The week-long event (Setti­mana Dela Lingua Italiana Nel Mondo) held from October 16-27, also sought to promote Italian culture in Ghana.

The event was organised by the Embassy of Italy in collabo­ration with Italian Business Asso­ciation of Ghana (IBAG), Ghana Italian Women Association (GIWA) and Piccola Bibilotcca Italiana.

The programme was attended by dignitaries, including Italian Ambassador to Ghana and Togo, Ms Daniela d’Orlandi, publishers from both Ghana and Italy, a representative from the Ghana Library Board, Mr Hayford Siaw, and speakers such as Professor Pierluigi Valsecchi and Prof. Matteo Grilli.

Activities to mark the celebra­tion included reading session for children, dubbed ‘READ Aloud – Rodari’s Tales,’ which aimed to encourage the habit of reading among children,at the Piccolo Biblioteca Italiana, in Accra, and a workshop dubbed ‘Lets colour the world with books,’ for children between the ages of nine to 18 years.

Other events were an open discussion on the topic ‘Publish­ing in Ghana and Italy Compared,’ at the Vidya Bookstore, a lecture on the topic ‘Italian Academics Study Ghana,’ and another lecture, christened ‘Beyond Gianni Radri’s books,’ held at the residence of the Italian Ambassador.

The Italian Embassy also or­ganised programme titled ‘Playing with Gianni Rodari Stories,’ deliv­ered by Gaila Stock (Edizioni EL), an open discussion led by speak­ers, including Giola Guerzoni and Andrea Ceccarelli.

Addressing the guests, Ms Daniela d’Orlandisaid the event was to bridge the gap between Ghana and Italy in the area of culture, and to appreciate Italian and Ghanaian authors.

She said “the week-long cele­bration is a flagship initiative of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and takes place every year, in October. It’s a period when Italian embassies, consul­ates institute suchinitiatives of Italian culture throughout the world.”

Giola Guerzoni a consultant for Italian publishers, said it was a challenge getting readers and publishers in Ghana who have specialises in fiction with good story lines.

Andrea Ceccarelli, an Editor, expressed his joy to be in Ghana to be part of the celebration, and hoped that Ghanaian publishers will make themselves more visible and help raise awareness about Ghana’s pub­lishing industry.

Dr Joseph Annan, who mod­erated the final event, expressed excitement about the long-last­ing relationship between Ghana and Italy, and expressed hope that a lot more work would be done in the area of writing in Ghana to produce more authors.