The eighteenth edition of Il Libro Possibile is opening in Polignano a Mare, in the province of Bari, one of the most scenic settings in southern Italy. This year's edition is a special one because 2019 is a year of meaningful anniversaries – and not only because the festival has come of age. It was fifty years ago that a human being stepped onto the Moon for the first time. For this reason, the organisers chose to dedicate this edition to "The leap of mankind".
Half a century ago, everyone was captivated by the first live television broadcasts and by the radio commentaries trying to image what those American astronauts were feeling when they fulfilled one of the dreams that more than any other had fueled literature, conjectures and scientific research. Today, perhaps too captivated by the screens of our devices, we have the same need for a new leap for mankind, a new goal for our consciences and for our perception to push the boundaries. The perception is strong in itself, also thanks to technological progress and the digital revolution, but perhaps a common project, a globally shared horizon, like the experience of watching the Moon landing was, is still missing. Billions of human beings through the millennia have turned their gaze to the night sky and wondered if they would ever be able to touch the satellite that is so discreet yet so present in everyone's lives.
The Il Libro Possibile festival will investigate the topic also in the words of the many guests who from Wednesday, July 3 to Saturday, July 6 will take the stage in the many squares of the town for presentations, chats, comedy and insights.
The festival makes the town of Polignano a Mare, already teeming with summer holidaymakers, the destination for interested and curious spectators, demonstrating that events like these often help a resort make a name for itself. For this reason, Pirelli has decided to sponsor the festival for the second year in a row and will tell about the adventure in social media in the words of the protagonists who will be taking turns for four days in Piazza Aldo Moro, Balconata Santa Candida and the other locations of the events.
Roberto Saviano, Bjorn Larsson, Carlo Cottarelli, Paolo Nespoli, Richard Mason are just a few of the guests of the Il Libro Possibile festival, who with their works have expressed the desire to push the boundaries and place mankind in the centre. The points of view are the most diverse, spanning from justice and economics to creativity, astronomy, environment and history. Regardless, every leap is a journey that brings us a step closer to what we will be and what we are dreaming of becoming, leaving what we were behind. Every leap is a hope, a regret, a fear, a discovery. Every leap is the story of our life that is being told while the Moon looks down upon us.
