“I write to you about the world, I speak to you about myself” with Eugéne Ionesco

On Wednesday, June 3, 2026, at 6:15 PM, the Giovanni Canna Civic Library in Casale Monferrato will host the third installment of the series "I Write to You About the World, I Speak to You About Me. Reading Recommendations: How to Explore Great Authors Through Their Autobiographical Pages," the second edition of the initiative curated by Barbara Marini. The second installment will be dedicated to Eugéne Ionesco, the father of the Theater of the Absurd, who will be read from his most intimate pages, filled with surprising prophecies and anticipations about the world we live in and passages of a heartfelt search for meaning and significance. "I don't question myself; restlessness, on the other hand, questions, agitates, struggles, argues; anguish settles within you, renders you silent, crushes you, silences you, you endure it, it is a burden, it paralyzes you; it stands "over me," it doesn't speak. (…) There was, yes, anguish or restlessness, but mixed with the sun, with the light and the light of hope, the expectation of a kind of hope (…) an optimistic restlessness. Romanian playwright and essayist naturalized French, Eugène Ionesco (1909–1994) spent his childhood in France, in the small village of Chapelle-Anthenaise, in Mayenne, where he finally found a period of serenity but continued his studies in Romania, where he graduated in French literature from the University of Bucharest. Married in 1936 to Rodica Burileano, with whom he had a daughter, Marie-France, in 1944, Ionesco became a professor of pedagogy at the high school in Bucharest and received a scholarship two years later to write a thesis in Paris on the themes of death and sin in French poetry after Baudelaire, the first expression of the metaphysical concerns that characterize his theatre. Having returned to France in 1938, in the spring of 1939 he settled in Chapelle-Anthenaise, where every place and object was imbued with the past and memories, but this time against the backdrop of a new war. From 1941 to 1944, he worked at the Romanian embassy to the collaborationist Vichy French government. Among his main French acquaintances were his lifelong friends, also Romanian expatriates, Mircea Eliade and Emil Cioran. In 1958, with the publication of The Rhinoceros, Ionesco achieved his greatest success: lectures, discussions, and world travels became part of his daily routine, and he began to gain the notoriety that gradually transformed him from a sulfurous and rebellious playwright into a classic of 20th-century French theater. He is, in fact, considered the founding father of the Theatre of the Absurd, along with Samuel Beckett. Known for his use of nonsense and his critique of language, he dramatized the incommunicability and irrationality of the human condition. His most famous works include The Bald Singer (1950), The Lesson (1951), The Chairs (1952), and The Rhinoceros (1960). Through Giorgio Milani's readings of the notebooks, letters, notes, and diaries of great authors, "I Write to You About the World, I Speak to You About Me. Reading Recommendations: How to Explore Great Authors Through Their Autobiographical Pages" will allow readers to grasp the thoughts, questions, and experiences that inspired their works. The approach will not be that of an academic lecture, but rather an encounter of reflections and suggestions, aimed at establishing a dialogue between the author, his work, and the reader, demonstrating how literary themes still question humanity today and offer insights into authentic knowledge. The final event will be held on June 10th with Hetty Hillesum and "Beauty in Pain." Barbara Marini, originally from Perugia, after graduating in Aesthetics, lives in Florence, where she collaborates with publishing houses and manages a contemporary art space, where she organizes cultural events and books. She later moved to Mugello to live and write completely immersed in nature, organizing numerous cultural events and hosting book presentations. She also collaborates with the newspaper Vita.it, combining these activities with teaching and copyediting. She holds a Master's degree in Autobiographical Writing and recently moved to Monferrato. Admission to the event is free. For more information, please contact the Civic Library at 0142.444246 and 0142.444297, or by email at bibliote@comune.casale-monferrato.al.it