Elegia per Gaza

The ultimate goal of "This is Water"—combining the strategies and founding principles of the Umbria Green Festival—is to raise widespread public and regional awareness of essential issues of our time, issues that concern us all. Alongside this, the initiative aims to make Colfiorito and the surrounding Foligno mountains a driving force for cultural and conscious tourism, a landscape to be actively experienced, a hub for growth, relationships, and high-quality anthropological and literary content, thus intersecting the local natural and landscape resources with the socio-economic-cultural fabric that can and must impact that space. Furthermore, as mentioned above, the ultimate goal is to achieve Goals 5 and 10 of the 2030 Agenda, contributing to the fight against inequality and the achievement of gender equality through self-determination and respect. The participating writers will discuss these issues in beautiful and unique locations, such as Colfiorito Park, a natural setting in the Umbria-Marche Apennines.

7:00 PM: Colfiorito Marsh

Guest: Paola Caridi

Title: Elegy for Gaza

Paola Caridi, essayist and journalist, was born in Rome in 1961. She is a founding member and president of the independent journalists' association Lettera22. She holds a degree in Literature, specializing in the history of political parties, and a PhD in the history of international relations. She specializes in Germany, Central and Eastern Europe, and the Balkans. For over twenty years, she has covered the Middle East and North Africa, particularly political Islam in Palestine and Egypt.

From 2017 to 2023, she served on the editorial board of the Turin International Book Fair, under the direction of Nicola Lagioia. Since 2016, together with Lucia Sorbera, she has curated the program section of the Salone del Libro dedicated to Arab Souls, the cultures and avant-garde movements of the Arab region and its diasporas.

She is the director of the "La Stanza del Mondo" series of Hopefulmonster, an independent publishing house in Turin.

She is a visiting professor at the University of Palermo in the History of International Relations course, and is an individual member of the Institute of International Affairs. She teaches History of International Relations in the Master's Program in International Cooperation – MICAD at Bethlehem University.

She is the artistic director of Letterando in Fest, the literary festival in Sciacca.

She is a fellow of the Civitella Ranieri Center (CRF2021).

She is a member of the journalism committee of the Inge Feltrinelli Prize.