A peaceful army of educators, publishers, teachers, writers, illustrators, actors, journalists, musicians, and poets will invade the Medio Campidano region for the Bimbi a Bordo 2026 Literature Festival , organized by the Guspini-based association InCoro. The festival will take place from August 28th to 30th, with a preview from the 24th to the 27th in Oristano, Assemini, and Guspini.
While awaiting the full program, which will be revealed in the coming weeks, the organizers are releasing the first glimpses of a 14th edition that will focus on children's literature as a hub for dialogue with all other disciplines. This year's theme, " Bodies. Maps for Inhabiting the World," explores the perception of being through the potential of narrative.
Francesco Cappa, the scientific director, will direct the festival: "Becoming embodied is the decisive moment in the encounter between reality and life. The body is the pivot on which every adventure revolves, and every adventure brings change, an experience, a coming-of-age story into reality." The centrality of literary narrative will guide the festival, thanks to a lineup of international guests.
The festival's journey will begin with previews on August 26th in Oristano and on the 27th in Guspini, with a meeting with Father Enzo Fortunato . On the occasion of the 800th anniversary of the Franciscan celebrations, the renowned essayist and communicator will present "E se tornasse Francesco?" (What if Francis returned?) , a volume enriched by a preface by Erri De Luca. The author will demonstrate how the saint transformed his body, the gestures he took, and the places he traveled into a living map for inhabiting the world, thus indicating a geography of brotherhood in which the body becomes a bridge to others, creation, and the profound meaning of existence.
The written word will become movement and a kinetic experience thanks to dance and the workshops of Ivano Gamelli , professor at the University of Milan-Bicocca and a true pioneer of body pedagogy in Italy. Co-founder of the Libera Università dell'Autobiografia in Anghiari, Gamelli will guide young children to discover how the gestures of education, motor expression, and physical movement are, in effect, our first and fundamental language for inhabiting the world.
From France, Joëlle Jolivet and Katy Couprie, two of Europe's most acclaimed authors and illustrators , are celebrated for the almost encyclopedic precision of their spectacular picture books. Through a unique blend of visual rigor and poetry, the two artists will demonstrate how images can map anatomy and nature, making the complexity of our biological and cultural being accessible to children.
Alongside them, the event will feature the profound poetic voice of Giusi Quarenghi, whose verses provide the poetic text on the body. Representing the publishing world , Maddalena Lucarelli (Fatatrac) and Monica Martinelli of the pioneering Settenove publishing house will be present. This cutting-edge publishing house, always at the forefront of preventing gender-based violence through children's publishing, finds a natural and crucial connection with the festival's theme, reminding us that respect begins precisely with the primary perception of the corporeal self.
The illustration by Swiss artist Johanna Schaible, an internationally renowned artist capable of condensing space and time into a child-friendly environment, will give the entire festival an immediate and evocative graphic identity.
From the pages of books, the festival will open up to the intersection of diverse artistic languages, touching on civic engagement, journalism, and theater, to demonstrate how "the body is also a political adventure, which centers multiplicity and singularity as areas of debate and exploration," the committee explains.
The great civic theater will feature Marco Baliani (Saturday, August 29), who will perform his masterpiece, Kohlhaas, a cornerstone of Italian narrative theater, as well as hosting an unmissable special event for young people. Then, there will be time for investigative journalism with Domenico Iannacone (Sunday, August 30), who will bring to Guspini testimonies from the new season of Che ci faccio qui?, a successful Rai Tre format, a journey into the lives of others focusing precisely on the physical and symbolic dimensions of existence, through stories of fragility, loneliness, and redemption.
