Reading in the dark
A Reading in the dark is a highly experiential and engaging format to address themes as digital accessibility and the socio-cultural inclusion of people with visual disabilities
Through the absence of light, a Reading in the dark cancels any distinction between those who read with their eyes, those with their hands, and those with their ears. Famous writers and blind or visually impaired readers alternately read the same book, revealing the different ways of using it.
Over the years several authors of fiction and non-fiction have participated: Viola Ardone, Stefania Auci, Pierdomenico Baccalario, Marco Balzano, Alice Basso, Agata Bazzi, Giulia Besa, Yulia Besplemennova, Gianni Biondillo, Federica Bosco, Marco Buttichi, Giulia Caminito, Vinicio Capossela, Gianrico Carofiglio, Cristina Cassar Scalia, Daniele Cassioli, Giulia Ciarapica, Paolo Colagrande, Paola Costanzo, Maria Laura Crescimanno, Giuseppe Culicchia, Michele D’Ignazio, Roberto D’Incau, Carlo De Amicis, Claudia De Lillo (Elasti), Erri De Luca, Erin Doom, Edoardo Erba, Alessandro Ferrari, Giuseppe Festa, Anna Fogarolo, Andrea Franzoso, Chiara Gamberale, Alessia Gazzola, Ingrid Hollweck, Jelena Lengold, Emilia Lodigiani, Giuseppina Manin, Antonio Manzini, Alessandro Marzo Magno, Bettina Milewski, Mavis Miller, Michela Murgia, Salvatore Natoli, Paolo Nori, Andrea Notarnicola, Moni Ovadia, Greta Pavan, Marco Peano, Valentina Perniciaro, Angelo Petrosino, Leonardo Piccione, Francesca Pieri, Cecilia Randall, Sara Rattaro, Paolo Rumiz, Paolo Russo, Isabel Saavedra, Carlotta Scozzari, Francesco Sole, Oney Tapia, Andrea Tarabbia, Licia Troisi, Serena Venditto, Federico Vergari, Andrea Vitali, Paola Zannoner.
An accessible e-book can be read by enlarging the characters, using the braille display or speech synthesis, allowing words to take shape in the dark. The words read, touched, listened become the means to establish new relationships, to experiment with new forms of learning, to express one’s identity and deepen the discovery of the other.
The Reading in the dark is:
- it is a highly participatory experience;
- it approaches the theme of accessibility in an unconventional way;
- it lights up fairs, festivals, meetings, conventions and events;
- it is designed for companies sensitive to issues of accessibility and alternative reading.
Reading in the dark is a registered trademark of Fondazione LIA.
Corporate Readings in the dark
We organize Reading in the dark also in private and corporate contexts. The particular format of the event is designed for realities sensitive to the issues of accessibility, diversity and inclusion.
A Reading in the dark brings us closer to the knowledge of the different ways of reading in an unconventional way, pushing us to understand the importance of creating and working every day with documents that are accessible to everyone, even to those with visual disabilities.
About us
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Antonio Manzini
Writer
I attended the Reading in the dark “Reading with your hands and your voice” and some passages from one of my books were read, as well as another splendid one from Michela Murgia and the touching and shocking one by Gianni Biondillo. There were two boys reading. Their voice gave life to the characters, the dialogues, the descriptions. They showed us trenches, Africa, music and jealousy. They read wonderfully and they did it with their souls and hands, because those two boys did not see. And they gave us a breathtaking view.
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Elisabetta Corradin
Reader at Reading in the dark; coordinator at Dialogue in the dark
It is a great emotion and a great honor to be able to read the passages of a book in the presence of the author who wrote it, and above all to read them in different ways. It is a great way to raise awareness, to witness the beauty of all these tools that allow us to be equal, to enjoy a reading like those who see. Not surprisingly, while I am reading during a Reading, I often happen to be moved precisely by the atmosphere that is created and because the text becomes particularly mine.
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Paolo Armelli
Journalist
This experience allows to convey the idea of how books are actually not just the paper format we are used to think about, but are the words, the stories that we all have the right to know. Reading them and being able to access them, regardless of the tool and format, is one of the greatest forms of freedom there is.
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Andrea Notarnicola
Author at Franco Angeli Editore
It was an honor for me to participate in a Reading in the Dark. For the first time, in a presentation of the book, I had the feeling that the audience was listening to what I had written in an immersive and intense way. This is thanks to the possibility of living an experience of inclusion that demonstrates how access to reading and life is a matter of languages and tools. By offering all means and the opportunity to develop skills, it is possible to activate a lively participation in a common project. Thanks to Fondazione LIA for this path of cultural change.