From 5 to 11 September, a series of events featuring Ukrainian writer and serviceman Artem Chapeye will take place across Italy, where he will present his recently translated book Ordinary People Don't Carry Machine Guns: Thoughts on War (La gente normale non va in giro armata). The information is available on the website of Italian publisher Iperborea.
Ordinary People Don't Carry Machine Guns: Thoughts on War is an autobiographical book about the inner transformation of a person who chooses to become a soldier. In it, the author reflects on the contradictions between pacifism and patriotism.
The book was translated as part of a collaboration between Iperborea and Italian publication Il Post.
On 5 September, at Teatro degli Impavidi in Sarzana, Chapeye will speak with journalist Francesco Battistini as part of the programme of the 23rd Festival della Mente (Festival of the Mind) — Europe’s first festival dedicated to creativity and the processes of thought.
On 6 September, at Palazzo delle Poste in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Chapeye will take part in a discussion with the director of Una Montagna di Libri, Francesco Chiamulera, and Alessandro Achilli, translator of Ordinary People Don't Carry Machine Guns: Thoughts on War, as part of the book festival.
On 7 September, Chapeye will meet readers at Libreria Verso in Milan. The event will be moderated by journalist Daniele Raineri.
On 8 September, Chapeye will present the book at Libreria Internazionale Luxemburg, founded in Turin in 1872. The event will be moderated by writer and essayist Gianluigi Ricuperati.
On 9 September, Chapeye will speak with Italian journalist, writer and former far-left politician Adriano Sofri at Teatro della Pergola in Florence, one of Italy’s oldest theatres, founded in 1657.
On 10 September, Chapeye will present the book at Spazio Sette in Rome, with journalist and literary critic Marino Sinibaldi as moderator.
On 11 September, Chapeye’s Italian tour will conclude with a presentation moderated by writer Paolo Giordano at the Terrazza Granili cultural venue on the island of Ventotene.
In May, Chapeye presented the Dutch translation of People Aren’t Born for War during a literary tour of the Netherlands.
About Artem Chapeye:
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Ukrainian writer, translator and reporter;
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voluntarily joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 2022;
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author of more than ten books, including Red Zone (2014), Dad on Parental Leave (2016), Strange People (2019) and others.