FOUR DAYS OF IDEAS, ENGAGEMENT & INSPIRATION, WITH AUTORS FROM ITALY SHOWCASING CONTEMPORARY ITALIAN LITERATURE THROUGH A WIDE RANGE OF GENRES AND FORMS —FROM ESSAYS TO NOVELS, FROM GRAPHIC NOVELS TO MYSTERIES, AND ALL THE WAY TO THE IMAGINATIVE WORLDS OF CHILDREN’S BOOKS.

when and where

The first edition of LA PIAZZA will take place from April 10 to 13, 2026, across several venues: the Italian Cultural Institute San Francisco, the University of California, Berkeley, the University of California, Davis, La Scuola International School, Libreria Pino, and Club Fugazi. During the events at the Italian Cultural Institute San Francisco, Libreria Pino will set up a book counter and host book-signing sessions.

discover la piazza

Presented by the Italian Cultural Institute of San Francisco, and by Librai in Corso, LA PIAZZA is the first Italian literary festival in San Francisco dedicated to bringing Italy’s newest writers to Bay Area audiences and celebrating the country’s rich literary tradition, sharing the voices and faces that define our contemporary literary culture.

when and where

Among the invited authors are Andrea Bajani, Ann Goldstein, Mario Calabresi, Silvia D’Achille, Stefano Mancuso, Daniele Mencarelli, and Ilaria Tuti.

Information about the festival will be available through the Italian Cultural Institute of San Francisco, Libreria Pino, the COMITES of San Francisco, the festival venues, the newsletter, and social media channels.
The final program, including authors and dates, will be available online starting March 9, 2026.

an unique audience

LA PIAZZA attracts a diversified and engaged combination of people that has been following us over time, as well as a consistently increasing number of new supporters drawn by our public relations efforts. The demographic of our audience has expanded from mostly Italians living abroad and a thriving and historically rooted Italian-American community to a growing number of individuals passionate about the Italian culture.