the outside.
Three sentimental stories between reality and romance
The novel unfolds over a period of approximately twenty years and intertwines three love stories that profoundly impact the protagonist's life. At the center of the story are three very different female figures, united by a cultural curiosity that drives the narrative.
The story moves between realism and romantic suggestion, alternating introspection and descriptions of landscapes. The events take place against a geographical backdrop rich in evocative references, starting from Lugano, which in the novel sometimes takes on the features of an almost fairy-tale landscape.
From here, improvised trips branch off towards other places linked to water and history: from Lugano lake to the Toscana, Capri maximum VeniceThese journeys become an opportunity to intertwine art, legends, and memory, offering the reader a narrative journey that blends private emotions and cultural landscapes.
Salvatore Maria Fares: Literature, Art, and Intellectual Curiosity
The dialogue scheduled at the Cantonal Library will therefore allow us to explore not only the most recent novel, but also the overall path of Salvatore Maria FaresThroughout his career, the writer has cultivated a wide range of interests, from literature to art, from cultural criticism to popularization.
This very diversity of passions is one of the distinctive traits of his work. The Lugano event therefore aims to offer the public a portrait of an author who has always conceived of writing as a space for dialogue between diverse experiences, personal reflection, and curiosity about the world.
An event in the name of culture
In the Ticino cultural landscape, events like this confirm the role of the Lugano Cantonal Library as a place of exchange and encounter between authors and readers. Through conversation with Antonio Bolzani and the moderation of Stephen VassereThe evening will offer a close-up look at a figure who made his passion for culture the guiding principle of his work.
The audience will have the opportunity to hear the author's voice firsthand, retracing a life marked by books, art, and travel, and to enter the creative laboratory of a writer who continues to question the relationship between personal experience and literary narrative.
