“Inexplicable” and with a mysterious title, this book by Alfonso Lentini opens with a nighttime landscape of Lake Santa Croce, “between the Dolomites and Venice”, and ends with a journey to the Moon that takes place in reverse, from above to below.

Between these two poles unfolds a series of very short stories that, if they have anything in common, it’s precisely the act of going against the common sense: strange families whose members are obsessed with the idea of climbing stairs, accusations against the fanatical enthusiasts of wakefulness, “dwarfs of the mind” who, with a simple change of consonant, reduce what is called mental health to dwarfism.

And then again: girls who sleep on a bed of oxygen splitting into “thirteen pieces”, others who immerse themselves in bathtubs full of Lexotan, dolls that vomit books, marzipan children, boats that instead of immigrants carry classics of Western philosophy, a disturbing Vajont where “every morning the night of October 9 reappears very young”, houses of “intolerance”, flying dolomites, wars “imbued with uncivil passion”, automatic generators of non-existent words…

With “We are the wolffish” Lentini continues to practice a blinding, disconcerting, and visionary writing that he has already extensively experimented with through his constant collaboration with online writing magazines (especially with “Il Cucchiaio nell’Orecchio”) and in previous books such as “The Mechanical Professors”, “Three Moons Awaiting”, “Luminous Lady”.

Welcoming the “wolffish” is the “glossa” series of the independent publisher pièdimosca which, for the first time in Italy, is entirely dedicated to very short prose with a particular attention to experimentation.

The series, directed (or rather “redirected”, as he himself says) by Carlo Sperduti, arises from the experience of the “multiperson”, a blog dedicated to short prose and “microfictions”, that is, very short narratives that, due to their progressive dissemination even in Italy, can now be considered a genre of their own.

Alfonso Lentini (Favara, 1951) was formed in the climate of the Sicilian neo-avant-gardes of the late 20th century. Since the late 1970s he has lived in Belluno. His activity spans from visual arts to writing.

In his numerous exhibitions and installations held in Italy and abroad, he proposes object books, verbo-visual writings, and asemantic works, artist’s books, and generally works based on the enhancement of the word in its material and gestural dimension.

His first solo exhibition dates back to 1976. As part of a collective project on poetry curated by Marco Nereo Rotelli, in 2001 he participated in the 49th Venice Biennale.

In 2013, together with Aurelio Fort, he created the international artistic project “Resisting to re/exist” culminating in a large urban installation for the streets and squares of Belluno.

His works, together with those of Flavio Da Rold and Giorgio Vazza, are exhibited in the object book show “The Timeliness of a Metamorphosis” on the noble floor of the Doglioni palace in Borgo Piave on the weekends of March 29-30 and April 5-6-12-13, 2025.

Spaces are limited and reservations are therefore recommended at segreteria@borgopiaveetc.it.

The presentation is part of the “Books on Raft” series.

There will also be the opportunity to purchase the book on-site.

Organized by the Borgo Piave Association, the book by Alfonso Lentini “We are the wolf fish” will be presented in Belluno, in the “Da Rosalina” room at via Uniera dei Zatèr 6 in Borgo Piave. Flavio Faoro will speak, with readings by Sonia Vazza. The presentation is part of the “Books on Rafts” series.