As part of the 84th Madrid Book Fair, the Italian Cultural Institute of Madrid will collaborate on the event “The Hope of Militant Youth (and Their Disillusionment),” featuring writer Dario Ferrari. The event will analyze the generational gap: from the political radicalism of the 1970s (marked by urgency and certainty) to a present characterized by indecision, chance, and the feeling of being late to everything.
The event will take place on Monday, June 1st, at 7:00 p.m. in the Europa Pavilion of the Madrid Book Fair. Entrance: Puerta Doce de Octubre, Avenida de Menéndez Pelayo, Retiro Park. Free admission.
The novel “Recess Is Over” (Libros del Asteroide, 2025; original title “La ricreazione è finita”) follows the protagonist who, through almost involuntary choices, investigates a militant past, drawing a contrast between the intensity of those who wanted to transform the world and the drift of those who can barely find their bearings. With incisive humor, Ferrari also offers a critical look at academia, its hierarchies, and its petty wars, where meaning is diluted amidst egos and routines. Laughter, here, is a lucid way of thinking about disillusionment.
Dario Ferrari was born in Viareggio and studied Philosophy in Pisa, where he earned his doctorate. He works as a teacher and translator. He debuted in fiction with “La quarta versione di Giuda” (Mondadori, 2020), a well-conceived and witty detective novel set in the author’s hometown, in which masks and unspeakable secrets of the eternally provincial Italy come to the surface.
With his second novel, “La ricreazione è finita” (Sellerio, 2023), he won the Flaiano Narrative Prize and received enthusiastic acclaim from critics and readers alike. Narrating the “parallel lives” of a struggling researcher battling academic barons and a phantom terrorist from Viareggio whose writings are the subject of the young researcher’s investigation and sympathy, Ferrari gives voice to the desperate contradictions of a generation of thirty-something Italians, without real jobs and without future prospects.
His latest work is “L’idiota di familia” (Sellerio, 2026), in which, with brilliant sarcasm and biting irony, amidst comic pages and poignant passages, the author addresses the theme of the relationship between parents and children, the misunderstandings, the conflicts, and the affections. A layered text that is simultaneously a political novel, a satire, and a coming-of-age story.
The day before, on Saturday, May 30th at 6:30 p.m., the Italian Cultural Institute of Madrid (Calle Mayor, 86, Madrid), in collaboration with the publishing house Libros del Asteroide, will present a meeting with the writer Dario Ferrari.
During the event, Ferrari will speak with the director of the Italian Cultural Institute of Madrid, Elena Fontanella, about his writing career and his latest works. Specifically, he will discuss his latest novel published in Italy, “L’idiota di familia” (The Family Idiot), and his novel “Se acabó el recreo” (Recess Is Over), translated into Spanish by Carlos Gumpert and published in 2025 by Libros del Asteroide.
Simultaneous translation will be provided. Admission is free with prior reservation until capacity is reached. Reservations are required by emailing confirmaciones.iicmadrid@gmail.com, indicating the name, surname, and telephone number of each person for whom registration is requested, and specifying “Dario Ferrari” in the subject line.