Award-winning Italian author Leonardo San Pietro will present his debut novel, Festa con casuario (Party with Cassowary), at the Novotvar literary festival in Bratislava on October 2nd at 7:00 PM. Published in Slovakian by Ikar and translated by Adam Špliňo, the novel won the prestigious Premio Mondello (Best Italian Work) and the Premio Mondello Young Readers Award in 2025. Translation rights have already been sold in thirteen languages.

Organized in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute in Bratislava, the presentation will take place at the capital’s V-klub. Set in Turin, the novel follows Isa, a 20-year-old university student, as she throws a party at her parents' villa. What begins as a typical college night of music, drinks, and crowds takes a dark, absurd turn when an anonymous note surfaces: if someone doesn't dare touch the neighbors' pet cassowary by 1:00 AM, one of the guests, Ezio, will die.
Because the cassowary - a large, ostrich-like bird - is equipped with razor-sharp claws capable of inflicting fatal wounds, the threat transforms the party into a high-stakes psychological game. San Pietro crafts a vivid, ensemble portrait of a generation caught between living in the moment and dreading an uncertain future.
Born in Turin in 1997, San Pietro studied Modern Languages and Literatures and attended the prestigious Scuola Holden. He currently resides in Bologna, where he studies Linguistics. Prior to his debut, his short stories appeared in Domani and the literary magazine 'tina. Earlier in the day on October 2nd at 11:00 AM, the author will also meet with Italian studies students and pupils from the Italian section of the L. Saru Grammar School at the University Library in Bratislava (Univerzitná knižnica v Bratislave).