The enhancement of the great Calabrian writers becomes a land of political and cultural clash. Pasquale Tridico, former president of INPS and today in the political field, accused the governor Roberto Occhiuto of having “discovered” Corrado Alvaro only after his recent visit to San Luca.
Tridico also recalled Saverio Strati, “one of the most important writers of the Calabrian twentieth century”, complaining that he is not yet included in national school programs. The reply of the writer Giusy Staropoli Calafati, who claims a multi -year commitment in favor of Calabrian literature.
“The recognition of Alvaro in the ministerial guidelines – he wrote – was born from my work started years ago, transformed into a project and supported by personalities of culture. Occhiuto gave the institutional force necessary to achieve this result”.
Staropoli also recalls the initiatives dedicated to Saverio Strati, from the regional funding of 500 thousand euros for the centenary to his own research and dissemination activity. And tridic accusation of exploiting visits to the symbolic places: “San Luca has modesty and dignity. We would have liked to hear his voice when the Alvaro Foundation was dissolved. Then silence, today instead controversy”.
The debate, between claims and crossed accusations, brings to the foreground a crucial theme: the need to return centrality to the Calabrian writers, from Alvaro to Strati, as an integral part of the identity and collective memory of the region.