New York – Contemporanea is launching its first US edition in New York, bringing the festival, which originated in Biella, to the Big Apple from 15 to 17 October. The event, titled Contemporanea goes to New York, is held under the patronage and with the support of the Italian Cultural Institute and the Consulate General of Italy. The programme opens today with La vera libertà di una donna. Alba de Céspedes e il racconto dell'emancipazione femminile (A Woman’s True Freedom: Alba de Céspedes and the Story of Female Emancipation). Drawing on research by Olga Campofreda into materials held in the Mondadori Foundation’s archives, the event revisits the work of this important 20th-century writer. Campofreda will be joined in conversation by Isabella Livorni, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Italian Studies at New York University. The discussion will be chaired by Claudio Pagliara, Director of the Italian Cultural Institute in New York. The event will also see the presentation of Nuove Generazioni Across the Ocean, a competition organised by Contemporanea in collaboration with NYU and aimed at students in its Department of Italian Studies. The winner will be invited to attend Contemporanea in Italy in May 2027 for a cultural tour of northern Italy. Based in Biella, the itinerary will also take in Turin during the days of the Salone Internazionale del Libro, the international book fair; Santo Stefano Belbo, following in the footsteps of writer Cesare Pavese; and Milan, with its archives and major foundations. As part of the festival, Campofreda will also give a lecture at Columbia University on 16 October. That evening, a dinner at Osteria San Carlo will bring together invited guests, institutional representatives, journalists and leading figures from New York’s Italian cultural community. Chef Davide Iacoboni will create a menu inspired by the finest produce of Piedmont. The dinner will provide Contemporanea with an opportunity to introduce itself formally to the press and New York’s professional and cultural networks, while building new relationships. On Saturday 17 October, author Stefania Auci will appear at two events. At SullaLuna bookshop, in conversation with Marta Perego, she will take the audience on a journey through the stories and reading experiences that have shaped and accompanied her over the years. Her latest book, Cunti, storie, romanzi. I libri della mia vita (Tales, Stories, Novels: The Books of My Life), published by Mondadori, will provide the thread running through the discussion. In the afternoon, at Rizzoli Bookstore, Auci will join journalist Simona Siri to discuss the research behind her account of the Florio family and the international success of her historical saga. On the festival’s final day, Marta Perego will lead Flâneuse. New York, sei volte, a literary walking tour that takes literature beyond its traditional settings. Starting at SullaLuna, the route will wind through the West Village, Greenwich Village, Washington Square, SoHo and the East Village, linking places, biographies and passages from the works of leading Italian and international women writers, from Elena Ferrante and Claudia Durastanti to Patricia Highsmith and Sylvia Plath. (9colonne)